Posts Tagged ‘Gail Carriger’

A Heartless Review

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Cover for Heartless By Gail Carriger

Book Title: Heartless
The Parasol Protectorate # 4

Author: Gail Carriger

From the delightful, tea-sodden, steampunk-fueled imagination of Gail Carriger comes the further adventures of Alexia Tarabotti and her parasol.

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble in the air is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines – and Alexia barely has time to remember she just happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia be able to figure out who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it’s too late Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing And do they really have to take up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet.

Format: B-Format Paperback, 384 pages
ISBN: 9780356500096
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: July 12, 2011

Buy Heartless | Read More

ALI’S REVIEW

It is inconceivable to me that anyone would read this series out of order, you’d miss the subtle build up of personalities and situations, not to mention miss the emotional connections. In fact, Heartless does rather rely on the reader having read the previous books, and only glosses over the back story; which is great for the avid fans who’ve been eagerly waiting to get into this book.

So Alexia is heavily pregnant, still scandalously appearing in public in such a condition, and of course people are trying to kill her and the infant-inconvenience. Add to this a ghost with a threat against the queen, age old conspiracies coming to light and zombie porcupines, and it’s all pretty much status quo.

I enjoy Gail Carriger’s writing style in all the Alexia Tarabotti novels, the witty conversations, the sharp one-liners and the clever steampunk contraptions, but I found Heartless to be a little more predictable, and the story meandered to the point where it could easily have been two separate novellas rather than one novel. Although, I did find it delightful the way Heartless explored a lot of the background around Alexia’s father, with the history of the pack, the hive, and the individuals in both, coming through, in most enlightening and unexpected ways.

Overall, Gail Carriger has again delivered a wonderfully diverting story, that’s light and humourous and guaranteed to brighten the dullest day, but with so much going on in the plot it’s not as tightly written as earlier novels. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve already seen the cover for the next book, I would swear this was the last in the series. It feels like the end of an era, with all loose ends neatly tied off. Our wonderful author has cleverly left Heartless finished, by opening a whole new door into the world of the Parasol Protectorate.

Weekly Most Popular 25-31 Oct

Monday, November 1st, 2010

A mixed bag of favourites this week in our most popular books list:

.

Embrace   Jessica Shirvington

Embrace Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Vio … Read More
2.

The Red Thread   Dawn Farnham

The Red Thread Like Chinese silk, The Red Thread is, by turns, gentle and strong, exploring a love that breaks through the divide of race and culture, a love that is both deeply physical and a marriage of souls.

Set against the … Read More

3.

Burnt Snow   Van Badham

Burnt Snow Sophie is in the last term of Year 11. She’s used to moving around with her accountant father and free-spirited mother, so the move to a small town on the South Coast in NSW doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary – at first.

But thin … Read More

4.

Nightshade   Andrea Cremer

Nightshade She can control her pack, but not her heart . . .

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and o … Read More

5.

Shadowfae   Erica Hayes

Shadowfae The first book in an extraordinary new urban fantasy series based in a Melbourne populated with beautifully imagined fairies. Perfect for fans of Laurell K Hamilton and Karen Marie Moning!

Welcome to a secret world hidden behind shadowy … Read More

6. Paranormalcy   Kiersten White
7. The Rest Falls Away   Colleen Gleason
8. Soulless   Gail Carriger
9. Hear the Dead Cry   Charlie Price
10. Crescendo   Becca Fitzpatrick

Most Popular 4 – 10 Oct

Sunday, October 10th, 2010
1

Burnt Snow   Van Badham

Burnt Snow Sophie is in the last term of Year 11. She’s used to moving around with her accountant father and free-spirited mother, so the move to a small town on the South Coast in NSW doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary – at first.

But thin … Read More

2.

Embrace   Jessica Shirvington

Embrace Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Vio … Read More
3.

Shadowfae   Erica Hayes

Shadowfae The first book in an extraordinary new urban fantasy series based in a Melbourne populated with beautifully imagined fairies. Perfect for fans of Laurell K Hamilton and Karen Marie Moning!

Welcome to a secret world hidden behind shadowy … Read More

4.

Nightshade   Andrea Cremer

Nightshade She can control her pack, but not her heart . . .

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and o … Read More

5.

13 to Life   Shannon Delany

13 to Life
Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…
When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’v … Read More
6. Eat Prey Love   Kerrelyn Sparks
7. Caleb   McCarty Sarah
8. Soulless   Gail Carriger
9. Bloodlines   T.K Roxborogh
10. Spirit Thief   Rachel Aaron

Weekly Most Popular 20-26 Sep

Monday, September 27th, 2010

In the after glow of AussieCon4 it seems everyone has been inspired to look to Australian authors with  half the authors in our Top Ten this week are Australia, and THREE of those five are debuts!

