New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger writes comedic steampunk mixed with urbane fantasy. Her debut novel, Soulless, won the ALA's Alex Award. The following books were all bestsellers. She was once an archaeologist and is currently writing her YA Finishing School series. She is overly fond of tea.Carriger's latest novel is Waistcoats & Weaponry, the third book in the Finishing School series.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:
Lately I have been reading His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers. I just finished both Grave Mercy & DarkVisit Gail Carriger's website and blog.Triumph, because the final volume, Mortal Heart, is out this month.
The series premise got me initially: three girls from different backgrounds are deemed daughters of death and taken in to a mysterious convent where they are trained as assassins, called death's handmaidens. Each is then sent from the convent into the politics of late 1400s Brittany, and given her own book to detail her journey.
The first book, Grave Mercy, is about Ismae, an abused peasant girl, for whom the convent is salvation and her devotion to her god, Death, a redemption and a means to self actualization. Her journey is one of faith ~ learningto define faith for herself, to find faith in others, and to have faith in her own abilities and in love.
LaFevers's writing is rich with historical color, strong female voice, and complex politics. I gravitate towards books that showcase close accepting friendship between women and good romance threads. So far this series has hit all these points.
I'm very much looking forward to taking the third and final volume on tour with me this month.
The Page 69 Test: Waistcoats & Weaponry.
--Marshal Zeringue
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