Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Parasol Protectorate Manga #3

Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 3

Rate this book
Condemned by society and her werewolf husband due to a pregnancy she cannot explain, Alexia Maccon--preternatural, tea afficiando--seeks an explanation for this "infant inconvenience" so as to cleanse her sullied reputation and prove her fool of a husband wrong. Preternaturals are a rare breed and the only history of their kind lies in Italy with the Templars, a group that once partnered with preternaturals to hunt down werewolves and vampires. Will Alexia find an explanation for her impossible offspring? Or do the Templars have other plans for the curious "Soulless One"?

212 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2013

55 people are currently reading
1886 people want to read

About the author

Gail Carriger

63 books15.4k followers
Gail Carriger writes comedies of manners mixed with paranormal romance (and the sexy San Andreas Shifter series as G L Carriger). Her books include the Parasol Protectorate and the Finishing School series. She is published in many languages and has over a dozen NYT bestsellers. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, octopuses, and tea. Join the Chirrup for sneak peaks of upcoming giggles: http://gailcarriger.com/chirrup

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
1,044 (44%)
4 stars
899 (38%)
3 stars
360 (15%)
2 stars
38 (1%)
1 star
16 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
Profile Image for Kim .
434 reviews18 followers
December 27, 2013
For whatever reason, this volume of the manga felt like it skipped more of the novel than the previous two. It felt quick and rushed and less satisfying than the other manga volumes. It was still totally enjoyable and I really love the manga adaptations. They just make me want to reread the novels though.

Lots and lots of male nudity in this one. This is not a complaint.
Profile Image for Sanaa.
458 reviews2,536 followers
August 17, 2015
[5 Stars] I loved all of these manga volumes so much! They just reminded me of how much I adore this world, the characters, and really just make me want to reread all of the books! So wonderful! I recommend all of these to people who have already read the Parasol Protectorate series!
Profile Image for Beth.
1,431 reviews197 followers
July 10, 2023
It's too bad this "manga" was only three books long, because I'd have liked to have continued to follow it as an adjunct to the original series, which had five volumes. Though necessarily a summary of the novels they're based on--somewhat like a movie might be--they're also fun and breezy, and REM's character designs are appropriate and appealing.
Profile Image for Lauren.
1,003 reviews923 followers
January 9, 2017
Ahhhh, what a spiffing conclusion to a truly sumptuous steampunk tale!

This volume was tense and hilarious in equal measure. Although, we don't get half as much as Lord Maccon as I would have liked, we do have Lady Maccon, Madame Lefoux, Floote (love that name) and plenty of Professor Lyall (he is very dreamy!)

Having been turned out by a very headstrong Lord Maccon for apparently "cavorting with others", a pregnant Lady Maccon makes an action-packed journey to Italy where she comes to reside with the Templars (who are not very nice people at all).

The central storyline in this volume concerns what Lady Maccon will have (a soul-stealer aka preternatual or a supernatural baby), or perhaps, it might even be normal. My only gripe is that we never do find out what she does have because it ends with her and Lord Maccon fornicating in a barn of some sort...not that I'm complaining on that score.

Soulless: The Manga has turned out to be an unexpectedly delightful and witty read full of vampires, werewolves, preternaturals and naughtiness. Lots of naughtiness! I have loved the dialogue, the illustrations and most of all, the characters.

I would definitely recommend the manga series to others especially those (like myself) who tried to read the novels and for some reason, just couldn't get into them. You don't have to miss out on the fun, just grab your parasol and your skirts and embrace the chaos!
Profile Image for Sheila Beaumont.
1,102 reviews173 followers
May 2, 2019
The third and final volume in this excellent manga adaptation of Gail Carriger's "Parasol Protectorate" series. Too bad there are no fourth and fifth volumes, but at least this one didn't end in a cliffhanger. If you haven't yet read the five original novels, they are well worth reading.
Profile Image for Bekah.
432 reviews44 followers
June 5, 2016
I am so depressed that it is over! I just marathoned the manga in one day and wish there was more! But now I can go grab the books and relive these three before carrying on to more crazy adventure! And if the books are even better than the manga, well damn! I can't wait!
Profile Image for Macarena (followed that rabbit).
300 reviews124 followers
March 18, 2020
Woooow! Such a gripping volumen! Quite an enjoyable read. It's been awesome to see these wonderful illustrations. They've brought a lot of memories from the fist time I read the books.
Sadly, there won't be more volumes.

