Soulless

This was such an entertaining book. While it took a bit for me to fall in love with the characters and the world, once it did I was hooked and loved every second. Since this is the first book in the series, there is a lot of character development and world development. I think the plot was a little thin in terms of excitement and a true mystery to be solved. However, I loved the relationships that we saw and how they changed, especially with Alexia and Lord Maccon.

I cannot wait to start the next book and see what the pair get up to next. This book was definitely full of supernatural, witty humor and amazing characters.

Negative points, in order of importance

- British Victorian era setting AND dialogue
- excessively detailed characters
- 10% in and no plot is established
- protagonist is an anachronism to her era, a thinking woman that doesn't want to get marry
- protagonist is constantly annoyed by how high society treats her for being a ~25 years old spinster
- protagonist is not pretty, but the her love interest is a sophisticated and that doesn't care for appearances

SUMMARY

Alexia is a soulless, a person with no soul. She is called a preternatural, in contrast with the other supernatural creatures that are a common occurrence in this fantasy Victorian era England.

While attending a bowl, she is attacked by a vampire, who should know better then to mess with a soulless like her. Her preternatural status gives her super powers, at least against other supernatural creatures, and so she dispatches him.

Lord Maccon is part of an organization that policies and investigates supernatural related activity. He is a werewolf himself, and when he shows up he chastises for her recklessness, because killing a vampire is still considered a murder.

He believes its not her fault becouse he knows her, and so lets her go.


Read 1:04 / 9:44 10%

Such a wonderful book, I was immediately captivated with style of writing, loquacious, eloquent and no slang, even cussing was a joy to read......

The 1800's, Victorian London, as science emerges, ensconced within the British citizenry is their supernatural counterpart, vampires and werewolves live in palatial residences, no skulking to find human victims.......

In comes our heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, the last known preternatural(a person that negates the supernatural ability by simply touching them, but removing her touch, brings them back to their supernatural state), who helps solve a mystery plaguing it's supernatural community.

Action, adventure, comedy.........and S E X, this book is a teaser, and what a way to tease, think of it as Sean Connery, in an R-18 movie!!!!

Soulless is slow to start. Language is a bit different but once I got use to the rhythm of speech it is a quick read. Soulless is fun, light hearted read. One thing I had a major problem with it the concept of being without a soul isn't explained very well. I like when the pace of the plot quickens. The action and story really seem to pick up. The main characters, Alexia and Conall, are well developed and entertaining. An enjoyable read.

Not my typical read, but it had some steampunk elements in it, which is a current favorite. It was pretty paranormal heavy for my tastes, but it was extremely well written, and a fun read.

The interaction between the leads was good, and while a bit more of a romance novel then my typical tastes, it was often funny, and worked well.

I've said this before, that when it comes to adapting novels into a different format the results are pretty much hit or miss and graphic novel adaptations are no exception. So when I picked up Soulless, volume 1 by Gail Carriger I had no idea what I was going to get besides Rem's beautiful artwork. I am pleased to say this manga has much more going for it than visual aesthetics and that Soulless is one of the best adaptations I have ever read and proves that it is possible to take a 373 page novel of pure words, compress it into 224 pages of manga and still get a coherent and enjoyable story.

Alexia Tarabotti is a Soulless which means she has no soul (obviously) and that she has the ability to neutralize the power of supernaturals. For example, if a vampire touches her, his fangs would quickly shrink back down to normal size. Which of course happens in the first few pages of the story when Alexia is attacked by a vampire, not that she needs her preternatural powers to help her out, the woman can be quite deadly with a parasol and hair pin.

It turns out the vampire is a rove (not associated with a vampire hive but lives independently) and is not the first rove to be made, set loose on the streets without being taught how to survive as a vampire, or kept from exposing the supernatural community. And not only are roves appearing without a definite source to who has created them but loner werewolves have been disappearing as well and whatever the cause it seems Alexia is involved, whether the B.U.R (supernatural authorities) want her to be or not.

In order to write this review properly I gave Soulless a re-read the other day and enjoyed it all over again because although I already knew the story and its twists I had forgotten how not only capable Alexia is in taking care of herself but how intelligent, witty and sassy she is. Despite how her family treats her as second class she is a strong-willed and independent thinker and is definitely a modern woman living in Victorian times. The supporting characters are also a treat to watch and read about, they all stand out with their own distinctive personalities and I really want to learn more about them. Lord Maccon, despite being an intimidating Alpha, had me laughing quite a lot especially when he and Alexia where in scenes together trading barbs, and his Beta Professor Lyall's discomfort and facial expressions when he was trying to delicately explain the mating rituals of werewolves was impossible not to love. And I can't forget the flamboyant Lord Akeldama, one of Alexia's closest friends, who always takes over the scene as soon as he enters the room. I definitely want to learn how he and Alexia came to know each other and hope to learn more about him in volume 2.

Overall, this first volume was a wonderful read. The beautiful artwork not only made the book lovely to look at but the action scenes were both dynamic and very easy to follow. Rem also takes creative ways to ensure that not everything is bared during nude shots and thus you won't blush too hard while reading certain scenes but will be laughing instead at the characters' expressions when caught in compromising situations. The story itself is also translated well to this format; I did not feel like I was missing anything vital as I read the book but my interest in reading the novel did increase as I am now interested in learning more background information about certain characters and the world of Soulless.

