Gonna keep this short because I feel like I’ve already said most of what I want to say about this series in the previous four reviews I’ve written for it. It’s fluffy. It’s fun. It’s got benevolent supernatural creatures in it who faff around being supernatural and adorable. It’s got puns. It’s got dirigibles. It’s got smoochies. And this one has pyramids and mummies in it. If you liked the first four books, you will probably like this one, too, although the ending was a bit of a shocker and I had to think on it a couple of days before deciding on a rating.
The focus here is the characters, so while there is arguably a “plot” (instigated by the disappearance/murder of the Kingair werewolf pack’s beta on a trip to Egypt, and a request from the oldest living vampire queen to meet Alexia and Lord Maccon’s two year old daughter, Prudence, who has the ability to temporarily steal the powers of supernatural creatures), you’re really showing up to watch them do their thing, no matter the setting.
I was particularly satisfied with the endings for Alexia and Lord Maccon (which resolves an issue I’d been wondering about since book one) and for dear Biffy, who once wanted to be a vampire, but ended up being stuck as a werewolf instead. Biffy ended up being my favorite part of this series, which I did not see coming after book one (which still remains my favorite).
I’m gonna take a bit of a Carriger break, and then it’s on to her YA series, and the two (so far) books that follow a grown up Prudence.
I haven’t read this but just wanted to say KUDOS on using the word “faff” in your review. A+ word. Hee.
It is truly a word that is not used enough.
You can also go the prequel books next, that series is complete.
I already own them :)
I just bought the first book based on the title of this review. I’ve read the first page. So far, things are going well.
Ha!
Well sometimes series end badly, and then I wish I hadn’t started. Knowing it ends in a satisfactory manner is important.
Are you liking it so far?
Oh yes. If my friends would stop having health crises today, I would be much further than chapter 3. But two “I have to have surgery” calls and an “I may have given you strep throat” have really distracted me from reading. Silver lining, if I do have strep, I might make it through the whole series this weekend.
Yikes! Tell your friends to cut that shit out. It’s unacceptable for them to be sick so you have to worry about them.
(Or as a normal person might have said, I hope your friends are okay!)
(I knew what you meant the first time.)
Cool :) Somebody misinterpreted something I said on Pajiba yesterday so I’m a little twitchy about things I type being extra clear now.