Michelle R. (mreneerouser) -
Helpful Score: 10
I finished the book and I hugged it. Yup, Im gonna admit it. I hugged the book. It was THAT good. You are going to have many reviews for this book that will do an awesome job of detailing what the book is about and they will do a much better job of explaining the story. Therefore, I am going to do a funky bullet point list of what I loved about this book and what I did not like.
What I loved about this book:
The characters- The book is full of them. These are not your superficial Ill-put-you-in-to-take-up-pages characters but characters with meaning and a story behind each one. You have Princess Adele, the main character of the story. In addition to Adele, you have (and this is just a few of them) Greyfriar (but who is he really?), Clark- the American War Hero (again- who is he really?), Colonel Anhalt (I loved him- he is so sweet), Lord Kelvin (I think he will be big in book 2), Mamoru (such an interesting character), Selkirk, Simon and one of my favorite characters Flay. The characters are so well written, I was never confused. Trust me, that is saying plenty!
The combining of genres- The book combines horror, romance, action, adventure, politics, war, steampunk, and satire with such ease that you dont even realize you are reading a book outside your comfort zone because it blends so perfectly.
The imagery- holy cow can the authors write (can you tell I cant!). The best I can do is give you an example-
Adele saw dark mounds scattered on the avenues, streets, and alleys. A closer examination revealed that the mounds were piles of dead bodies. The citys wide circles and narrow courtyards were heaped with bones. The turgid river Thames was at low tide and, as the airship skimmed over it, Adele saw white femurs and rib cages protruding from the muck along the shoreline. Nearly all the glass windows in the city were smashed, except amazingly, some of the stained glass of.
The vampires- These vampires are not your typical vampires. It would be easy to say they are vile, horrific, simplistic creatures that either destroyed or imprisoned most of the humans in the Great Killing of 1870 but that would be far from the truth. I cannot really explain the vampires since one of the rewards of reading the story is learning about the vampires as Adele does. Not everything is what it seems.
Ok, so I am going to stop now since as the top line states I am rambling. I forgot to write about what I did not like about the book. It ended.
Definitely my favorite book of 2010. A 6 star out of 5 (yup, I just wrote 6 out of 5).
What I loved about this book:
The characters- The book is full of them. These are not your superficial Ill-put-you-in-to-take-up-pages characters but characters with meaning and a story behind each one. You have Princess Adele, the main character of the story. In addition to Adele, you have (and this is just a few of them) Greyfriar (but who is he really?), Clark- the American War Hero (again- who is he really?), Colonel Anhalt (I loved him- he is so sweet), Lord Kelvin (I think he will be big in book 2), Mamoru (such an interesting character), Selkirk, Simon and one of my favorite characters Flay. The characters are so well written, I was never confused. Trust me, that is saying plenty!
The combining of genres- The book combines horror, romance, action, adventure, politics, war, steampunk, and satire with such ease that you dont even realize you are reading a book outside your comfort zone because it blends so perfectly.
The imagery- holy cow can the authors write (can you tell I cant!). The best I can do is give you an example-
Adele saw dark mounds scattered on the avenues, streets, and alleys. A closer examination revealed that the mounds were piles of dead bodies. The citys wide circles and narrow courtyards were heaped with bones. The turgid river Thames was at low tide and, as the airship skimmed over it, Adele saw white femurs and rib cages protruding from the muck along the shoreline. Nearly all the glass windows in the city were smashed, except amazingly, some of the stained glass of.
The vampires- These vampires are not your typical vampires. It would be easy to say they are vile, horrific, simplistic creatures that either destroyed or imprisoned most of the humans in the Great Killing of 1870 but that would be far from the truth. I cannot really explain the vampires since one of the rewards of reading the story is learning about the vampires as Adele does. Not everything is what it seems.
Ok, so I am going to stop now since as the top line states I am rambling. I forgot to write about what I did not like about the book. It ended.
Definitely my favorite book of 2010. A 6 star out of 5 (yup, I just wrote 6 out of 5).
Helpful Score: 4
3.5 stars.
It's a good but not a great read. Maybe reading all those 5 stars reviews set the bar too high. Reading the first 100+/- pages I even wondered what all the fuss was about and almost sat the book aside. But I stayed with it since EVERYONE gave the books such wonderful reviews. I'm glad I did. The second half of the book was non-stop action even if many of the secondary characters were underdeveloped and one dimensional at best. In the end I did end up liking it...I even thought about the book all night after reading the final chapter...but to me a 5* review has to be more. Great from beginning to end, rich characters through out and this book just didn't have that. Still looking forward to the next in the series and hoping for more character development.
It's a good but not a great read. Maybe reading all those 5 stars reviews set the bar too high. Reading the first 100+/- pages I even wondered what all the fuss was about and almost sat the book aside. But I stayed with it since EVERYONE gave the books such wonderful reviews. I'm glad I did. The second half of the book was non-stop action even if many of the secondary characters were underdeveloped and one dimensional at best. In the end I did end up liking it...I even thought about the book all night after reading the final chapter...but to me a 5* review has to be more. Great from beginning to end, rich characters through out and this book just didn't have that. Still looking forward to the next in the series and hoping for more character development.
Helpful Score: 3
I have been wanting to read this book forever. I finally got a copy from the library and then that same week ended up going to BEA and was able to get a copy signed and meet Clay and Susan Griffith. They were a lot of fun to talk to and very nice. So, I was really excited to read this book and I wasn't disappointed. The second book in the series, The Rift Walker, is due for a September 2011 release.