Schwule Vampire, Werwölfe, verrückte Hüte und jede Menge Tee. Bei Soulless bekommt man alles andere als den üblichen Fantasy Kram. Da hätten wir zum einen die Hauptfigur Alexia Tarabotti, die am Anfang von einem Vampir angegriffen wird - ohne einander vorgestellt zu werden. Nicht mal ihre Treacle Tart konnte sie in Ruhe essen, für die sie sich auf einem Ball extra in die Bibliothek zurückgezogen hat. Und dann wäre da noch Lord Maccon, Werwolfalpha und Leiter der Paranormalen Angelegenheiten, der zugleich zur Stelle ist, als ebenjener Vampir durch Alexia “ums Leben kommt”. Und genau bei diesem Vorfall fängt das Abenteuer an, denn da Alexia nicht auf den Mund gefallen ist, kann man sich auf so einiges gefasst machen.

Es gibt Werwölfe und Vampire, warum unterscheidet sich dieses Buch nun von all den anderen?
Zum Einen ist es mit sehr viel Humor und Ironie geschrieben, ja, es macht sich geradezu lustig über Vampire - wo sonst gibt es neu verwandelte Vampire, die wegen ihrer Eckzähne lispeln? Zum Anderen liest sich Gail Carriger's Schreibstil einfach wunderbar, es gibt so gut wie keine langatmigen Stellen und die Charaktere sind interessant und anders.
Bemängeln könnte man höchstens, dass die Steampunk Elemente etwas zu kurz kommen. Hier und da wird etwas erwähnt, aber wirklich im Vordergrund steht dies nicht.
Insgesamt kann ich dieses Buch jedoch nur empfehlen, ich habe mich keine Minute gelangweilt und es hat einfach Spaß gemacht, es zu lesen.
Daher gibt es auch die volle Punktzahl von mir.

“Goodness gracious me,” exclaimed Alexia, “what are you wearing? It looks like the unfortunate progeny of an illicit union between a pair of binoculars and some opera glasses. What on earth are they called, binocticals, spectoculars?”


Ich habe vorhin gesehen, dass die deutsche Ausgabe “Glühende Dunkelheit” heißen wird. Ich glaube das ist so ziemlich der dämlichste Name auf den sie kommen konnten...

Generally described as “steampunk”, but with not a lot of steam and no trace of the punk, this is set in an alternate Victorian Britain that has accepted vampires and werewolves into society. Sort of a mid-Victorian True Blood, only with a lot more humour.

The tone is breezy and fun, and the heroine impresses as a rebellious woman who is nonetheless clearly a product of her time and social station. The story is by no means a comedy, although it has its comedic moments, and a great sense of fun, even where some of the characters are sinister or evil.

It's hardly what you'd call “deep”, although it's well written and makes a nice break between more serious novels. The only other Gail Carriger book I've read is the first of her Finishing School series - unlike that, this is decidedly not Young Adult, with much less of the weird tech, rather more of the dark elements, and a romance plot that concludes with a steamy epilogue.

A fast paced novel filled with vampires, werewolves, tea and parasols, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers. The main character, Alexia Tarabotti, is feisty and fun reminding one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at some times and Elizabeth Bennett at others. A clever reworking of the Victorian era.

Oh my goodness! This book is just so fabulous. Romance, fantasy, science fiction, a smidge of mystery! There some typical tropes of a romance novel and some evil scientists. I suppose that could detract from some people's enjoyment. For me, I don't think it did. The characters are just so wonderful that I wanted to spend more time with them. I am glad that they resolved the romantic issue in one book instead of dragging it out. There are other fish to fry in the further novels. I appreciate that aspect of the writing.

I must say, I very much enjoyed this book. The story grabbed me immediately and it was non-stop from then on. I wanted to know more about the setting, the characters, and everything in the narrative world.

I loved the main character and am very pleased that there are more books in the series so that I can explore her personality and story more.

This was a witty, well-written book with characters that I absolutely adored. I'd had my eye on this book for a while, and when Barnes & Noble spotlighted Gail Carriger and offered the e-book of Soulless up for $0.99, I jumped all over it. My only complaint about the book (and Ms. Carriger's writing) is that she seemed to be a bit too wordy, especially at the beginning of the book. The dictionary on my nook has never been used so much. This seems to have tapered off as the book wore on, though. All-in-all, she's written a fantastic book with a likeable, smart, witty, independent heroine.

Miss Alexia Tarabotti is a spinster, Italian, and, she has no soul. She is also very strong-willed and vocal. As if that's not enough, she is attacked by a vampire at a party! Carrying her trusty parasol, she fights back and wins, killing the vampire. This of course catches the attention of BUR (Bureau of Unnatural Registry). The investigation is led by the most infuriating werewolf Alexia has ever met. Can things get any worse? Of course they can! I loved this book! The characters are great, the story is great, and I loved the humor.