Prudence

I didn't expect to like this one so much. First of all, I haven't read any of Gail Carriger's other books save for Soulless which I found quite enjoyable, but ultimately the emphasis on Alexia and Maccon's romance kept me from diving headfirst into the Parasol Protectorate. Then along came Prudence. Described as a new series featuring the adventures of Alexia's daughter, this book sounded like a lot of fun. More importantly, it also looked different enough from the original series that I figured I might just give it a shot.

I'm so glad I did. Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama AKA "Rue" is definitely a force to be reckoned with! Like I said, I never got beyond the first book of the Parasol Protectorate series so this was my first introduction to this spirited young lady. I didn't feel disadvantaged at all for not having read the original series; Carriger does a great job making sure that all her readers can hop aboard at this point and enjoy this book on an equal footing.

Witty, vivacious, and oh so much less prim and proper than her mother, I just couldn't help but fall in love with Rue. She possesses an ability not unlike Alexia's, being able to negate the effects of supernatural beings simply by making skin-to-skin contact with them, except she does this by temporarily stealing their powers. So for example, by touching a werewolf, she in turn becomes a werewolf, leaving her hapless victim mortal for the rest of the night or at least until Rue gets far enough away to snap the magical tether. Needless to say, high society has gotten quite used to the sight of Rue running around the city in wolf form wearing nothing but her bloomers, much to Alexia's chagrin... which just goes to show how different Rue is from her mother.

Also, for much of Rue's life she was raised away from her birth parents by her foster "second father", the vampire Lord Akeldama. When trouble threatens to strike Dama's tea interests in India, he tasks Rue with the mission to investigate, because as everyone knows, tea is SERIOUS BUSINESS. To help her complete her quest, Dama also gifts Rue with her very own dirigible, which our protagonist promptly dubs The Spotted Custard.

Oh God. Never have I wished this hard for illustrations in an adult novel. What I wouldn't give to see a picture of Rue's red-with-black-spotted dirigible, because Rue being Rue, of course the first thing she does is commission it to be painted like a gigantic ladybug. Oh, and due to some kink in its engineering, the ship also farts loudly upon liftoff.

Yeah, I just about fell out of my chair from laughing so hard.

Such preposterous, over-the-top situations are everywhere in this book, making this a very humorous read - another point Prudencehas over Soulless, in my opinion. This fact makes the novel a regular comedy of errors, made even funnier by Rue's traveling companions who are all delightful but just as hilariously incompetent at pulling off a mission of espionage. You have straight-laced Primrose who forces the entire expedition to depart early due to an unexpected fashion faux pas, the scholarly navigator Percy who fills up his stateroom with more books than the necessities for basic living, and the rakish Quesnel who is constantly distracting Rue with his good looks and casual flirtations. Can India survive the crew of The Spotted Custard? That's the million dollar question indeed.

Another thing I really enjoyed is just the light smattering of romance, which in no way detracts from the main storyline. Something's definitely brewing between Rue and Quesnel, but their relationship is secondary to the central plot which focuses on adventure. There's no doubt that the exciting journey to India was what made this book such a joy to read, bolstered by Rue's eccentric brand of diplomacy and the antics of her friends and crew.

I'm also happy that while many of the major characters of Parasol Protectorate are featured in this book, the author keeps their appearances limited. This is strictly Rue's story, and I couldn't be more pleased with that. Of course, if you've read the series featuring her parents you'll have a better grasp on the lore and characters' backgrounds, but I didn't and I still had a blast. I actually likedPrudence a lot more than Soulless; after all, I didn't get a jump on the rest of the books in Alexia's series, but I'm very impatient now for the next book of Rue's! I'm so glad that Carriger decided to focus on this character, and I can't wait to follow Rue and her friends on their future adventures with The Spotted Custard.