Here I leave a couple of my favourite funny moments:

description


description
Profile Image for Amber J (Thereadingwitch).
1,165 reviews86 followers
September 8, 2019

The art was of course beautiful, and as with the rest of the books I love having a visual for this story. It's to bad they didn't make the last two books as well. This book was my least favorite of the series, and still is. Alexia was treated very badly in my opinion and she had done nothing to deserve it. I do like that this story does help explain some of the questions that have formed over the series, so that is always good. This marks the end of the parasol protectant series for me. I will be continuing on with some of the spin-off books though.

Profile Image for mith.
930 reviews306 followers
December 18, 2023
This series is very fun and I really wish there were more volumes! The dumbass husband got off way too easily tho
Profile Image for Zen.
2,977 reviews
May 29, 2023
Great ending. After all, I think Floote is my favorite takeaway from this series. He has had such a drastic change in lifestyle and I loved him for it. He stole the scene every time he was on page.
Profile Image for Katie.g.
435 reviews111 followers
June 13, 2014
I received this from the Little Brown Book Group as part of the Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Volume three of Soulless was witty and entertaining. Alexia travels to Italy this time, killing two birds with one stone by wishing to learn more of her heritage and to prove her stubborn, pig-headed husband wrong. This whilst being on the vampires most wanted list. Oh well, no-one said it would be easy. The plot gripped my attention from the beginning. It was fast-paced, action-packed and filled with humorous expressions and remarks that have been prevalent throughout the series. I really have come to love some of the characters such as Lord Maccon, Professor Lyall, Madame Lefoux, Lord Akeldama (though he does not appear much in this one) and Ivy. Now that I've finished the manga, I miss them already.

I feel like I can't talk much about the plot without giving it away, so instead I'll focus on other aspects. I've really come to love the superb artwork. It is gorgeous, cleverly adds humor to the series and has been carefully crafted to make a fantastic manga. The beauty is in the detail. I admit that it has rekindled my long-dormant liking for manga so I might read some more in the future. The story has made me curious to read the original series and as it's quite possible that this is the last manga that Rem will do for the series, I will need to read them to find out how Alexia's and Lord Maccon's story ends. Though I do hope that Rem reconsiders as reading this manga has been quite fun. I can easily see myself re-reading this in the future.
Profile Image for Catherine Philhower.
274 reviews20 followers
December 24, 2013
This is not my normal genre, but I was pleasantly surprised and have so far made my way through the entire series. This is a quick, fun read, and Carriger has created a character in Alexia Tarabotti who is easy to love. In spite of her stubborn, practical nature! Also enjoy the love of Alexia's life, who just happens to be a big, hunky werewolf. What fun! This is the sort of escape novel that you disappear into completely and only reluctantly emerge.
Profile Image for Vail Chester.
859 reviews
July 19, 2023
They found a way to make the Knights Templar look even sillier when they wear their templar garb over modern (for the time) clothes...hearing it for the first time, I thought they were just doing the whole armor & sheets thing the whole time...
Biffy starting to look a little like Aizawa from My Hero Academia...alternate timeline shenanigans?
Also, boo to the fact they omitted Monsieur Truve, but kept mentioning him.
Profile Image for Michael.
729 reviews
September 2, 2018
The final manga version closes on a perfect note and might have me picking up the books next. Alexia runs to Italy to research the fate of the baby, and all sorts of mishaps occur, of course. It’s great fun.

I love Prof. Lyall in this. He’s a great friend and leader. Of course, we all want Alexia and Connal to get together, and to triumph over mad scientists and Templars! But the heart of the series is the relationships being built and how they keep growing. It is well done.

I loved the surprises in store for Biffy and Lord Akeldama, and much like I wanted a Magnus Bane book, I want one for these two. Especially now that Biffy is a ...

Exciting steampunk adventure! I love the Parasol Protectorate.
Profile Image for David.
Author 103 books92 followers
March 23, 2018
Manga adaptation of Blameless by Gail Carriger. Alexia goes to Italy and learns more about the child she's carrying and the cliffhanger ending of the previous volume is resolved. Another fun manga adaptation of a great series.
Profile Image for Lindsey Rojem.
1,028 reviews17 followers
October 22, 2020
It's been a long time since I read Soulless, so this was a great jump back into it and I enjoyed the artwork.
Profile Image for Ren Puspita.
1,470 reviews1,016 followers
May 16, 2023
4 stars

Why I forget to write the review of this Manga, despite already write for Vol 1 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and Vol 2 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), I have no idea. But I'll write from what I remember from this manga, since I often re-read it.

