| Sophronia
Temminnick is fourteen years old and means well, but her obsession
with finding out how things work keeps getting her into trouble.
After a disastrous tangle with the dumb waiter her mother
decides the only thing to do is to finish her daughter off…at
a finishing school of course. Naturally, Sophronia hates the
idea of being packed off to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing
Academy for Young Ladies of Quality as she would rather climb
trees than curtsey, but all is not what it seems.…
Gail Carriger is well known for her Parasol Protectorate series
for adults, but here is a new YA series set in the same world
(although earlier in the century), and with some of the same
characters. I can imagine plenty of adult readers wanting
to see another side of this steampunk alternative Victorian
setting. I liked the way the adventures hit the ground running
on the first page. Sophronia is a delightful character and
her finishing school of the sort that many of us would enjoy,
as the young ladies learn not only how to go on in polite
society but also to be death dealing secret agents. There
are vampires and werewolves to satisfy the current trend for
paranormal themes, but the steampunk elements win out, with
highwaymen in balloons, pirates in airships and a robot dog.
This is not a romance either, but a proper adventure that
will appeal to fans of both Harry Potter (supernatural goings-on
in a school) and Stephen Hunt. Short, snappy and very enjoyable,
I will be looking out for the next installment. |
