ARC Review: Competence by Gail Carriger

Competence (The Custard Protocol #3)
By Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Format: eARC
Source: Author
Publication Date: July 17, 2018

To Sum It Up: The Spotted Custard is off on another adventure, this time in search of vampires in Peru. The airship’s crew must first, however, solve the rather pesky problem of a helium leak. It’s up to the Spotted Custard’s always dependable purser Primrose Tunstell to help find a way to save the day. Meanwhile, back on board the airship, Prim’s twin Percy just wants to be left alone with his books instead of dealing with the mayhem that typically follows wherever the Spotted Custard goes.

Review: It’s been a while since we last checked in with the motley crew of the Spotted Custard, but the newest installment in Gail Carriger’s The Custard Protocol series was absolutely worth the wait! I didn’t realize how much I missed this group of adorably quirky characters until I started reading Competence.

The title is very fitting here, as the novel focuses on Primrose Tunstell, probably the most reliable member of Captain Prudence Akeldama’s crew. Prim is practical where Rue is whimsical, and so the two best friends balance each other out very well. Prim is also like a mother to practically everyone on the airship, and you truly get the sense that the crew is one big family. It wouldn’t be a family without some dysfunction, of course, but even with so many different personalities on board that are often at odds with one another, they’re at odds in an endearing way.

Competence also puts Prim’s brother, Percy, in the spotlight. The Tunstell twins could not be any less identical, with Prim the epitome of etiquette and Percy happiest in the company of his books. I have to say, I found Percy’s pedantry and aversion to human interaction quite amusing. There were many laugh out loud moments involving just about everybody aboard the Spotted Custard, and the riotous humor is one of the reasons why I love Gail Carriger’s books so much. She has such a knack for writing witty phrases. The banter between the characters is especially scintillating.

While there is a story line centered around a hive of endangered vampires in the Andes, the novel belongs to Prim as she tries to sort out where her heart seems to be leading her versus what society expects of her regarding marriage and family. Fortunately for Prim, she’s surrounded by a family that loves her for whoever she is and will always welcome her home on board the Spotted Custard.

I can’t rave enough about how brilliantly the characters in this series have grown. They’re the backbone of the books, and Competence was another delightful escapade with this lovable bunch.

All in All: Competence was such a fun read! Prim’s character development is the standout here. The view from Percy’s perspective is also a blast. The ending sets up the final Custard Protocol book perfectly, and I eagerly await its release!

Review: Imprudence by Gail Carriger

Imprudence (The Custard Protocol #2)
By Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Lady Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama and her beloved airship The Spotted Custard have returned home to England, but it’s not a happy welcome that awaits them. Rue faces a most displeased Queen Victoria and is promptly divested of her legal protections under the Crown. Life with Rue’s preternatural/werewolf/vampire family has never been tranquil, but when the situation takes a very serious turn, Rue and the crew of The Spotted Custard undertake an urgent mission that is extremely dear to Rue’s heart.

Review: After having some pacing issues with the previous novel, Prudence, and just not feeling that the latter was on the same level as its parent series, The Parasol Protectorate, I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to read Imprudence. I changed my mind, though, after absolutely adoring Gail Carriger’s recent novella, Poison or Protect, which is also set in the same wonderful supernatural/steampunk Victorian world. I’d also seen a few reviewers on Goodreads with quibbles similar to mine regarding Prudence say that Imprudence was a much more satisfying read. Feeling optimistic, I picked up this book, and I’m so, so, so happy that I did.

Whereas the plot of Prudence never really seemed to gel, the sequel sports a well-developed story line that both brings closure for some Parasol Protectorate characters but leaves room for plenty of future adventures for Rue and company. This would probably be an opportune moment to mention that The Custard Protocol is truly a spin-off series, and you really do need to have read The Parasol Protectorate to follow what happens in Prudence and especially Imprudence.

I’m practically giddy writing about how much I loved the humor in this book. Imprudence just sparkles with wit throughout its pages, even in the midst of battle. Yes, battle! Rue’s poor ship finds itself besieged on multiple occasions, and the fighting is quite intense. Rue really steps up to her leadership role as lady captain of The Spotted Custard in this book, and it’s equally lovely to see the camaraderie that has developed among her plucky crew.

