Just wow.....
After I read the first Parasol Protectorate series, I thot it was so great and wonderful I didn't even want to spoil my satisfaction by starting a series that was all girls, in fashiony school or whatever.... I mean, it's amusing when Alexia cares about proper attire & such , but I couldn't fathom having that be the main backdrop of the story...
heh. Then some time later I found myself hankering for a good story with steampunk and a delightful sense of adventure and propriety..... and either in a blurb or in a downloaded sample I ran to the opening bit to the first finishing school book and realized
Oh, this is going to be fun!
And yes, yes it was .
Just a marvelous glorious romp , with some precursor history of a character we already know and love...ah, so good.
So of course, I was in no mood to spoil it by reading the series about the kids, and it sounded more romance laced than the others... sigh, no thanks.....
But then after some time I found myself hankering for.... (ditto the above)...
And Oh My Goodness this series is a masterpiece! From the get-go at a party, Rue and Prim who we last saw as babies have come into their own. They are definitely their mothers daughters, yet not just copies of previously loved characters to make another story, but have made themselves their own women, and with a not-seemingly-contrived except by in-world influencers merry band of Misfits find some extraordinary Adventures. And because they are related, our beloved characters from before do get to come in ... oh that was hard, when Pa first is all unrecognizing; I actually wept a bit . But of course the solution was there all along ....
They do find love as well, but again not (very) contrived and what is , well it's been a 3-series saga full of marvelous contrivances so what's a bit of new spark on a magical dirigible.....😉
The only thing I did not like it is more my fault than anything I suppose - whenever I got to the end of a book, Kindle nicely let me know I can start the next one so I instantly clicked Read Now .... so I totally thot I was on the second-to-last one when I slammed headlong into the devastatingly sudden epilogue like an airship hitting an abrupt aethyr cross-current.
But... But... can't be over, drupe had finally gelled and mostly figured out who they were going to be to themselves and to the team and the crew, and What happens next, where is the new adventure and supernatural discovery?! Are these friends of mine with whom I just spent such an amazing time with going to just fade into memory with no more wondrous adventure? I cried again at the heartache of it all. Now, the ending isn't as graceless as all that, I did that to myself by believing there was another book to read in just a few seconds. Our heroic group has a lovely sailing off into the sunset moment before the tender-but-let's-not-become-maudlin epilogue. Which gives me hope because a truly great setting down the pieces, or tying up the threads of a story epic (lord of the rings comes to mind, but there are others too) is generally a final close of the curtain. This... well maybe, if we are so lucky, we may yet get to pick up the story again after a skin-of-the-teeth (and balloon) refuelling and dive again up into the aethyr currents to see where they take us... well currents and/or Akeldama, influencing Aunts, tyrannically loving parents, etc....
M'lady Gail Carriger, thank you for putting your stories out here, our lives are richer for it. May the muse visit you again and may you be blessed with fulfillment and enjoyment spinning out more tales
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Steampunk, tongue-in-cheek, Spotted Custard Dirigible
“Reticence” (Custard Protocol #4) by the Queen of Steampunk Romance, Gail Carriger. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Steampunk. Location: Alternative England and Japan. Time: Alternative Victorian times. Note: This is the final installment in the tales of the Spotted Custard Dirigible and its mighty crew.--Rue has a werewolf father, a vampire adopted father, and a soulless mother. So naturally she ends up Lady Captain of a ladybug-painted dirigible named The Spotted Custard. Her crew consists of her best friend Primrose (the Purser), Percy (Prim’s twin who is the Navigator), assorted Sooties and Decklings, and many others they adopt during their adventures.--You’ll want to cozy up to a cup of tea and biscuits while reading this tongue-in-cheek Victorian Steampunk delight. While previous books in the series dealt with Rue and Prim’s adventures and self-awakenings, this book is about Percy. The extraordinarily intelligent, lost-in-a-book loner who really, really prefers books to communicating with real live people. But what is this? Lady Captain Rue adds a woman doctor named Arsenic to their crew. Arsenic is delighted to be there. Where else would a Victorian Lady Doctor get to tend humans, supernaturals, preternaturals, shape shifters, and ghosts? She finds Percy quite appealing as well. He doesn’t stand a chance against her.--Off they all go to Japan to look for Kitsune/fox spirits. “Percy was finding, much to his distress, that the more he thought he knew about the world, the less he actually did. The temple train chugged along, destination unknown. The Spotted Custard floated far above them, location unknown. Dragons and foxes were trapped in Paper Cities, reason unknown. Percy was positively overwhelmed by things unknown.”Not only should this series be read in order, but you should read at least the first in the Soulless series before this series to understand Rue and the Twins’ backgrounds. The books are quirky, humorous, and gently mocking of Victorian protocols. Suspend disbelief and immerse yourself in the world of steampunk while you read this book. It’s 5 soulless stars from me! 🌵📚👩🏼🦳
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Top reviews from other countries
Chris Tilley
Excellent conclusion to an excellent series
Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2019
