The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.
Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.
Kate Locke writes a fabulous steampunk series here with The Immortal Empire series--among many others--starting it out with God Save the Queen! It was easy to get lost into this book, even more so forgetting that it's still 2012! I think that's part of the fun of some steampunk novels, time really doesn't matter much! It can be 2012 or the 1800s and there's still so much excitement going on!
Locke does an excellent job of setting up her London! There's a lot of detail, yet nothing too overwhelming. There are still some modern conveniences too, just with a different flair to it! There's even a handy glossary in back, plus a little history section with some details on the supernaturals.
In this world, there are vamps, weres, goblins, and halvies. The vamps and weres are aristocrats, while halvies fall in between and goblins are to be feared. The start of the novel has Xandra looking for her sister Dee who has gone missing. She tends to do so from time to time, but this time Xandra knows it's serious since she hasn't heard from her in so long.
What Xandra doesn't know is that by looking for her sister, her whole world is about to be turned upside down and then some! While on the search for her sister, she learns things about herself, her past and who she believes are people she knew well, everything she knows is about to be challenged.
There were quite a few twists and turns to this story and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! The pacing was well paced and fun! Just as Xandra begins to dig deep into the mystery, we have a conspiracy on our hands and she learns far more than she bargained for!
Her love interest, Vex, an alpha were was deliciously fun too! His character was spontaneous and very caring. He and Xandra did have a bit of insta love going on, but it was more like insta lust then it evolves into something more and continues to grow.
The ending was quite shocking. I mean just as we started learning more about Xandra, another bombshell drops followed by another and another! The finale was satisfying though. There's enough left to have you wondering what Xandra will do next, but the story itself seems to have a completed moment, with more on the horizon. You know what I'm saying? Basically the ending one expects from a first in a new series.
A very enjoyable read! There were laughs, shocks, and one or two gross out moments to make this a very entertaining read! I definitely will be sticking with this series!
Overall rating 4.5/5 stars
OOOh it sounds so good, I really need to try it as well!
ReplyDeleteOh, Excellent! I will have to check this one out for sure. Great review!
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