The ten most popular books, across Fangtastic Fiction sites, for the week 20-26 Sep.

1.

Burnt Snow   Van Badham

Burnt Snow Sophie is in the last term of Year 11. She’s used to moving around with her accountant father and free-spirited mother, so the move to a small town on the South Coast in NSW doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary – at first.

[Debut Novel from Australian Author] … Read More

2.

Secret Ones   Nicole Murphy

Secret Ones She’s from an ancient clan. He has no family. Can they save the world … together?

Maggie Shaunessy is used to keeping secrets. She’s a fantastic teacher, but she’s also gadda, part of a hidden, powerful race – and she has a habit of annoying the wrong people.

[Debut Novel from Australian Author]… Read More

3.

Unholy Ghosts   Stacia Kane

Unholy Ghosts The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Consequently, there a … Read More
4.

The Red Thread   Dawn Farnham

The Red Thread Like Chinese silk, The Red Thread is, by turns, gentle and strong, exploring a love that breaks through the divide of race and culture, a love that is both deeply physical and a marriage of souls.

[Australian Author]… Read More

5.

No Mercy   Sherrilyn Kenyon

No Mercy Shapeshifter Dev Peltier thought he knew it all. But one night when a Dark-Hunter, who is also an official member of the Dogs of War, sashays into his bar, he realises that he might have met his match.

Samia, aka Sam, was one the fierce … Read More

6. Death Most Definite   Trent Jamieson (Debut Novel from Australian Author)
7. Unholy Magic   Stacia Kane
8. Moon Sworn   Keri Arthur (Australian Author)
9. Black Magic Sanction   Kim Harrison
10. Soulless   Gail Carriger

AussieCon4 – Plenaries, Panels, Parties …. and panadol ….

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

A lot has been written about World Con: the annual gathering of fans of science fiction and fantasy sharing their passion and enthusiasm with others who ‘get it!’ Hundreds of people from all over the world gathered in Melbourne the first week of September and simply had a great time talking, laughing, learning and partying.

We had Jedi Knights, Mord Sith, Druids, Witches, Steampunks …

Fans, authors, bloggers, academics, publishers, booksellers …and more fans ….

As you know my passions are paranormal romance and urban fantasy which are still the poor cousins of spec fiction, so I was all for anything that promoted these genres, the local book industry and women writers. So amongst all the panels and discussions I guess the highlights were really the people.

When I read Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire’s debut UF novel last year I was blown away by its world building, depth and range of characters. So to find Seanan on my first panel and then having coffee with her (oh okay best bud Seannan, me and eight others!) on the Thursday was so good. Heh, there’s nothing like feeling like an insider in the club! Of course the following day, still in my BFF glow I saw Seannan and merrily started chatting away. The poor girl jumped back about a metre, looking around for an escape from what she obviously saw as a weird and rabid fan. By this time Seannan was looking at me with horror, I was all but rolling around the floor in laughter and I swear security was closing in around us. Thankfully one of her friends remembered me and we ended up having a chat about her forthcoming book release and nearby wifi hotspots.

But, I’m sorry, this was such a typical ‘Rosie’ moment – blithely sailing along and then falling on my face! (this time metaphorically … it’s normally far more literal!)

Of course I also caught up with our lovely Tracey O’Hara and Erica Hayes who were staying at the same hotel as me. Most of our conversations were over breakfast so I can’t really remember much about them (okay so mornings aren’t favourite times for me…show me a morning person and I’ll show you the door!)

But on Saturday night we had a bit of time so Erica and I grabbed a bit over at the Casino and ….. we then managed to scope the place out for scenes for her current book. Oh what a scream! Of course my suggestions for how sculptures could be used as emergency weapons just MIGHT have been a little much (but Erica – this’d be great!!!!) but hey – I was adding my creativity to the moment J

And Gail? Oh what can I tell you about my lovely Gail Carriger? (yes, mine – you can’t have her!).

The night of the Nightmare Masquerade I was all dressed up with my whip, mask and black wings but stopped in at the Hilton bar first hoping that Gail would be there. Somehow I was hoping to recognise Gail as well as Liana (Ali and I are her book pimps!) whom I’d never actually met before. So we finally all got together, I did my famous fangirl public squeezing and spent about an hour or so having a lovely time with Gail, her friends and Peter Brett (great SF author). In fact I didn’t actually make it to the ball, but instead basked in the Gail-glow quite happily.

There were loads of other authors I met including Carrie Vaughn (who is absolutely lovely), Nicole Murphy, Trent Jamieson, Tansy Rayner Roberts …. plus oh so many more.

Of course my focus was on the PNR and UF authors and panels and I was absolutely beside myself at the Hugo Awards when the Award for Best New Novel went to Seannan! First time ever that Urban Fantasy has hit the level of the Hugos. It’s just a shame that she’s now terrified of me. *grin*