Soulless Manga Vol 3 is adaptation from Parasol Protectorate book number 3, Blameless. The story is a continuity from book 2, Changeless. Alexia now is pack-less, because her husband, Conall accuse her of infidelity. Werewolf can't sire a child, yet Alexia is pregnant. So, Alexia is trying to reach Lord Akeldama, only to found that her dear friend is gone. Accompany by Madame Lefoux and her butler, Floote, Alexia go to Italy to search the cause of her pregnancy. While, Conall is wallowing in his self-pity and pursue a career to be an imbecile because how dare he left Alexia to cater to her own needs while she's in a fragile condition! (spoiler: Alexia pretty much can solve her problem of her own).

For an adaption from a book, the manga is pretty much follow the story with some adjustments. I really love the way REM design the characters and because I love reading manga, the flow of the panel is pretty flawless compared to another graphic novels that I'd read that mostly just rectangle or box. Also, while Carriger describe that Alexia have big nose in the book, the said nose is pretty normal in the manga. Sadly, the manga adaption only adapt book 1 to 3, and the story of the manga end with happy note, but we know that the story of Alexia and Conall didn't stop there. But, I'm still happy that REM's adaption of Soulless is pretty much entertaining and one of manga adaption that I will always recommend.
Profile Image for 78sunny.
2,334 reviews41 followers
February 24, 2016
Den Manga gehört zu den am besten gestalteten Mangas und Graphic Novels, die ich kenne. Der Zeichenstil ist unglaublich gut. Klare Linien, tolle Umgebung, wiedererkennbare Charaktere... Die wenigen Farbseiten sind der absolute Hammer. Alles ist ja etwas Retro angehaucht und das gefiel mir super.
Neben diesem tollen und aussagekräftigen Zeichnungen bekommt man hier (im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen Mangas) auch jede Menge interessanter Handlung. Am Ende hat man eher das Gefühl ein Buch gelesen zuhaben anstatt eines Mangas. Das schaffen nur sehr, sehr wenige Mangas und Graphic Novels.
Zum Inhalt möchte ich gar nicht viel verraten. Bei dieser Reihe bin ich der Meinung, dass man sie wirklich in der richtigen Reihenfolge lesen sollte und ich möchte hier nicht spoilern. Wer die Reihe noch nicht kennt, kann gern meine Rezi zu Band 1 lesen. Es wird wieder sehr actionreich und überraschend. Lord Maccon hat sich ja am Ende des letzten Bandes so richtig mies verhalten und so beginnt natürlich dieser Band auch mit einer eher schlechten Stimmung. Beide Charaktere leiden unter dem was gesagt wurde und gehen auf ihre ganz eigene Art und Weise damit um. Lord Maccon hätte ich da teilweise schütteln können. Trotzdem wurde es wieder super witzig beschrieben und ist daher nicht bedrückend. Den einzigen Kritikpunkt, den es für mich gibt, ist mal wieder die eher geringe Handlung direkt um das Liebespaar. Es passieren viele Dinge die Alexia allein meistert. Sicher sind die auch super spannend und interessant aber trotzdem hätte ich mir ein wenig mehr Romantik gewünscht. Oder wenigstens mehr Szenen zwischen den beiden Hauptcharakteren, denn die sind immer super witzig.
Ansonsten kann ich diese Reihe nur jedem ans Herz legen. Sie ist wirklich eine der besten.

Wertung:
4,6 Sterne
Profile Image for Joanna .
459 reviews80 followers
September 14, 2016
I have to say that while I enjoyed reading the soulless manga as a whole I feel like I'm still missing parts of the story. Or more like the flow seems more disjointed. In this instalment I definitely felt more more than the last volume as if I was missing information. I mean the Vampires just all of sudden wanna kill Alexia? The progression into her being tolerable creature to enemy of the state came about rather quickly. The art was beautiful and I still loved all the cheekiness and wit but I still feel like the best way to get this story is by reading the novels.
Profile Image for Rachel.
2,839 reviews63 followers
December 12, 2013
I really enjoyed this manga, because it takes the very slow-paced action of the third book of The Parasol Protectorate series, and makes it much more fascinating, though I will say with a great deal more nudity than I would’ve imagined from reading the book (though this not necessarily a bad thing). I loved the “cabinet cards” in the front of Alexia and Madame Lefoux, and the middle of Conall and Professor Lyle (they are made to look like 19th century pin-up photographs).

