Timeless: Book 5 of The Parasol Protectorate

This review will be spoiler free for Timeless but will contain major spoilers for previous books so please don't continue reading unless you've already read as far as Heartless.I absolutely loved the earlier books in this series but for me it kind of started losing it's way in the last few books. I still enjoy the humour and I'm invested in the characters so I've kept reading but it just lost the little something that made it special. It started going wrong when Conall acted so badly when Alexia found out she was pregnant, I felt that she forgave his behaviour far too easily and I wanted to see him make more effort to apologise. I was glad that they got their relationship back on track though and I do enjoy the banter and bickering between them.What really threw me for a loop was their willingness to let Lord Akeldama adopt their daughter, I couldn't for the life of me understand why an alpha werewolf would let his daughter be raised by another man - especially a vampire! I would have expected Conall to be horrified by even the suggestion and I didn't think it really fitted Alexia's character either, no matter how pragmatic she usually is. For the pair of them to literally end up living secretly in Akeldama's closet to be close to their daughter just didn't sit well with me. It kind of felt like the vampires were constantly getting one over on the wolves, especially when Akeldama effectively tricked Alexia into giving Queen Nadasdy the Woolsey Manor! Once again Conall just kind of shrugged his shoulders and went along with it not even particularly angry that the vampires had effectively stolen his home and conned them out of lord only knows how much money it was worth.From that point on it's always been the vampires shouting orders while Alexia and Conall rush around doing their bidding and that continues into Timeless where they receive orders to visit one of the vampire queens in Egypt. I have to admit I enjoyed the journey to Alexandria, I loved little Prudence (who is now 2 years old) and I enjoyed the family interactions but I was so angry about the pack just going along with whatever the vampires wanted that it put me in a bad mood. This does tie up the series nicely though and I'm actually glad that it was the end of the series. I already have a copy of the first book in the spin off and I'm really hoping that Prudence's story won't have the issues that irritated me with this book. I'm sad that the final books in this series didn't live up to my expectations but I do enjoy this author's writing style so I'm willing to give her another chance.

The fifth adventure in The Parasol Protectorate takes the expanding family to Egypt at the special request of the oldest living vampire queen.Alexia, a perfect Victorian lady , despite the fact that she is in fact, half Italian, and her werewolf husband Lord Maccon are accompanied by their new daughter Prudence. Prudence is a remarkably talented child and stretches the abilities of both her parents in their attempts to moderate her behaviour (The Terrible two's strike again)Add in Alexia's rather silly but brave friend Ivy Tunstell, twins, her actor husband and a complete acting troupe and the adventure begins.Meanwhile back home, Biffy and Lord Lyall also try to unravel the origin of the God Breaker Plague.I enjoyed reading this book very much indeed. The main characters feel like old friends and the lesser characters develop nicely in this latest installment. I particularly liked the story of Biffy a vampire drone turned werewolf, he becomes so much more than a clothes mad dandy in this book and I'm sad to find out that this is the last book Ms Carriger is going to write in this series, because I would have liked to read many more installments set in this world.The descriptions are vivid, and the dialogue is witty and frothy enough to cause several 'laugh out loud' moments.The books joins the very few books that I have read in a single day, not that I am that rapid a reader it is just that it is too good to put down except when absolutely necessary.PS, I want a parasol like Alexia's .......

For any fan of the series this book is an absolute must-have. There were a couple of moments which had me gasping out loud, and one which made me cry like a baby.If you're new to The Parasol Protectorate series, this is an EXCELLENT book. However, get the first four or you will be utterly lost in the desert (pun intended, sorry!).As you may expect, it's not easy being soulless, married to the head werewolf, with a soul-stealing baby, and living in a vampire's closet. However, Alexia manages with grace, wit and liberal applications of tea. This story takes us from London to Egypt with a troupe of OTT actors via plot twists and resolutions which left me actually lost for words. The world Ms Carriger has built is completely absorbing and realistic, I felt personally invested in both the characters and the outcome of the book.In my experience it is very rare to find a series which has not only a happy ending, but one which feels 'right', and this one did. The loose ends were tied up, the twists were completely surprising - doesn't happen often when you read as much as I do - and it was a joy to read from start to end.Highly recommended!