‘Soulless’ – Gail Carriger (Orbit)

I really want to like Urban Fantasy, seriously. Think about it; of all the escapist speculative fiction out there, Urban Fantasy pushes a lot of buttons that other forms don’t because it’s mostly based in our world as it is right now. That in itself offers a lot of scope for the reader not only to connect with the world in the book but also to maybe look at our world in a different light. With this kind of reading on offer it’s a real shame then that a large number of the books I’ve read invariably end with the ‘strong and independent’ heroine proving to be entirely the opposite as she falls madly in love with the first werewolf or vampire (or any one of a number of supernatural beings really) that she comes across.

Like I said though I keep reading, basically in the hope that the next author I pick up will really branch out and do a lot more with their world than slap a sub-par romance bang in the middle of it. The setting for Gail Carriger’s ‘Soulless’ had me wondering if I was finally going to get my wish after all. As things turned out though...

As perhaps the only person she knows who doesn’t have a soul, Alexia Tarabotti’s life in Victorian London comes with its fair share of social tribulations and the sure knowledge that she will die a spinster. All these worries are thrown sharply into perspective however when Alexia undergoes a vampire attack that breaches all social etiquette.
All of a sudden, Alexia finds herself part of a much larger game where she must learn the rules quickly or suffer fatal consequences. Someone is removing established vampires from the streets of London and replacing them with vampires who clearly have no idea of how to live in modern society. This situation cannot be allowed to stand and Alexia finds herself having to get to the bottom of a mystery that she is now very much a part of. Who is the waxwork man and why can’t he be stopped? What is really going on at the Hypocras Club? Can Alexia and the werewolf Lord Maccon really not stand each other or is something else going on? And what is it with all the brass octopi...?

Of these four questions, readers of ‘Soulless’ will get answers to three and it’s these answers that make the book both intriguing and infuriating in equal measure...

As I said, the prospect of an Urban Fantasy set in Victorian London had me not only anticipating something a little different, from the usual fare, but also eagerly looking forward to lots of London fog, dank alleyways and perhaps even a swordfight or two. While there is a little of this, enough to build up a nice atmosphere in the background, Carriger chooses instead to take things along the ‘Jane Austen route’ and go for a comedy of manners approach on the part of her two main characters. This worked for me but only up to a point.

The humour employed felt a little forced although very much appropriate to the setting and subject matter. I found myself chuckling very early on but as the story progressed the humour didn’t develop alongside it; things were very much a case of ‘more of the same’ and it wasn’t the kind of humour that would keep me going throughout an entire book. The laughs dried up for me pretty quickly...

I also found it frustrating that, once again, a seemingly strong and independent female character has her head turned at the slightest hint of some ‘werewolf action’. Considering that there are at least two more books to come in this series, you would have thought that Carriger would have at least waited a little while before Alexia and Maccon got at it. Apparently not though; these Scottish Alpha werewolves are just too much for any city bred woman, no matter strong minded and independent they are made out to be.

To be fair, Alexia does put up a fight on this front and Lord Maccon doesn’t have it all his own way. This does move that part of the plot forwards quite nicely and I found these passages flowed very smoothly. The end result though is never in any doubt though and ‘Soulless’ becomes yet another romance wrapped up in an Urban Fantasy guise. I have to say that I was left wondering how Alexia’s ‘soulless’ state left her able to feel any emotion at all, let alone love...

While I was getting all annoyed with yet another burgeoning romance (cross species, how will it ever last etc...) I found myself very much enjoying the mystery element of the plot and how it is all resolved. Carriger sets things up with a mystery that seems genuinely unsolvable and highly intriguing, throwing all sorts of ingredients into the mix to keep the plot bubbling and the pace constant. This includes moments of action that are well worth sticking around for, Carriger proves to be more than adept at describing what a werewolf can do in the midst of a group of unarmed men...

‘Soulless’ is very much a book with two sides to it. For all its insistence of travelling the same path as countless other Urban Fantasy novels there were moments for me when Carriger really stepped up to show that there is a story here that’s worth sticking with. It’s these moments that will more than likely have me back for the next instalment but there’s a part of me wondering if I’m just letting myself in for more of the same...

Seven and a Half out of Ten