This is the summary from my previous review of Blameless, which the manga is based off of: In this volume, Alexia has been turned out of her house by her husband Lord Maccon after he found out she was pregnant and assumed she had cheated on him (which of course she would never do). She stays with her family for a short time until she is forced to go elsewhere and decides to travel to Paris and then Italy to see if she can find out more information about being pregnant (apparently it never happens for soulless and even less so when combined with a supernatural like a werewolf). Meanwhile, the vampires of London have put a hit out on her and drones have been trailing her with intent for assassination since Paris. 4 stars.
Profile Image for Kate.
795 reviews15 followers
December 2, 2013
A thrilling conclusion dealing with the preternatural, Alexia Tarabotti, unraveling her heritage (both past and future). Along with proving her foolish husband wrong, and regaining her honor too. Again lovely illustrated depictions of what happened in the original book 3, Blameless. I feel saddened though because I heard they were finishing the manga with this book arc; and then not going on to the further Parasol Protectorate books (Heartless and Timeless). Those would have dealt further with Madame LeFoux's intentions, Biffy acclimating to becoming part of the pack, Lyall's secrets, and with the arrival of Alexia's child. It's good it ended on this arc, but I do feel like those developments should be shared. So anyone who enjoyed the manga should then definitely check out the novel series to read more on these characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jenni.
1,092 reviews93 followers
February 20, 2014
Volume 3 covers the third book in The Parasol Protectorate series, Blameless. I haven't read the third book since it involves a conflict between Alexia and her husband Lord Maccon and they are separate for some time in the novel. BUt I found I didn't mind that when it was in manga format because it makes it more funnier to read. Although I missed their connection and I'm angry that it took Lord Maccon so long to realize his mistake. Glad that he came to his senses.

I'm also a bit sad that this is probably the last installement of the manga series according to Gail's blog post:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

But at least it got a happy ending and that bonus extras was super cute. (PS. it involves Professor Lyall, Lord Akeldama and the recently-turned-werewolf, Biffy :D)
Profile Image for Louise.
773 reviews6 followers
March 26, 2014
This is another thoroughly enjoyable instalment in a humorous, energetic and well-drawn - the artwork and the writing - series. As with the second book, it suffers somewhat from the lack of interaction between Alexia and Conall Maccon as they are apart from each other for most of the book, and the cast of supporting characters is also diminished whilst Alexia is on her travels throughout the book.

The story rolled along quite cheerfully as always, although with more switching between situations as it took turns following the exploits of the different groups of characters. The illustrations too were as much an enjoyable part of the story as in the earlier books.

Overall another brilliant addition to the manga series for these stories, and I look forward to reading on and following the story to its conclusion!
Profile Image for melhara.
1,844 reviews90 followers
July 24, 2023
My issue with this novel remains unchanged from the first two novels - the story was just too fast-paced! Although I haven't read the original novel that this manga is adapted from, I have the impression that we're missing key character and relationship development that is probably found in the novels but was missed in this adaptation.

The artwork is great, but I don't recommend reading the manga adaptation unless you've already read the original novel(s) first.

----------------------------------------------
My average rating for this series: 2.33/5
My reviews for this series:
Volume 1 (2.5/5) | Volume 2 (2.5/5) | Volume 3 (2/5)
Profile Image for Natalie.
44 reviews5 followers
December 8, 2013
I'm in love with the Soulless series by Gail Carriger and so love the manga.
The storyline and art work in volume three is superb and sticks very similar to the book than other adaptions usually do. REM's artwork is fantastic and I was very excited to see all the details she puts into the drawings throughout this volume and the others. It really makes the manga something special and makes the steampunkness pop out from the page.
All the characters look like what you imagined from the books which is a great bonus. As a manga the action is all there and the storyline works really well. I don't think there was really any boring bits in it.

It's a great read and makes you appreciate the art and original story even more!
Profile Image for Marco.
17 reviews
December 18, 2015
I liked the story about the vampires and werewolves and that they are involved and accepted in the society.
At first I liked Alexia but in the second and third story she lost her silliness. That's kind of sad. Furthermore Alexia is a not a ladylike character in the first novel, but after her wedding she pretends to. I don't like it too.
However Conall is a very kind guy and I liked him from the first page to the last one.

All in all I love the novels, I don't know if you can call it a novel, and the idea of involved vampires an werewolves is very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.