As I am fond of series I thought it would be interesting to pass on the most recent acquisitions to my library. I’ll start with Gail Carriger’s, The Parasol Protectorate books that have recently grabbed my reading attention.
When Borders still existed, oh, within the last few months anyway, I keep seeing these intriguing covers of a Victorian woman with a parasol on the book shelves in one aisle. The cover’s were intriguing but when I read the blurbs I mistakenly thought the books were written as Victorian romance with some steampunk flavor thrown in.
So I passed them up. I’m male. I don’t read Victorian romances. I read hard core sci-fi, epic fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, and other manly genres. What would others think?
Finally, one desperate weekend I grabbed the first book, Soulless, because nothing else in the store grabbed my fancy, and was I excited that I did. I’m a fast reader, so by the next afternoon I was back in the store grabbing books 2 and 3. I devoured them all in a single weekend and was left hungering for more.
Currently, the Parasol Protectorate series consists of the following books: Soulless, Blameless, Changeless, and the latest Heartless. The series follows the adventures of one Alexia Tarabotti, from one disaster after another in a steampunk England where Queen Victoria still rules, and vampires, werewolves, ghosts, inventors, and Victorian fashion all serve to create an exciting, fast moving series of mishaps that requires Lady Alexia’s calming touch and common sense to resolve.
I am now hooked and can’t wait for book 5, Timeless to arrive March 2012. Give the series a try and let me know what you think.
