Changeless by Gail Carriger (2010)
Full of character
Book cover blurb
Lady Alexia is rudely awoken in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find rather peculiar events transpiring.
Her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, is yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.
But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.
She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.
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My Review
Book two with Alexia Tarabotti gets off to a great start in chapter one. Continuing series editions can be tricky: too much recap and reintroduction and you’ll alienate diehard readers, but not enough and the casual reader could end up lost and confused. Carriger handles this exceptionally well with a perfect balance of exactly what’s needed to settle you right back into the read like you’d never even been away.
Instead of what could easily be considered a necessary chore, I thoroughly enjoyed being reacquainted with known characters and their world. It beautifully intertwines additional elements and situations with expanded character insights. All with that delicious tinge of humour, which makes these books such a fun experience.
This addition to the series feels more relaxed than the first, it's not in too much of a hurry to deliver action or force plot. Forward progression is periodically put on hold as the author indulges in character antics and entertaining interactions. Unnecessary to the overall story, but these happenings are always amusing and a welcome expansion to the personalities we already love.
These character indulgences can de-emphasise the importance and progression of the story and the reader’s focus on it. This isn’t a negative by any means, but it is different to what you usually expect from standard novels with their dedicated focus on driving the story to conclusion. Personally, I like to indulge in character personalities and their quirks, especially when they are as colourful as those Gail Carriger has created.
I’ve said it many times before. Modern books are in too much of a hurry to get to the finale. I for one like to meander and drink in the world and its inhabitants. Nineteenth century writing is utterly mesmerising for this technique, and I lament the lack of this style of writing in our time. So thank you Gail Carriger, please meander to your heart’s content.
Plot wise and the driving premise behind much of the goings-on in Changeless is intriguing, and I don’t think I’ve come across its like before. Although, since I’m not a fantasy reader, that may be an outlandish claim to make. A moving, widespread infection/affliction, affecting all supernatural beings, despite their kind or origin, really gets the mind ticking. I’m intentionally avoiding giving you specifics here, for obvious reasons. Although the title gives a pretty big clue.
Negatives? If I were really pushed, I might say the driving story doesn’t expand a great deal, but for reasons previously given, I didn’t mind too much. I was also hoping for more of the original duo antics from the insufferable Lord Maccon and the long suffering Lyall as we saw in book one. But hey, there are more books to come.
Oh, one final thought, happenings in the last few pages utterly gutted me!
My copy of this novel
Orbit paperback edition.
Published in 2010
300 pages
ISBN 9781841499741