Have you JUST finished this book? You want this blog post:
- What Happens After Reticence? All Your Questions Answered!
Reticence released in August of 2019
Reticence is the final book in the Custard Protocol series. It takes place after events in Competence and contemporaneous with those in How to Marry a Werewolf. (At least at the beginning.)
Here are some fun blog posts and resources that tie to this book. Research I did, chattering and amusement on the subject of the final Custard Protocol book.
The Spotted Custard crew is back for one last rollicking adventure! Watch Miss Gail tie up all those loose threads. Look out for appearances from beloved Parasolverse characters (and some less beloved) and learn everyone’s secrets… the hard way.
Percy, of course, could care less.
Or could he?
Author Thoughts On This Book
This one was written absolutely and utterly for readers. I suggest you be as caught up as possible by the time you pick this up. It is unequivocally NOT designed to be read as a standalone (I honestly have no idea if it does, you tell me?). It should be mad cap, hilarious, and surprising no matter what. But you will get all the inside jokes and cookies only if you’ve read the full back catalogue of the Parasolverse.
I talk about what it’s like to end a series in these posts. (My feelings haven’t changed much on the subject over the years.)
Dear Author: How Could You End the Series?!
- Ending A Series ~ Part 1: Practicalities
- Ending a Series ~ Part 2: Emotions
Books not in the Custard Protocol series but still directly referenced within the first few chapters of Reticence include:
- Poison or Protect
- How to Marry a Werewolf
- Romancing the Inventor and Romancing the Werewolf
- All of the Finishing School series but specifically Waistcoats & Weaponry and Manners & Mutiny
- Most of the Parasol Protectorate series but specifically Heartless and Timeless
Ace Artemis Fan Artist Percy
Extras Pertaining to the Characters in This Book
- Introducing A New Character, Arsenic! Plus Researching Lady Doctors in the Victorian Era
- Why Dress Characters in Victorian Sportswear? (Faith from How to Marry and Arsenic from Reticence)
- Arsenic character design board
- Percy character design board
- Dressing Percy & Quesnel in 1890s Menswear
- Spoo & Virgil character design board
- Rodrigo character design board
- Aggie character design board
ace-artemis-fanartist by request from queerspacenya Aggie from Custard Protocol – she is probably glaring at Rue
Background Research for Reticence
- Release Q&As plus Tidbits
- Tidbits & Behind the Scenes Research: including Vauxhall Gardens, Japan’s Meiji Restoration, featured food, and Lady Manami.
- How Does the Peerage Work in the Parasolverse?
- What Do All Those Latin Phrases Mean?
- The REAL Reason it’s Set in the 1890s
- Reticence subjected to the Page 69 test!
- Why are there two different covers?
- What Happens After Reticence? All Your Questions Answered!
- Some Super Fun Stuff ~ Links & Video
- All Blog posts specific to Reticence
Some of my favorite quotes from Reticence…
Arsenic’s unique point of view, I’ve never had the opportunity to write a doctor character before:
“No one was more easily offended than a male intellectual whose expertise was challenged.”
Sometimes it’s Percy’s perspective on old familiar characters that I had fun with:
“Ivy Tunstell had a loose relationship with vocabulary. So far as Percy could tell, it involved groping about for a word and having about as much success as one would locating a bar of soap in the bathtub. Whatever came out of her mouth as a result was squeezed forth and landed with a splash, surprising everyone around, except her.”
PRAISE FOR RETICENCE
“Carriger’s prose is playful and droll, with frequent laugh-worthy moments, tongue-in-cheek humor, and sparkling repartee.”
“Beautiful descriptions of Edo’s floating Paper City and other Japanese-inspired traditions adds to Carriger’s already richly built world. One of the biggest draws of Carriger’s steampunk travelogues is the writing style, and she again delivers witty dialogue and amusing internal monologues. This may be Carriger’s final Custard Protocol novel, but hopefully we’ll see more adventures set in her much-beloved, neo-Victorian setting. ”
Booklist
“This charming conclusion to the Custard Protocol steampunk series (following 2018’s Competence) sees the unorthodox crew of the good airship Spotted Custard taking on a new ship’s doctor before setting forth for Japan to investigate rumors of unknown shapeshifters.”
“I can’t really say too much more without spoilers, but I love being in Percy’s head, I want to be Arsenic, and Spoo is great! Lots of old favourites and future characters popping up to say hi. A satisfying adventure and rescue. Politeness, fisticuffs and tea. Everything we love and expect from Gail Carriger.”
“This was, as per usual for Carriger’s books, a fun read.”
“All three series have been too funny with Carriger’s unique take on steampunk and the paranormal, as she pokes fun at society’s rules and expectations.”
“This book finally allows us to see Percy embrace his place and prove that he is a truly valuable member of the Spotted Custard.”
“I did not realize how much I wanted a Percy love story until I read this book. It was everything that I did not know I needed, and I am so glad that it exists.”
Good Gossip Coming to the Chirrup
Next Chirrup will be chock full of gossip! I confess to disliking something immensely in Scotland/Ireland and I talk about a book of mine being soundly rejected. These are things I’d never post about publicly and are exclusive to Chirrup readers. Also, if you join by end of day Saturday (Sept 7, 2019) and confirm your email, on Sunday you can enter to win this awesome goodie box:
Yours not at all reticent,
Miss Gail
- Want more behind the scenes info? This stuff goes to my Chirrup members, because I love them bestest. Sign up here.
- Not into newsletters? Get only new releases by following Gail on Amazon or BookBub!
OUT NOW!
Reticence: The forth and final Custard Protocol Book!
USA & Canada: Amazon print & digital & audiobook | Kobo | B & N | Apple | Audible | Other
UK digital & print | Kobo UK | Apple UK coming soon I hope
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 New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger’s Custard Protocol series.
UPCOMING SCRIBBLES
- Fan Service Omnibus (SOLD OUT) Oct 2019
- Spring 2020 the next Delightfully Deadly book featuring Dimity!
- Need to know what Gail is writing right now? That’s in the Chirrup.
GAIL’S DAILY DOSE
Your Moment of Parasol . . .
Your Infusion of Cute . . .
Your Tisane of Smart . . .
Say this and thought, Bent YA, huh, I write that.
Your Writerly Tinctures . . .
How to Send Email Newsletters to Instapaper
Book News:
Gail on the BiCurean Podcast ~ Bi the Way
A conversation between 3 bi women about identity, relationships, and labels. Ranging from entertaining to serious, we explore the intersection between queer and straight cultural expectations of women and how being bi and “femme” challenges those expectations in both communities. (Quotes around femme explained in the episode ;p)
Quote of the Day:
“You can’t discriminate against someone based on their Hogwarts’ House!”
~ Borderlands overheard in the store
Your Moment of Gail
“I suspect it may be like the difference between a drinker and an alcoholic; the one merely reads books, the other needs books to make it through the day.”
(Interview with The Booklovers blog, September 2010)” ~ Gail Carriger
Questions about Gail’s Parasolverse? Wiki that sheez!