Book Review- Soulless manga vols 2 and 3 by Gail Carriger and Rem

Title: Soulless (manga) vols 2 and 3

 Author: Gail Carriger, illustrated by Rem

Series:  The Parasol Protectorate manga 2 and 3

Other info: Gail Carriger has written many other things. My review of Changeless, ie volume 2, is here. My review of Blameless, ie volume 3, is here.

Volume 2

Published:  12 November 2012 by Yen Press
Length: 224 pages
Source: gift from friend
Review: Alexia is now Lady Woolsey, and would probably find settling in to this new life a bit easier if a regiment of werewolves  weren’t camped out on her front lawn. After her husband leaves and she deals with the soldiers, she's left with an angry Queen Victoria and a problem with the supernatural that leaves them unable to be...supernatural. Her travels take her to Scotland, she meets the rest of his pack, and will learn more about the world of the unnatural as she goes.

Changeless was never my favourite Parasol Protectorate novel. That's not saying it's bad, it's just not my favourite. This adaptation has made me enjoy it more, probably because it plays up the comedy a little bit more.

The art is once again excellent, the style nicely suiting the steampunk Victorian world. The fighty action scenes are done very well, and I loved the illustrator's view of Lefoux.

Plot is just as good as the novel, and is quite true to it too.

I actually can't think of anything to say in addition to what I said for Changeless-review here.

Overall: Strength 3.5, more a 4, tea to a good addition to Alexia's world.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

Volume 3
Published:  19 November 2013 by Yen Press
Length: 208 pages
Source: gift from Kerrie @ Read and Repeat via the UKYABB Secret Santa
Review: Pregnant and now exiled ,Alexia Woolsey is now seeking an explanation for her child, in the hopes that she can prove her husband wrong of the accusations of cheating. Heading for France and Italy, and meeting strange scientists and crazy Templar Knights,  this last adaptation of the Parasol Protecorate novels ties up the series really well.

The whole Where's Akeldama? Plot takes a lot of a backseat in this adaptation, which is understandable considering there’s a lot to squeeze in. however, I think it was overlooked  (only one mention, I think, in the midst of a conversation that quickly moves on) until its climax at the Thames, and I think if I didn't know the novel, i'd wonder what on earth was happening and why this was important.

The art. Yes. Fight scenes very good. Colour inserts- excellent. There's two sections of them, instead of the normal one, which is quite nice. These art cards are sepia toned duos of characters. And one of them plays up Alexia/Lefoux, which I quite liked (I ship those two quite hard). Actually, the whole book played it up a little more than the novels.

As this is the end of the series, I feel I should sum up my thoughts about the whole manga adaptation. I like the fact that each volume is each novel, because it keeps the pace up. However, I think at times, it might have gone a little too fast and a couple of things might not have their importance noted enough for first time readers. The art works wonderfully with this series, the world, and the aesthetics  related to it. I like the fact that Rem used cleverness to get around the awkwardness of the many nude scenes the werewolves get. The attention to detail, and the faithfullness to story makes this one of my favourite adaptations of a book to date.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fantastic ending to a generally amazing series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-Blameless by Gail Carriger

Title: Blameless

 Author: Gail Carriger

Series:  The Parasol Protectorate #3

Published:  September 1 2012 by Orbit

Length: 374 pages

Source: library

Other info: I have reviewed some other things by Gail! Soulless manga,  Changeless and Heartless.

Summary : Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.
Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.
While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.

Review: Alexia's life is really not looking good. Conall believes she's been cheating due to the fact werewolves can't procreate,  Victoria's chucked her off the Shadow Council, and Akeldama's left. Alexia has no choice other than going across Europe to find the Templars, who may or may not be useful.

Blameless is a perfect follow on from Changeless, starting with an upset Alexia and an even more upset Loontwill family. We soon see more of the Pack, Madame Lefoux, and everyone else. It gets going quickly, and is very fun to see develop.

Alexia's travels across Europe means she meets a lot of new people, each with their own funny things about them. It seems that every one of Carriger's characters have some little quirk about them that makes them likable, and the clock guy and  the German guy and the Templars are no exception.

The Steampunk technology in this is a little bit harder to understand. I like the flying things that crop up, but the train like things in the mountain-I really can't imagine them working.

What happened to Biffy. I won't say what happens, but him and Akeldama are really cute at the end, but I am a complete LyallxBiffy shipper. 

Conall's getting drunk is, put simply, hilarious. Formaldehyde isn't the usual method of getting intoxicated, but it works for him. Lyall's reaction to this, the challenger, and the whole mess that  his Alpha gets him into is why I like him.

Alexia shows off her independence a little more, as she isn't reliant on her werewolf husband. Yes, she's still with her butler and an inventor, but she does sort out things on her own a bit more than in Changeless.

The ending is really sudden. While the subplots are either resolved naturally or left to be resumed in Heartless, the driving plot line is cleared up within a couple of pages, which doesn't really do it justice.

However, by the end, you still want to carry on and see the further adventures of our preternatural heroine.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to another instalment in a great steampunk series.

Links: Amazon |Goodreads | Author website |