Release Date: 01/10/15
Publisher: Pyr
SYNOPSIS:
The first Gareth and Adele Novel, The Geomancer is the start of an ongoing, character-based, urban fantasy series set in the same Vampire Empire universe as the authors’ previous trilogy!
The uneasy stalemate between vampires and humans is over. Adele and Gareth are bringing order to a free Britain, but bloody murders in London raise the specter that Adele's geomancy is failing and the vampires might return. A new power could tilt the balance back to the vampire clans. A deranged human called the Witchfinder has surfaced on the Continent, serving new vampire lords. This geomancer has found a way to make vampires immune to geomancy and intends to give his masters the ability to kill humans on a massive scale.
The apocalyptic event in Edinburgh weakened Adele's geomantic abilities. If the Witchfinder can use geomancy against humanity, she may not have the power to stop him. If she can't, there is nowhere beyond his reach and no one he cannot kill.
From a Britain struggling to rebuild to the vampire capital of Paris, from the heart of the Equatorian Empire to a vampire monastery in far-away Tibet, old friends and past enemies return. Unexpected allies and terrible new villains arise. Adele and Gareth fight side-by-side as always, but they can never be the same if they hope to survive.
REVIEW:
Duo-authorship is something that is very hard to do. It can, at times be painfully obvious as to who writes what and one style can over power another without helping the book move at a consistent pace. Characters can also jump with traits so when you get a book from two authors that works wonderfully well, brings good storytelling to the fore alongside weaving dialogue that furthers development, all round means that it’s a writing team that not only stays with you but allows them that honoured place upon your TBR pile.
However, there are times when there are a large number of problems and for me, this series really doesn’t seem to fix the holes in the plot for me. I find that it can go from one extreme to another, in some places it seems great, yet in others, it becomes convoluted and loses a lot of its colour keeping it monochrome in an almost faded way so that its not as well built as it should have been.
Sadly for me, a series that I won’t be sticking with but when they start something else I’ll give it a good go as I do see some things that they do pretty well within.
Release Date: 04/09/12
SYNOPSIS:
Empress Adele has launched a grand crusade against the vampire clans of the north. Prince Gareth, the vampire lord of Scotland, serves the Equatorian cause, fighting in the bloody trenches of France in his guise as the dashing Greyfriar. But the human armies are pinned down, battered by harsh weather and merciless attacks from vampire packs.
To even the odds, Adele unleashes the power of her geomancy, a fearsome weapon capable of slaughtering vampires in vast numbers. However, the power she expends threatens her own life even as she questions the morality of such a weapon.
As the war turns ever bloodier and Adele is threatened by betrayal, Gareth faces a terrible choice. Their only hope is a desperate strike against the lord of the vampire clans—Gareth’s brother, Cesare. It is a gamble that could win the war or signal the final days of the Greyfriar.
The Vampire Empire trilogy rushes to a heart-wrenching conclusion of honor and love, hatred and vengeance, sacrifice and loss.
REVIEW:
OK, so like me you’ve been following this series since the first title and left wondering how the duo will bring it to a successful conclusion whilst continuing the multiple threads alongside the treachery their inventive world is known for. Well worry not, this book contains all that plus more.
As with the previous the writing is not only crisp but also tailored to suit the principle players down the ground. The pace moves wonderfully well and when combined with character growth with emotional context alongside the double dealing keeps the readers glued to the final page. Finally add to the mix cracking prose and wonderful dialogue and all in, the readers are in for a treat. Great stuff.
Release Date: 15/11/11
SYNOPSIS:
This is a rousing pulp action steampunk epic adventure - and a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism. Princess Adele struggles with a life of marriage and obligation as her Equatorian Empire and their American Republic allies stand on the brink of war against the vampire clans of the north. However, the alliance's horrific strategy for total victory drives Adele to abandon her duty and embark on a desperate quest to keep her nation from staining its hands with genocide. Reunited with her great love, the mysterious adventurer known to the world as the Greyfriar, Adele is pursued by her own people as well as her vengeful husband, Senator Clark. With the human alliance in disarray, Prince Cesare, Lord of the British vampire clan, seizes the initiative and strikes at the very heart of Equatoria.
REVIEW:
Having not been fully enamoured of the first title in the series (Greyfriar) I wasn’t sure what to expect and to be honest I put this on the back shelf for quite some time whilst I prepared myself to endure a title for which I felt that I really would regret reading. What did occur however was the complete opposite, the problems that I had with the original seem to have been fixed, the characters are outstanding and with a fast paced action plot that takes the books principle players to Britain, its one that really did deliver what it promised.
Add to this solid authoring skills by the duo which when backed with great prose, solid dialogue and of course a few twists thrown in, demonstrated that a lot of the hard work of world building in the original, allowed for snappier pace as well as better character driven plot in subsequent titles.
Release Date: 15/11/10
SYNOPSIS:
In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright. Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the gray empire of the vampire clans. Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brought technology and a feverish drive to reestablish their shattered societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama, or the green temples of Malaya.
It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.
Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her wit as well as with a sword or gun. She is eager for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know. But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans
Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar is the first book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, Vampire Empire brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.
REVIEW:
To be honest I love a book that tries something a little different to the norm and these two authors have clearly thought their vampire physiology through from what makes them tick to how their bodies cope with their environments. Its cleverly done and whilst we’re lead to believe that they’re a sub genus of the human genome they’re different enough to create a fear and loathing amongst most humans, especially after the war in their alternate 19th Century.
The characters are fresh and believable, the dialogue snappy, however whilst the majority are clearly well thought out, Adele however, principle female lead and future Empire Leader feels a little too unpredictable as you get a feel for her to do one thing and she goes in completely the other direction with no real consistency to her choices.
It is not a bad title and all in it was readable but I can’t help but feel that things haven’t currently been fully thought out/discovered by the authors, so much so that if they don’t quite think things through quickly parts of future titles could well get away from them and lead to a hodgepodge mishmash that may well put the final nail in this worlds coffin.
