Gail Carriger - Prudence

The first book in the Custard Protocol series, published March 17, 2015.
Genre: steam punk
Cover: I like it.



Introducing the Custard Protocol series, in which Prudence travels to India for Queen, country...and the perfect pot of tea.
When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama ("Rue" to her friends) is bequeathed an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female under similar circumstances would do -- she christens it the Spotted Custard and floats off to India.
Soon, she stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis (and an embarrassing lack of bloomers), Rue must rely on her good breeding -- and her metanatural abilities -- to get to the bottom of it all...


If you loved Gail Carriger's first series, The Parasol Protectorate, I am sure you will loves this one as well. The main characters are the children of those in the first series, and just ad adventurous. Pruedence (Rue) is the daughter of Alexia and Conall, and she is a metanatural, she can borrow the preternatural abilities of those she touches, which can be inconvenient. Or a convenient manner of escaping a dangerous situation. Her best friend is Primrose, daughter of Ivy, who is a vampire queen, and her twin brother Percy is the third of the group. And then there is Quesnel, son of Madame Leforge of the first series, and I am not sure if he is really interested in Rue, or just having nefarious reasons for getting close to her.

It was a really fun story, with Lord Akeldama setting Rue on her way to India in a new dirigible, which she names the Spotted Custard (it is spotted like a Ladybug, and the hull is custard yellow, her favourite dessert), to procure some specialized tea plants on his behalf. And on this journey, Rue and her friends discover that there are supernatural species other than vampires and werewolves and they do like tea.
But Alexia and Conall have their own reasons of letting Rue go to India, and I can't wait to find out more. Alexia even gives her daughter (whom she keeps calling: Infant) her own parasol. Which of course clashes with her dresses.

If you haven't read the Parasol Protectorate books yet, and you want to read this book, I do believe you will enjoy it more if you know the background from the previous series.

8 stars.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian