CHANGELESS by Gail Carriger
I actually intended to read the first in the Parasol Protectorate series, which turns out to be Soulless, while this is the second book. I have the first four, but the first one seems to have been moved somewhere separate to the others, so…
Basically, it’s tongue in cheek steampunk with a Lady who acts as a secret agent in a Victorian era filled with vampires and werewolves, as well as aether and dirigibles. I was a shade worried that the vampire/werewolf thing might be that kind of sub-Twilight fashion, but that concern was very quickly dispelled. It’s more readable than that, with a nice worldbuild setup, and I was sold on it with the comparison between Scottish big and English big.
The plot gets into gear nice and gently but picking up pace and all makes sense at the end. Well, apart from one loose end which is very minor. The characters are engaging, especially the lead, Lady Alexia Maccon, and it’s all quite amusing. The blurb compares it to Austen and Wodehouse, but it’s actually more mild echo of Pratchett and genteel Blackadder, though of course those in turn were influenced by Austen and Wodehouse.
The humour works, the action works, and plot and characters work, and the worldbuilding works. There’s also an unexpected bi ethos through it, which seems coincidentally appropriate for this being Bi Visibility week. And it’s a bonus that this is caused by a good character who seems to be just introduced in this sequel.
It does end on a fairly obvious and predictable cliffhanger, which is somewhat undercut by outright stating the cause, but I didn’t feel like I’d missed anything by coming in on the second book without having read the first, and that’s a definite plus point. Overall, highly recommended, and I loved it. That said, if Gail Carriger ever reads this, I do have to mention that ‘pollock’ and ‘bollix’ should be ‘pillock’ and ‘bollocks.’
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