Custard Protocol series

## Genre Information

Historical Fantasy
Steampunk

Young Adult
Gaslamp Fantasy

**Custard Protocol series** — is a spin-off series to the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger.

 (Series Content Ratings Click on Explicit Ratings for details.)

## About the Series

* **Genres:** Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Steampunk, Gaslamp
* **Theme:**
* **Narrative style**:

## Series Description or Overview

A shiny new series featuring a marauding team of outrageous miscreants in a high tech dirigible charging about fixing things, loudly and mainly with tea. This series will explore the wider ramifications of a steampunk British Empire, not only how technology has altered but how vampires and werewolves have evolved differently all over the world.

## Books in Series

**Custard Protocol series**:

1. Prudence (Mar 2015)
2. Imprudence (Orbit July 19, 2016))
3. Competence (Orbit July 17, 2018)
4. Reticence (Orbit August 6, 2019) - conclusion

## World Building

For more information,
visit author's website at Author's website | World Building or The Parasol Protectorate Wiki

### Fantasy Elements

Vampires, werewolves, Metanatural and Preternatural (souless)

### World

The series is set in the same alternate steampunk Victorian world as Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series series, but it takes place about two decades after that series ended. The main characters of the new series are the children born to PP characters near the end of that series.

#### Parasol Protectorate universe

In Alexia’s world, England has both a human and a supernatural populace, with werewolves and vampires taking their places alongside humans in high society. The vampires live in "hives" ruled by their queens, and the werewolves live in pack houses ruled by their alphas. Even Queen Victoria is involved in the supernatural world. Although she is human, she has supernaturals among her top advisers. Steam-driven and spring-loaded tools, weapons, and transportation (especially dirigibles) enhance the lives of the characters. An example of the gadgetry is Alexia’s parasol with its abundance of hidden spring-loaded weaponry. This combination of Victorian London and steam technology is known as steampunk a science fiction subgenre that is defined by its four Gs: goggles, gadgets, gears, and guns.

### Protagonist

Lady Prudence (Rue) Alessandra Maccon Akeldama,
biological daughter of Alexia Tarabotti Maccon (soulless metanatural) and Lord Connall Maccon (head of the London Werewolf Pack) and adopted daughter of Lord Akeldama (aka Dama), wealthy vampire Rove. To understand the relationship among Rue and her three parents, you will need to read book four of the Parasol Protectorate series, *Heartless*. Rue has a metanatural ability to "steal" the abilities of any preternatural she touches skin to skin, but only at night and only as long as she remains in relatively close proximity to her "victim." For example, she can steal a werewolf's furry form along with its size, strength, and enhanced senses. As long as Rue maintains the victim's form, he or she remains a vulnerable, mortal human. Thus, you can imagine how unpopular her particular talent is in the preternatural community. The vampires call her soul-stealer, and the werewolves call the flayer.
### Series Character Profiles

The Honorable Miss Primrose (Prim) Tunstell
daughter of Ivy Tunstell, Alexia's best friend in the PP series. In the Parasol Protectorate series, Ivy was renowned for her colorful, over-the-top wardrobe, particularly her outrageous hats. Ivy became a vampire queen and a baroness late in the Parasol Protectorate series, but her twins (Prim and Percival) are human. Prim has inherited her mother's fashionista qualities, but doesn't go quite as far overboard, except for her hats.
Professor Percival Tunstell
Prim's scholarly twin brother, a good-looking young man who spends all his time in his dusty, cluttered research library and rarely lifts his head from his books.
Quesnel Lefoux
human son of Madame Lefoux (from the Parasol Protectorate series), now ward of Countess Nadasdy, vampire queen of the Woolsey Hive. He has been Rue's nemesis since childhood and is now a handsome playboy. Rue is attracted to him (and he to her) but she continues to regard him as a frenemy who cannot be fully trusted. Quesnel has always been one of the few males Rue had ever met whom she could not manage, and that always keeps her off balance when she is in his flirtatious presence. "As a result, he was prone to either making her head spin with banter, or overwhelming her with the desire to dump tea on his head, sometimes both at the same time."
## Book Descriptions

1. Prudence (2015)
From New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger comes a new novel in the world of the Parasol Protectorate starring Prudence, the daughter of Alexia Tarabotti.
When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Custard and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea. But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones?
2. Imprudence (2016)
Rue and the crew of the Spotted Custard return from India with revelations that shake the foundations of England's scientific community. Queen Victoria is not amused, the vampires are tetchy, and something is wrong with the local werewolf pack. To top it all off, Rue's best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to the most unacceptable military types.
Rue has family problems as well. Her vampire father is angry, her werewolf father is crazy, and her obstreperous mother is both. Worst of all, Rue's beginning to suspect what they really are... is frightened.
3. Competence (2018)
Accidentally abandoned! All alone in Singapore, proper Miss Primrose Tunstell must steal helium to save her airship, the *Spotted Custard*, in a scheme involving a lovesick werecat and a fake fish tail.
When she uncovers rumors of a new kind of vampire, Prim and the *Custard* crew embark on a mission to Peru. There, they encounter airship pirates and strange atmospheric phenomena, and are mistaken for representatives of the Spanish Inquisition. Forced into extreme subterfuge (and some rather ridiculous outfits) Prim must also answer three of life's most challenging questions:
Can the perfect book club give a man back his soul?
Will her brother ever stop wearing his idiotic velvet fez?
And can the amount of lard in Christmas pudding save an entire species?
4. Reticence (2019)
Bookish and proper Percival Tunstell finds himself out of his depth when floating cities, spirited plumbing, and soggy biscuits collide in this delightful conclusion to NYT bestselling author Gail Carriger's Custard Protocol series.
Percival Tunstell loves that his sister and her best friend are building themselves a family of misfits aboard their airship, the Spotted Custard. Of course, he'd never admit that he belongs among them. He's always been on the outside - dispassionate, aloof, and hatless. But accidental spies, a trip to Japan, and one smart and beautiful doctor may have him renegotiating his whole philosophy on life.
Except hats. He's done with hats. Thank you very much.
## References

1. ↑ Goodreads and Author
2. ↑ Metanatural at Gail Carriger wiki
3. ↑ Gail Carriger wiki
4. ↑ Fang-tastic Fiction: Gail Carriger: Custard Protocol series
5. ↑ Fang-tastic Fiction: The Parasol Protectorate
6. ↑ Author's site World Building
7. ↑ Fang-tastic Fiction: Gail Carriger: Custard Protocol series