Changeless (novel)

Changeless
Front cover of the 1st U.S. edition
Author(s)	Gail Carriger
Cover artist	Lauren Panepinto[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Parasol Protectorate
Genre(s)	Steampunk, Paranormal romance
Publisher	Orbit
Publication date	01 April 2010 (1st edition)
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	400pp (1st edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0316074144
OCLC Number	449868635
Preceded by	Soulless
Followed by	Blameless

Changeless is a steampunk paranormal romance novel by Gail Carriger. First published in April 2010 by Orbit Books, Changeless is the second book in a projected five-novel "The Parasol Protectorate" series, each featuring Alexia Tarabotti, a woman without a soul, as its lead character. The book, originally published as a "mass-market" paperback, was a New York Times Best Seller.

Plot

Changeless is set in an alternate history version of Victorian England where werewolves and vampires are accepted as functioning members of society. Alexia Tarabotti still has no soul but she does now have a husband. Now known as Lady Maccon, Alexia finds her werewolf husband in distress. His sudden disappearance entangles her with a regiment of supernatural soldiers, a group of exorcised ghosts, and Queen Victoria herself. Alexia uses her sharp tongue, keen mind, and her trusty parasol in her effort to solve the problems put before her and to locate Lord Maccon. Her search takes her to Scotland and a werewolf pack where the fact that she is "soulless", and thus unaffected by the powers of supernatural beings, can make all the difference.^[2]

Publication history

• 2010, USA, Orbit Books ISBN 0-316-07414-4, Pub date 1 April 2010, Paperback
• 2010, UK, Orbit Books ISBN 1-841-49974-9, Pub date 2 September 2010, Paperback
• 2011, Germany, Blanvalet ISBN 978-3-442-37650-6, Pub date 18 July 2011, Paperback (in German as Brennende Finsternis ("Burning Darkness") translated by Anita Nirschl)^[3]

The author's official website also lists a French language edition by Orbit France/Calmann Levy, a Spanish language edition to be released by Versátil, plus an Italian language edition by Baldini & Castoldi, all with "unknown" upcoming publication dates.^[4] In November 2010, the author announced that Proszynski will publish the novel in Poland and Hayakawa will publish it in Japan, neither with announced publication dates.

The original US cover for the novel was designed by Lauren Panepinto, Creative Director for Orbit Books and Yen Press.^[1] The model portraying heroine Alexia Tarabotti on the US cover is actress Donna Ricci.^[5] The original photograph of Ricci for this cover was taken by Derek Caballero.^[6]

Reception

Changeless spent two weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, peaking at #20 on the Paperback Mass Market Fiction list in the week ending April 3, 2010.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Adaptations

In September 2010, Carriger's literary agent announced that worldwide rights to adapt the first three novels in the Alexia Tarabotti series as graphic novels have been sold to Yen Press.^[11][12] Yen Press, like series publisher Orbit Books, is a division of Hachette Book Group.^[12][13]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Panepinto, Lauren (March 8, 2010). "“Blameless”, or “How To Design A Cover in 1:55 seconds”". Orbit Books. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2010/03/08/blameless-or-how-to-design-a-cover-in-155-seconds/. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
2. ^ Donati, Cristina (April 28, 2010). "Steampunk sotto il parasole" (in Italian). Fantasy Magazine. http://www.fantasymagazine.it/notizie/12307/steampunk-sotto-il-parasole/. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
3. ^ "Gail Carriger" (in German). Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH. http://www.randomhouse.de/author/author.jsp?per=378065. Retrieved December 8, 2010. 
4. ^ "Book Nitty Gritty". Gail Carriger official website. http://www.gailcarriger.com/shop.php. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
5. ^ Panepinto, Lauren (November 21, 2009). "New York Book Show 09 Winners!". Orbit Books. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2009/11/21/new-york-book-show-09-winners/. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
6. ^ Panepinto, Lauren (February 1, 2011). "Cover Launch: HEARTLESS by Gail Carriger!". Orbit Books. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2011/02/01/cover-launch-heartless-by-gail-carriger/. Retrieved February 2, 2011. 
7. ^ "Best Sellers: Paperback Mass-Market Fiction". The New York Times. April 18, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2010-04-18/mass-market-paperback/list.html. Retrieved March 31, 2011. 
8. ^ "Full Steampunk Ahead". Oberlin Alumni Magazine (Oberlin College). Spring 2010. http://oberlin.edu/alummag/spring2010/obo.html. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
9. ^ "Weekly Bestsellers: Weekend ending 13 April 2010". Locus. April 18, 2010. http://www.locusmag.com/Monitor/2010/Bestsellers0413.html. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
10. ^ "Weekly Bestsellers: Weekend ending 20 April 2010". Locus. April 25, 2010. http://www.locusmag.com/Monitor/2010/Bestsellers0420.html. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
11. ^ "News". Nelson Literary Agency. http://www.nelsonagency.com/news.html. Retrieved September 23, 2010. "JUST SOLD: Graphic novel rights to the first three books in NYT bestselling author Gail Carriger’s Alexia Tarabotti series: Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless, to Kurt Hassler at Yen Press by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency." 
12. ^ ^{a b} "Gail Carriger's Alexia Tarabotti to Become Graphic Novels". The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review. September 9, 2010. http://booktionary.blogspot.com/2010/09/news-gail-carrigers-alexia-tarabotti-to.html. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 
13. ^ Andriani, Lynn (August 23, 2010). "Orbit Makes a Third Rotation". Publishers Weekly. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/44226-orbit-makes-a-third-rotation.html. Retrieved September 22, 2010. 

External links

• Changeless at Orbit Books
• Gail Carriger's official site