The Greyfriar

A vampire romance set in a steampunk world, where the strongest country is not the United States of America, but Equatoria, the place where the remnant of the once proud and powerful Europeans fled to, when the vampires attacked en masse and conquered Europe.

Here we are introduced to Princess Adele the heir to Equatoria, and Gareth one of the vampire princes of the European vampire nation, their story as they meet, each characters dreams and hopes and the question is there a happy ending for a human and vampire.....

As a first in a trilogy, I think it's a good opening, not a lot of action but when it comes, it sizzles, a lot of questions especially the magical aspect, since technology has usurped it...

On to book two then.....

È un peccato che questo libro sia così sottovalutato. Per essere un romanzo su vampiri e storie d'amore (genere ormai saturo) è scritto bene, non è volgare e non ha personaggi così stereotipati.

A more serious review will come soon, As soon As I'm at the keyboard :)

In 1870 the vampires rose up and conquered the northern lands of Earth in a catastrophe known as the Great Killing. The survivors fled to warmer climes that the vampires usually avoid. By 2020 the two great human powers of the world are the Equatorian Empire and the American Empire. Princess Adele of Equatoria becomes a pawn in the coming human-vampire war. She is aided by a mysterious adventurer known as the Greyfriar. It's a world of airships, gas attacks, swords and machine guns. The story reads like an old-fashioned adventure serial come to life but with a healthy romantic element stirred into the mix. It's a fast-paced read, the first of a planned trilogy. It's got some fun action scenes in it and some characters that are not much of a step above one-dimensional. The story slows down a bit in the middle. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series.

I just love me a good vampire/steampunk/alt-history read! I love the take on vamps here. As long as they've been around, they are behind in terms of social and artistic evolution.

Looking forward to the next two books in the series!