Written by Cami Cox
Just when you thought we were done with werewolf and vampire literature for a while….
When you’re as busy as I am these days, guilty pleasures are a necessity – distractions to turn to when the old battery needs recharging. Lately, mine has been a series of books by Gail Carriger called “The Parasol Protectorate.” The individual books are “Soulless,” “Changeless,” “Blameless,” “Heartless” and “Timeless.”
I must confess at the outset that these books do feature characters in werewolf, vampire and ghost form – a fact that, were I performing my own search through the library stacks, probably would have caused me to bypass them completely (even though I loved the “Twilight” books – and, as a side note, anyone who has avoided reading “Twilight,” et al, because they didn’t like the movies is really missing out on a great book series). But there have been a lot of vamp/wolf copycats since “Twilight” found screaming success, and as a general rule most of them have sucked (pardon the vampire pun…). But the Carriger books were recommended to me by a very reliable book connoisseur: my friend Lisa, who runs the Fredonia Public Library. As far back as memory serves, this dear gal has never steered me wrong when it comes to book recommendations, so I took her advice and checked out the “Parasol” series, which stars one Alexia Tarabotti.
There are some key – and extremely fun – elements in Carriger’s books that set them apart from the pack (pardon the werewolf pun). Set in a hilariously parallel version of Victorian England, the “Parasol Protectorate” books feature supernatural characters who, above all, adhere to Britain’s extremely staunch, tighter-than-a-corset societal protocols.
Among the cast of characters, we have the uber-flamboyant vampires, who are quite meticulous about manners, propriety (even when putting “the bite” on someone, the laws of etiquette must be adhered to) and, most of all, fashion, and they are the leaders of the fashionable set in high-society London. A little rougher around the edges, the werewolf clans are nevertheless also at the top of the societal ladder – and the eligible werewolf lords of the realm are highly sought-after bachelors.
As we descend into Alexia Tarabotti’s world, we learn that the British Empire has enjoyed its great military success throughout past the century because vampires and werewolves have been at the helm – and the queen mum herself is advised by a highly placed council of supernaturals.
We also learn that, while werewolves, vampires and ghosts have “excess soul,” which allows them to survive transformation into the supernatural, heroine Alexia Tarabotti has no soul whatsoever, which makes her a “preternatural” and enables her to turn supernaturals mortal again so long as she is touching them. It is this rare quality that leads Alexia into scrape after scrape as supernaturals, scientists and secret societies alike seek to study, dissect, recruit or altogether eliminate her.
Being without a soul doesn’t stop Alexia from being extremely proper and oh-so-British when observing the matters of etiquette – even when she’s neck deep in hot water. I laughed out loud when, in the third book, she knocks a member of the Italian Templars out cold (he has been holding her prisoner) and, as she lifts her skirts to step carefully over his prone body to make her escape, she apologizes in a very ladylike manner for the necessity of bludgeoning his skull. “Needs will, you know,” she demurely says.
Especially in the later books, you can practically see author Carriger winking at you from the pages with subtle (and not-so-subtle) puns and innuendo. These books are, honestly, just a riot (a prim, proper and well-mannered riot…but a riot, nonetheless).
A word of caution: Despite the appealing vampire/werewolf themes, I wouldn’t recommend these books for young teenagers – particularly the first book of the series. Until about halfway through “Soulless,” I had it in mind to buy the entire series for my niece as a Christmas present – until, that is, I came to some quite descriptive, er, love scenes midway through. The first book, in particular, contains a few romantic scenes that are just a bit too detailed for young readers.
For everyone else, this is a series you’ll be delighted to devour (vampire and werewolf pun intended). I’m hopeful that a well-cast and well-directed Alexia Tarabotti movie will be on the horizon. A series this fun deserves an equally well-executed and fun set of films to go with it!
