Sophronia continues her education in espionage at
Mademoiselle Geraldine’s floating school – all the while fully aware that
nefarious plots are afoot. The anti-supernatural Picklemen are still plotting
to overthrow the established order and their schemes are well hidden.
As if that weren’t sufficient distraction for Sophronia,
there’s also Soap. Now a werewolf, the former Sooty sees much more hope between
him and Sophronia than there ever was in the past – but how far from social
convention is she willing to deviate?
It all makes it very hard to focus on her lessons.
Especially when all her training is finally put to the ultimate test
Sophronia I predictably awesome this book. As ever she is
skilled, intelligent, capable, dangerous and fun. But she also has some nice
growth and moral questions – including asking just what she has become with her
intelligencer training. Has every interaction become just another mission for
her? Has she become cold? Has she become completely incapable of trusting? As
is asked on numerous occasions, has she become hard and cold?
From that we also have some nice questions about exactly
what Sophronia wants when she finishes school and challenging some of the roles
that have been clearly expected of her
One thing I really like in this book is not just
Sophronia being, predictably, awesome and amazing – but her companions being
almost as awesome as well. Agatha, Dimity – both far too often her sidekicks
(not weak by any means, but certainly lesser in comparison to the awesomeness
of Sophronia) who’s weaknesses are far far more clear than their actual
strengths. They are defined more by their frailties than their strengths
And in this book we see their skills excellently portrayed. We see there are many ways to be an intelligencer. This series has always done an excellent job of taking the trappings of traditional Victorian femininity and making them strengths (which I think is sorely needed because so many books with “strong female characters” are strong because they eschew all things feminine. We have scene after scene of women who disdain clothes and make up and anything deemed female which is why they are strong. It’s unusual and powerful to have the feminine be strengths). This book goes a step further to make a lot of different forms of feminine strengths. Whether it’s Dimity’s gossip and social butterfly flitting or, equally, Agatha’s quiet, hidden wallflower nature. Always on the outside – but always seeing everything. (And I really love how, along with Sophronia, Agatha has found a way to forge her own future, free from the expectations and demands of society and her family. Agatha has courageously chosen her own path even as everyone acknowledges the risk she’s taken doing that).
Even Monique, long time enemy of the series, showed her
worth and skill. I really love this, where the Exceptional Woman is still so
common, seeing an awesome woman surrounded by awesome women is excellent. I
even like how Sophronia’s much mocked sister is given some humanising. I do wish
Prieshea had received the same treatment as the only WOC in the book
The depiction of Soap is interesting – and very very
satisfying. Throughout the series Soap has occupied a difficult position –
while clearly the man Sophronia was most connected to and most attracted to,
prejudice seemed destined to keep them apart. This is one of the elements that
has been well presented through the series – it would be dubious and
problematic to pretend that the era was not grossly classists and racist. It
would be a complete denial of the prejudices of the time and the atrocities of
history to think that Sophronia, an upper class white woman, could possibly
marry a Black working class man without there being considerable problems. We
see other teachers dismiss the lives of the Sooties as being completely beneath
notice. Sophronia repeatedly says that she cannot be with Soap because of her reputation,
because of the strictures of society.
Yet along the way we see her loyalty to the Sooties
repeatedly. We see her value the Sooties over and over, wanting to rescue them,
fearing for their pain and suffering and impressed by their skills and
capabilities. She’s also very very clearly deeply in love with Soap, something
that was clear in the last book when she sacrificed her future patronage for
him and is only repeated over and over in this book, especially since Soap now
sees his new station in life makes the seeming impossible now possible.
This
is an example of prejudice of the time being portrayed, yet at the same
time both obviously overset and challenged with a very satisfying ending
The only LGBT characters in this book are only recognisable
as such due to gross stereotyping rather than overt labelling and knowledge of
previous books. Lord
Akeldama continues to follow many of the same cringeworthy tropes. I also
dislike the depiction of mental illness we have here with the vampire teacher.
It’s unfortunate
that fiction continually depicts the mental ill as violent, dangerous and incapable
of sensible or rational communication – needing to be handled like small
children carrying bug guns.
I think this book is the last in the series, though I am
confident that, given the other books in the same world setting, this is not
necessarily the end of these characters. The storylines of Soprhonia going to
school have certainly been brought to a very satisfying conclusion. All the
plotlines have been nicely brought to a close without any threads left dangling
– and without any storylines ending clumsily or abruptly. Sometimes when a book
series ends it feels like there was a rush to cut some plot lines short – no
real ending was planned so they were hurriedly forced to a conclusion. Here
everything came naturally to a close while still making it clear all of these
characters could have more stories in the future. Sophronia and Soap, Agatha,
eve Dimity – any of these could go on for so many plot lines or be part of
other people’s stories in the future – the world grows full of these excellent women
and I just hope we get to see them all reappear in the many stories of this
world