Princess Adele of the Equatorian Empire is on a ship that is attacked by a horde of vampires. At first things are looking up when the Greyfriar (a mysterious vigilante) saves her; but then she is captured by the evil Caesar and held in the Tower of London in vampire occupied Britain. Adele becomes the catalyst for a final battle between the human and vampire species; along the way she finds out that vampires may not be exactly what humanity thinks.
This was an absolutely excellent book. The storyline is epic and the world incredibly creative. The story is part alternate history, part post-apocalyptic, and part steampunk...with a little epic fantasy thrown in for good measure.
The Griffiths have created an incredibly detailed and interesting world. Vampires have trouble surviving in warm climates which has driven humanity to the hottest parts of the planet. The politics within human factions and vampire factions are complex and interesting to read about. There is a lot of creativity in this story and many things which I haven't seen anywhere else. The human parts of the world have a steampunk feel to them too which adds even more to the story.
The characters of Adele and Greyfriar are engaging, have a lot of depth to them, and as a reader you really want to know them better. You can't help but root for them and hope that everything will work out. Side characters in the book weren't as filled out as they could have been, but that is a small quibble. I do hope that in future books we get to learn more about Adele's mentor and spend more time with her younger brother.
The plot is full of twists and turns and you can never predict what will happen next. This makes for a very engaging book and really pulls the reader through the novel. The novel ends well, but leaves a lot of issues unresolved for future books. The writing style is well done and easy to read.
The only other small complaint I have is that the chapters that depict Senator Clark (Adele's intended) going to war were a bit of a struggle to get through. It wasn't that they were poorly written...it was just that I loved reading about Adele and the Greyfriar so much more that I just wanted to get through the Senator Clark parts. I am hoping in future installments Senator Clark will be more filled out and we will learn either to love or hate him with greater passion :-)
Overall this was a spectacular read. It is very creative, the world-building was incredible, and Adele and Greyfriar are captivating characters. The writing style was very well done and easy to read and it was hard to put the book down. I love the detail that went into world-building and love how many fantasy elements (historical, post-apocalyptic, steampunk, epic) went into making this story. I am very excited to read The Rift Walker when it releases in September.
Princess Adele of the Equatorian Empire is on a ship that is attacked by a horde of vampires. At first things are looking up when the Greyfriar (a mysterious vigilante) saves her; but then she is captured by the evil Caesar and held in the Tower of London in vampire occupied Britain. Adele becomes the catalyst for a final battle between the human and vampire species; along the way she finds out that vampires may not be exactly what humanity thinks.
This was an absolutely excellent book. The storyline is epic and the world incredibly creative. The story is part alternate history, part post-apocalyptic, and part steampunk...with a little epic fantasy thrown in for good measure.
The Griffiths have created an incredibly detailed and interesting world. Vampires have trouble surviving in warm climates which has driven humanity to the hottest parts of the planet. The politics within human factions and vampire factions are complex and interesting to read about. There is a lot of creativity in this story and many things which I haven't seen anywhere else. The human parts of the world have a steampunk feel to them too which adds even more to the story.
The characters of Adele and Greyfriar are engaging, have a lot of depth to them, and as a reader you really want to know them better. You can't help but root for them and hope that everything will work out. Side characters in the book weren't as filled out as they could have been, but that is a small quibble. I do hope that in future books we get to learn more about Adele's mentor and spend more time with her younger brother.
The plot is full of twists and turns and you can never predict what will happen next. This makes for a very engaging book and really pulls the reader through the novel. The novel ends well, but leaves a lot of issues unresolved for future books. The writing style is well done and easy to read.
The only other small complaint I have is that the chapters that depict Senator Clark (Adele's intended) going to war were a bit of a struggle to get through. It wasn't that they were poorly written...it was just that I loved reading about Adele and the Greyfriar so much more that I just wanted to get through the Senator Clark parts. I am hoping in future installments Senator Clark will be more filled out and we will learn either to love or hate him with greater passion :-)
Overall this was a spectacular read. It is very creative, the world-building was incredible, and Adele and Greyfriar are captivating characters. The writing style was very well done and easy to read and it was hard to put the book down. I love the detail that went into world-building and love how many fantasy elements (historical, post-apocalyptic, steampunk, epic) went into making this story. I am very excited to read The Rift Walker when it releases in September.
Helpful Score: 2
OMG, great great vamp story. So NOT the norm. I loved everything about this book, excpet that there arent more out! Just a great spin on the vamp world and the future. Loved it!!! A+
Helpful Score: 1
This book was fantastic. I loved it! All I can say is that I want the sequel... Now! I can't wait to see what happens next. I loved the way the the characters grew and changed during the story, and the relationship between the main characters- *sigh!* (I don't want to give any spoilers!) The authors left so much story that needs to happen... Lots of potential for a terrific series. Definitely a great read.
Since this was alternative history (and a mix of a handful of other genres), it was disappointing to see women's roles largely unchanged.
That being said, I liked Adele a lot. The authors could have made her weak and stupid, but they didn't. Flay was also a great villain.
I wondered at the Greyfriar's identity. His secret doesn't come as a complete surprise, but it's still a good twist.
I really, really don't like Senator Clark.
With all the books out there featuring vampires as good, this was different. It was refreshing to read one that the vampires are evil, horrible things that hold absolutely no regard for human life.
That being said, I liked Adele a lot. The authors could have made her weak and stupid, but they didn't. Flay was also a great villain.
I wondered at the Greyfriar's identity. His secret doesn't come as a complete surprise, but it's still a good twist.
I really, really don't like Senator Clark.
With all the books out there featuring vampires as good, this was different. It was refreshing to read one that the vampires are evil, horrible things that hold absolutely no regard for human life.
