Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1
The Parasol Protectorate
Paperback
Written by Gail Carriger
Adapted & illustrated by REM
Yen Press
Release date: March 1, 2012

Last year, I wrote about a deal for the Kindle ebook for Soulless, the first book in Gail Carriger‘s The Parasol Protectorate series. I had never heard of it, but two pages into the book’s online preview, I knew I’d love it. While this first book came out in 2009, a manga version of the novel, Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1, was released today by Yen Press that’s a great adaptation for both fans of the series as well as manga enthusiasts.

Soulless takes place in Victorian England in a world where vampires, werewolves, and ghosts live amongst humans. Along with the supernatural and the regular humans are extraordinary people, like Alexia Tarabotti, an unmarried half-English half-Italian young woman who’s not only considered a spinster, but also a little bit odd. People in this uptight English society find Alexia unusual because of her intelligence as well as her Italian physical features and seemingly hot-blooded temperament. Little do they know that she’s what’s known as a preternatural; she has no soul, and when she comes into contact with the supernatural, they lose their powers.

The eBook deal of the day today for the Amazon Kindle is the 2009 steampunk paranormal romance Soulless, the first book in the The Parasol Protectorate series, by Gail Carriger for only $1.99 (that’s 75% off the list price of $7.99).

Note, this deal is valid only for today, Tuesday, September 13, 2011, until midnight PST.

If you’d like to own a physical copy of Soulless, the book is also available in paperback for $7.99. The paperback edition is currently part of Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, where you can purchase four select items for the price of three (see the Special Offers and Product Promotions section of the product page).

Tough chicks who kick butt. The continued popularity explosion of paranormal YA. Male wizards. Hard-boiled detective stories with fantasy settings. These were the most dominant urban fantasy trends this year, and they’ll continue well into 2011.

Standouts include J.L. Bryan’s Jenny Pox about a girl who kills people with her touch. It’s a welcome change from the emo, vegetarian vampires that populate YA novels; highly recommended reading. Brandon Sanderson and Paul Hoffman showed us the darker side of epic fantasy, while Jocelynn Drake and Kelly Meding proved that their female protagonists kick just as much butt as the boys do. Thomas Sniegoski sent us on another adventure with angel-turned-human PI, Remy Chandler, and Joe Hill gave us another compelling protagonist with Ig, a human who grows horns.

My top pick, as with 2009, goes to Kill the Dead, the second volume in the Sandman Slim series. We continued Jimmy Stark’s foray into the gritty, noir-inspired Los Angeles of Kadrey’s fashioning, and this book featured a fantastic, Gaiman-esque interpretation of Lucifer. Let’s hope that the forthcoming title, Aloha from Hell, is even better.

Here’s my picks for the Top 10 Urban Fantasy and Horror Books of 2010.