Soulless
The Parasol Protectorate – Book I

By Gail Carriger
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     Alexia Tarbotti has no soul, but the useful power of being able to negate any supernatural power in others. She lives in a parallel Victorian universe with steampunk overtones inhabited by vampires and werewolves (and people, of course). Even more socially damning thatn her lack of soul is the fact that her father was a) Italian and b) dead. She unwittingly becomes embroiled in trying to discover what is happening to High Society, and why people are mysteriously vanishing after accidentally killing a vampire who attacks her. Aided and abetted by Lord Maccon, an investigator sent by Queen Victoria (who also happens to be a werewolf and of course attractive) she sets off to do some investigating of her own.

As a fan of steampunk, but not a fan of paranormal romance I approached this series debut somewhat warily. If you are looking for humor, fantasy, steampunk, romance, alternative history or probably several other things you have found it all in here. All this (and there is a lot of it) is packed or rather crammed into an admirably short book which counts for a lot in the fantasy world of doorstop trilogies. There is more high camp in here than actual gadgetry and if you are hoping for something in the style of Stephen Hunt then this is not it. Imagine Buffy, Elizabeth Peters, Twilight and a few others mixed together and you have something of the flavor, but not perhaps enough. What you do have is something that is undeniably fun and light, imaginative yet giving a nod to a great variety of sources and which is sure to please all aficionados of the paranormal romance genre. Personally I would have preferred less romance and humor and more steampunk but you cannot please everybody. Considerable marks given however for sheer verve and inventiveness and for lack of verbosity.