First up: Soulless, by Gail Carriger
If you have ever thought to yourself, “Gosh, I wish I could read a book about a saucy, ridiculously fabulous Victorian woman who murders a vampire with her trusty parasol, lusts after a werewolf with a peerage to his name, and, oh yeah, doesn’t have a soul,” then this is the book for you.
If you’ve never thought that, it’s okay. This is STILL the book for you, because it is amazing. When I read it, I stayed up till 4 o’clock in the morning so I could finish it. And believe you me, I am much too far into my dotage to be doing that sort of thing.
A few key points:
- It’s possible that I lurve Alexia Tarabotti even more than I do Elizabeth Bennet. (Please don’t shun me, Austenites! I can’t help myself! She’s irresistible.)
- Floote, Miss Tarabotti's valet, is, like any good butler, extremely discreet, not to mention reminiscent of Jeeves (about whom more later).
- Carriger’s deftly created political underpinnings to her alternate-universe London= magnificent.
- Um, hello? Gay vampires in the house!
- WARNING: This is a romance novel. I was not aware of that before reading it. I have never read a romance novel before. For a romance novel, it is very tame. For a Victorian novel…not so much. Nevertheless, I fully support any novel with an, ahem, “scene” in which the heroine says, “I’m going to take advantage of you now.”
You can visit the fabulous Ms. Carriger at her blog, and the second book in the Parasol Protectorate series, Changeless, is out March 30, 2010. Mark your calendars!
Next: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone, by Dene Low
Oh, HAI, self-aware, giddy YA novel! Speaking of sauce and sass, one Petronella Arbuthnot has both in spades.
Miss P has a divinely unique, strong voice, and she is a young lady of sixteen who knows what she wants. Part Gilda Joyce, part Jane Austen, part P.G. Wodehouse, Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone is a delightful romp, as the romantic comedy reviewers always say. And Petronella’s crush, Lord James Sinclair, has a " majestic brow" and a titillating "sea of…estimable muscles," and, of course, his hair finds itself undulating in "dark waves arranged carelessly and held in place with brilliantine." Most fun fictional teenage crush ever.
Oh, and Moriarty, her butler? He has a distinct air of Jeeves-ness about him. Do I detect a trend?
And last, but never, ever least: The Inimitable Jeeves, by the aforementioned P.G. Wodehouse
There isn’t much I can say about Wodehouse that hasn’t already been said, and more eloquently at that. Stephen Fry says, 'You don't analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour.' Hugh Laurie (le sigh) says, 'The funniest writer ever to put words to paper.' What more exalted praise can a brother get?
But still I must exhort you to read Wodehouse if you never have before. You haven’t enjoyed flawlessly funny writing until you’ve met frivolous socialite Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman, the outstanding Jeeves. So jump on this decades-old bandwagon, kiddies. You will be immersed in delight. I pinky-promise you.
* * *
Now, about those Very Special Common Elements, for those of my dear readers who need things s-p-e-l-l-e-d o-u-t for them: Awesome butlers! Fabulous heroines (plus Wooster, who is pretty effeminate, what what?)! English Englishness! And, most important, glee-inducing high jinks and general hilarity!
And now you know all, so go, my little cabbages, and read your eyeballs out. You’ll thank me later.
