March Book Club, week 4: Soulless, chapters 10-epilogue

[owlishbookish]

We have reached the end of book 1!  Let's discuss, shall we?

1. Do you agree with the Hypocras Club's agenda?  Do their methods make sense, or are they out of touch with reality?

2. What are your thoughts on the existence of the homunculus simulacrum in this book?

3. What do you think will be the outcome of a marriage between a werewolf and a preternatural?

4. What are your final thoughts on the book as a whole?

[elsiemae]

1. I also found their agenda weird since supernaturals had been out for a long time prior to this. But society always has a tendency to fear something different than themselves.

2. That thing creeps me out! But it makes sense that someone had created one. It seems like a society with lots of innovation and invention.

3. I think they are just opposite enough that they can make it work.

4. I enjoyed it. It was an easy read, and the characters were likable. I might read some of the other books sometime in the future:)

[joi922]

1. I think the Club's agenda is unsurprising. Even though supernaturals had been integrated into society for a couple centuries, there will always be some distrust of the "other" from certain groups of people. While I think their desire to understand supernaturals better was worthwhile (since the book made it clear that not everyone survives transformation, and people would want to know why, especially those who want to change), their methods were clearly unacceptable.

2. I agree with PPs - creepy! But I thought it fit with the steampunk genre, since it seems to involve mechanics and advancing technology. But I did think it interesting that the Club owner felt the need to create something that would just obey orders - and he clearly couldn't trust a human or supernatural to do the job. True, humans would have a hard time kidnapping supernaturals, but there were likely some supernaturals who would be willing to work for the Club, despite it's agenda (maybe a supernatural who was tired of immortality or had grown to believe in the same idea as the Club for some reason). So his desire for an automaton, despite being surrounded by people who agreed with his Club's purpose, I thought was pretty telling.

3. It's a class mix, so society will be shocked. But if I were her, I'd be wondering about growing old while he doesn't. What will that mean in 30, 40, 50 years?

4. I liked it. I hadn't read anything from the steampunk genre before, so that was interesting to me, and I'm into supernatural fiction. They're also quick, easy reads, which is perfect when I'm commuting on the train. I'm planning to finish the series, but didn't love it enough to buy them to reread in the future.

[somethingcleverer]

1. Do you agree with the Hypocras Club's agenda? Do their methods make sense, or are they out of touch with reality?

Like pp has said I found the agenda believable for the time. I could definitely see people experimenting on supernaturals to find out what makes them work and how they are changed.

2. What are your thoughts on the existence of the homunculus simulacrum in this book?
I think it needed to be in the book because that was the main way to capture or fight supernaturals one on one. It was creepy though and even given the genre of the book I thought it was unrealistic.

3. What do you think will be the outcome of a marriage between a werewolf and a preternatural?
I liked this marriage. I think they are the perfect balance at this point but like joi922, said what will happen as she grows older and he doesn't?

4. What are your final thoughts on the book as a whole?
I liked the book. I thought the beginning was slow but I would like to read the next book to see where this goes.

[rocksforludo]

Thanks owlishbookish! Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a quick, entertaining read. I'd probably give the next book a try if I remember to put it on hold at the library. I do tend to get bored with the supernatural themes as they've been done in so many ways in the last 10-15 years so the second book would have to have a unique spin from the start to get me hooked. If it's just more of the same from the first book, I probably wouldn't keep reading to the end.