• Competence

  • Custard Protocol, Book 3
  • By: Gail Carriger
  • Narrated by: Moira Quirk
  • Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (882 ratings)

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Competence  By  cover art

Competence

By: Gail Carriger
Narrated by: Moira Quirk
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Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Gail Carriger comes the delightful sequel to Imprudence.

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?

©2018 Gail Carriger (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Carriger excels at wry humor and clever phrasing, and her ensemble cast is thoroughly charming and satisfyingly diverse. There's a genuine sense of whimsy and fun running throughout this story."—Publishers Weekly

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What listeners say about Competence

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful!

This third installment in the Custard Protocol series is the best yet. I laughed out loud several times. It also deals nicely with trans issues, in a Victorian context, of course. Moira Quirk's narration was exquisite. This is one of the best narrated books I've ever listened to.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

I've read a lot of books by Gail carriger and have LOVED all of them... Except this one. I found that it focused mostly on a relationship - that I think could have been resolved within the first couple of chapters of the book- instead of on the fantastical action that we've seen in a lot of the other books. I felt like this book was merely a means to push a social/political agenda which felt very disingenuous. It was meh. Good if you like lesbian stories without any good romance and the only draw is the fact that they're two women, i guess??

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Hilarious and Madcap!

Another hilarious and heartfelt addition to the parasolverse. Ms. Carriger never disappoints. Excited to see what happens next.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fun read, more adventure than romance in this one.

This is the 3rd book in the Custard Protocol series and was well done. This book focused more on the relationships between the characters than the actual adventure to find new vampires in new lands. However, the story does get to that point eventually. I enjoyed the humor, adventure, and characters. I do wish that the story and plot had made a bit more progress though.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was well done. Moira Quick always does an excellent job narrating this series and I would highly recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

The majority of this book is told from Primrose’s POV; although we do hear some from our werecat, Percy, and Rue. For the most part though this is Primrose’s story and we watch as she tries to resist falling in love with our resident werecat.

I enjoyed the journey to foreign lands and the discovery of a new type of vampire; however the main adventure and storyline definitely takes a backseat to Primrose’s romance in this book. The story is generally well done but I couldn’t help but wish the story and romance had been better balanced.

Overall a decent book in the Custard Protocol series. I always enjoy the witty banter, adventure, and clever humor in these books. This installment was very romance heavy and I wish the romance and adventure had been better balanced (could have used more plot and adventure). I plan on continuing the series because these books are just so much fun to read!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another Delightful Story

This third book in the Custard Protocol series continues to highlight Ms. Carriger's ability to create believable, enjoyable, appealing characters in a world I wouldn't mind living in. She treats the varying sexual proclivities of her protagonists in a sympathetic, tasteful, and refined manner.

I've read or listened to every book that she has written to date, and she is one of the few authors whose books I will buy automatically without hesitation.

I believe she appeals to a broad variety of readers, and as proof, I, myself, am a retired, Conservative, teacher and artist who shoots competitively in several firearm disciplines, and enjoys watching the latest Queer Eye with my girl friend. How's that for busting stereotypes!



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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Don't care for Prim's love story

I usually like Gail's books but Prim's love story is a disappointment. Don 't care for it. Wish the author would stick to her style of the Souless Series and the Finishing School Series.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Tales of the Tunstall Twins

In Prudence, Rue was annoyingly confident in her own cleverness and superiority, despite both causing most of her trouble. In Imprudence, Rue seemed to grow up a bit, but we got very little of her evolution as she dithered over her love life. In Competence, Rue is barely more than a side character, and the book was much better for it.

In this installment we get the perspectives of the twins, which I enjoyed a lot. We get to see beyond the facades presented to us in the first two books, so they become more than an always proper lady and a grumpy bookworm. There's also more Rodrigo, Rue's soulless Italian cousin, and Anitra, who's backstory is interesting and wonderful.

As always, the actual action and supposed purpose of their latest journey is mentioned just enough at the start to give them a direction and wrapped up in a few chapters near the end, and the book is really about everything else that happens on the way. You get used to the style, I suppose.

I do not understand the complaints about Prim and Tash, to be honest. I found their story sweet and well paced, I didnt feel like Tash was being insincere or that she was chasing Prim just to chase something, and I definitely didn't get the impression that Prim was being forced into anything. She was struggling with the weight of her own expectations, as well as those of the society she spent her life trying to fit perfectly into, and her friends and brother provided her with support and advice, as they should.

All in all, this was my favorite of the series and this first to make me excited about the next book, rather than obligated. I even liked the very odd new vampires they meet and found their solution for them hilarious. The previous two books were worth the slog to get to this one. and I can only hope that it wasnt my lowered expectations that made it seem that way because I am now hopeful for the next installment, since it sounds like it will focus more on Percy again.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just listen to this book... again

When you read or listen to a book once, you know what's going to happen. It often takes away the surprise or impact of the story. I have no idea how many times I have gone through this book, but it still has me in tears at the end!

All of the books in the series are about found family. In my mind this one is the most about that, and it is awesome and very touching!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • NV
  • 08-18-18

Not up to the level of previous books

I thought this was very light on plot and felt like the writing was rushed with a lot of filler. I've enjoyed the previous books.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Oh my what a mess

Vampires werecats and dirigibles oh my
And s bunch of other things that have sadly made me take this particular installment off my list
I loved the very first Protectorate series and I suppose I saw this coming in the last couple of stories but No thanks and phooey

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