While all of the characters feel more fleshed out in Imprudence, Rue’s growth is perhaps the most striking. She actually turns twenty-one in the novel and is officially an independent woman, no longer under the protection of her parents and, thanks to the fallout from The Spotted Custard’s recent escapade, no longer afforded protection by Queen Victoria. Attaining her majority isn’t the only life change Rue faces in the book, either. A family crisis rocks the world she’s grown up in and alters it forever. Although certain events in Imprudence had been foreshadowed even back in The Parasol Protectorate, I still found myself getting quite emotional, and my heart broke for Rue. She gathers her courage, though, and leads her crew through not one but two missions. I really loved this lady by the end of the book and her quirky but endearing companions, too.

Overall, Imprudence was a heap of rollicking good fun that often made me laugh out loud, a very common occurrence when reading Gail Carriger’s works. Imprudence was also deeply poignant at times, and a frenzy of action at others. It appears that The Spotted Custard won’t be lifting off again for some time while its ingenious creator concentrates on some more novellas, so I’ll just savor these adventures in the meantime.

All in All: Everything just clicked into place in Imprudence—it was sweet, it was thrilling, and most of all, it was HILARIOUS!

Review: Prudence by Gail Carriger

* This review may contain spoilers for The Parasol Protectorate series.

Prudence (The Custard Protocol #1)
By Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Lady Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama is all grown up and sent on a mission to India on behalf of her beloved adoptive father, Lord Akeldama. But what should have been a relatively straightforward task turns into a matter of all sorts of intrigue involving a kidnapping and some supernatural hostilities. Rue may need to call upon her metanatural talents to get to the bottom of things as only the captain of a floating ship painted to resemble a ladybug can.

Review: When we last saw young Prudence, daughter of preternatural Alexia and werewolf Conall Maccon as well as adopted daughter of vampire Lord Akeldama, in the final Parasol Protectorate novel, Timeless, she was but a toddler. So too were the Tunstell twins, Primrose and Percival, offspring of Alexia’s dearest friend, Ivy, now queen of the Wimbledon vampire hive. Prudence finds everyone grown up, and here marks the beginning of the adventures of Rue, as she prefers to be called.

It must have been quite the challenge for Gail Carriger to not have Rue resemble Alexia too much (or Prim be a carbon copy of Ivy), and Carriger succeeds at portraying both young ladies with distinct personalities of their own. Rue is a little softer around the edges than Alexia, with considerably less bluster and bluntness than her mother. Likewise, Prim is a little more sensible than Ivy. Alexia and Ivy always did make a great best friend duo, and their daughters do as well.

Rue and Prim are joined on their journey to India via Rue’s dirigible, The Spotted Custard, by Prim’s twin Percy and Quesnel Lefoux, son of inventor Genevieve Lefoux from both the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School books. Percy is a brilliant academic who barely takes notice of anything not related to academics. His pedantry is quite humorous. Quesnel shares his mother’s love for gadgetry, and his other pastimes include getting flirty with Rue. Definitely keep an eye out for what develops between these two as the series progresses.

Parasol Protectorate readers will not be disappointed by the various appearances of some very familiar faces from that series. They turn up just enough to remind you why you love them, yet they don’t overshadow Rue and her friends. Carriger also does an excellent job of expanding the supernatural aspect of this world, pushing it beyond vampires and werewolves. Rue’s rare metanatural talent, which was introduced in Parasol Protectorate and which allows her to temporarily steal a supernatural being’s abilities, of course features prominently in the novel and further gives the world of Prudence its own personality, distinct from that of its parent series.

As thrilled as I was to meet an older Rue and her companions as well as catch up with some beloved characters from Parasol Protectorate, I can’t overlook the rather large issue I had with the book’s pacing. Nothing much of significance happens for about the first third of Prudence, as Rue and her three friends make their way to India. I found myself asking, “Are we there yet?” often because I felt like I was getting nowhere. The lengthy clothing descriptions could have been trimmed in favor of more action to move the story along. It gets there eventually, but that’s the point—eventually. Plus there was just something missing here; the wit that I’ve come to love and expect from Carriger’s novels didn’t seem as sharp in comparison to both the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School books. Nevertheless, I’m heavily invested in this new generation of characters and what happens to them and will certainly be picking up the sequel.

All in All: Prudence was very slow to start for me, although the pacing did improve markedly by the end of the book. It also didn’t quite have the magic of Carriger’s other two series, but I’m very hopeful that the next book will live up to the potential that’s been formed here.