Setting: Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger

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Soulless is a novel set in Victorian London, England, with a twist. The genre is called Steampunk. I have since learned this genre has a fan movement attached to it, and many of the fans (as well as Steampunk authors) have a penchant for cosplay. Anyway... the best way to describe the genre Steampunk, in general, is to say it is Victorian values and dress, but with the use of steam contraptions. Let me try and explain...

So here you can see what is called a "mechanimal". It's a dog, run on steam power, consuming coal and well... pooping ash. This picture is what I see the main character's dog looking like in Carriger's novel Etiquette and Espionage. 

I'm sorry, I digress. But it is a difficult setting to wrap your brain around. The main difference I see in the settings of Carriger's books is her inclusion of the supernatural. The main character in my book, Soulless, is Alexia Tarabotti. She comes from a very good background, but she is peculiar as far as the world of women and courting (dating) goes. Alexia's father was Italian, so Alexia is not a Barbie-like woman. She is rather strong, rather tall, has olive skin and long black curly hair. She is also 26-- quote old to be single in this mid to late 1800s world. Her family is obnoxious. Her two sisters, very blonde and petite, find Alexia and her stubborn ways unbearable. Her mother has no idea when or how Alexia will find a suitable man to marry, and her step-father would be happy with any solution to rid Alexia of their house in the cheapest manner possible. The thing her family does not know, the other thing besides her looks that sets her apart, is that she is soulless. She is what is called a preternatural. In a nutshell, she has the unique ability to neutralize any vampire of werewolf back to human form by simply touching them. 

In a world where women are expected to look nice and follow strict social rules, Alexia stands out like a sore thumb. She would rather spend hours reading in her father's library than date a man. She is very forward, and the first glimpse we get of her in the novel she is killing a rogue vampire in an ornate sitting room at a high society gathering. She is obviously NOT your average woman. Oh, and to top it all off, she falls in love with a werewolf. Love between a supernatural and a preternatural? Well, who knows what hyjinks that will bring in future books. 

I am almost done with the book, and I have to say in terms of the "steam" in steampunk, I found very little of it until I was nearly at the end and in a secret lab. All I saw was a steam tea maker in a carriage and some funky glassicals that the Beta werewolf, Prof. Lyell, wears. Now near the end, I see an automaton who is Frankenstein like and made out of steampowered gears under old blood and slightly humanish flesh, and some odd medical contraptions run on electricity. There were far more references in the young adult series written by Carriger than in this one-- but I have only read this one book. Actually, though I like the characters, I have little interest in reading another of her books in this series. 

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