I have to admit that I’m actually kind of glad that I read the sequel first. It made this series a lot more fun (and it’s a lot of fun already) for all the “oh, now I get it” moments.
The opening of the first volume of the Parasol Protectorate presents vague Cinderella elements in the heroine (although her likely prince charming is both werewolf and not very charming-or is he…). Alexia was never allowed to participate in society in order to give her younger half-sisters better prospects. Alexia does have an unusual ability; she can render vampires and werewolves human by touching them. The one thing I had trouble understanding about this interesting heroine is that she apparently has no soul (hence the title of the book). How this is known and how amount of soul determines super- or preter-natural abilities is never well explained. There is also occasional reference to an incident prior to the opening of this particular narrative involving hedgehogs that is never fully explained. Given how important it seems to be in terms of explaining Alexia and Lord Macon’s relationship early on, it would be nice to at least eventually explain what had happened. These minor confusions aside, I like Alexia for her smarts (she is not ashamed of her reading which would be considered un-feminine and unattractive) and for her willingness to act instead of playing up feminine weakness.
The tweaking of familiar character types is part of the reason this book is so much fun to read. The lead werewolf Lord Macon is rough and loud but a smart investigator, and the main vampire character Lord Akeldama is sneaky but also very interested in fun, fashion, and high society. The action and intrigue in well-paced, and the romance does not get in the way of the rest of the story. The romance plays a greater role in this book than in others but it still fits in. This element is what usually ends up annoying me about a lot historical fantasy, that the romance is either gratuitous or badly integrated with the other storyline(s). Here, it works. Even if the background is an official (and some less official) investigations of vampire and werewolf disappearances, and high society.
I also appreciate the way that humor is presented in small but clever doses. For example, after Alexia has to force Lord Macon to change from wolf back into human form:
“The Earl of Woolesy was indeed completely nude…Miss Tabarotti felt the sudden need to close her eyes tight and think about asparagus or something equally mundane…she was forced to look down directly at a nicely round, but embarrassing bare, moon. And not the kind that caused werewolves to change either…It was all a very heady-or bottomy?- experience.”
The double entendre is entertaining as is the (to me) slightly ironic replacement of a naked man with the image of asparagus. Personally I find the first bum joke funnier than the second, but the variations on a theme are amusing. In any event, I like this book. Once I finish the series, onwards to the graphic novel version.
