God save the Queen by Kate Locke is a captivating urban fantasy about Xandra, a kick-butt, tough, elite fighter in Queen Victoria's Royal Guard. In 2012 in this alternative magic-filled steampunk universe, goblins snatch children from the sewer grates of London, werewolves prowl, and the aristocracy (including the queen) are undead (and sarcastic as hell!) Xandra's sister goes missing and Xandra puts everything on the line to find her, unraveling some but well-hidden secrets about her family and herself in the process. The world-building in this novel is awesome. When I first picked it up, I thought, steampunk, vampires, werewolves...yawn, it's been done before -- but this world is amazing, interesting, full of supernatural creatures of all sorts, and completely captivating. The world is described in beautiful detail, but it is dark and gritty and scary. The monsters that walk side by side with humans are fear-worthy. The goblins are the stuff of nightmares, and their characterization makes Xandra's journey through the goblin caves to find her sister all the more courageous and compelling. The character-building is even better than the world-building! I fell in love with the characters, main and minor -- even casual characters have depth and personalty. Feelings are beautifully described, and Xandra is a sympathetic and vulnerable heroine, not withstanding all her toughness and rough edges. I have only read the first book, but I already pre-ordered the next in the series. I might just read this one again while I am waiting for the next one to come out.
Show lessGod save the Queen by Kate Locke is a captivating urban fantasy about Xandra, a kick-butt, tough, elite fighter in Queen Victoria's Royal Guard. In 2012 in this alternative magic-filled steampunk universe, goblins snatch children from the sewer grates of London, werewolves prowl, and the aristocracy (including the queen) are undead (and sarcastic as hell!) Xandra's sister goes missing and Xandra puts everything on the line to find her, unraveling some but well-hidden secrets about her family and herself in the process. The world-building in this novel is awesome. When I first picked it up, I thought, steampunk, vampires, werewolves...yawn, it's been done before -- but this world is amazing, interesting, full of supernatural creatures of all sorts, and completely captivating. The world is described in beautiful detail, but it is dark and gritty and scary. The monsters that walk side by side with humans are fear-worthy. The goblins are the stuff of nightmares, and their characterization makes Xandra's journey through the goblin caves to find her sister all the more courageous and compelling. The character-building is even better than the world-building! I fell in love with the characters, main and minor -- even casual characters have depth and personalty. Feelings are beautifully described, and Xandra is a sympathetic and vulnerable heroine, not withstanding all her toughness and rough edges. I have only read the first book, but I already pre-ordered the next in the series. I might just read this one again while I am waiting for the next one to come out.
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This a book with potential. Unfortunately, it was potential never realized. Everything in this book is too simple ... The bad guys, the good guys. Also the pacing was too fast. Too much happened with not enough explanation. Our heroine - Xandra goes from one spot of trouble to another. Next, the science of vampires and werewolves- it makes sense, but just barely. A mutation will not change a person in this effect, and the premise that it ended up in the aristocratic blood lines is non-sense, since the bubonic plague struck everyone equally - there should be a large number of non-royal vampires and werewolves. It would have been better to use haemophilia as the basis for the change, not the bubonic plagueI do like the premise of this world - a world that became static at the beginning of the plague, with change happening very slowly. The stratified society is also very interesting. I just wish more time was devoted to this.
Show lessThis a book with potential. Unfortunately, it was potential never realized. Everything in this book is too simple ... The bad guys, the good guys. Also the pacing was too fast. Too much happened with not enough explanation. Our heroine - Xandra goes from one spot of trouble to another. Next, the science of vampires and werewolves- it makes sense, but just barely. A mutation will not change a person in this effect, and the premise that it ended up in the aristocratic blood lines is non-sense, since the bubonic plague struck everyone equally - there should be a large number of non-royal vampires and werewolves. It would have been better to use haemophilia as the basis for the change, not the bubonic plagueI do like the premise of this world - a world that became static at the beginning of the plague, with change happening very slowly. The stratified society is also very interesting. I just wish more time was devoted to this.
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First off I fell in love with this cover - how could you not? Awesome colours, fun text and a wicked chick with a gun and a corset! The book that was sent to me is a cute little hardcover book with no dust jacket and it's smaller than a normal paperback in height. Quite unique.Now for the actual plot, location and characters. The location is pretty intriguing in itself with this being 2012 England, but in a totally different context than expected. Things seem to be a mix of 1930s vintage and modern technology - they have the vintage cars, clothes and buildings and some even have old ideas on how things should be while they have updated medical, technology and warfare. It's quite an interesting mix of things. And the best part of the plot outline is that it is based around people having mutated genes due to a plague like virus called Black Death which caused a special protein called the Prometheus Protein to change people into either vampires or werewolves. These enhanced humans carry the strains that cause either or and some can even become halvies where they have half-human/vamp or half-human/were characteristics. The full blooded vamps and weres are mostly of the aristocratic lineage and maintain high positions among the hierarchy. Then there are the true Plague victims that resulted in Goblins - they are scary and completely creepy - no one dares to go near them unless they wish death upon themselves. Now the characters are even more interesting. Xandra is by far a kick ass heroine. Her position as Royal Guard puts her in the mentality of not taking shit from anyone and she is completely full of snark - I love it! She doesn't take no for an answer especially when it comes to anything involving her family or friends. Xandra is completely full of surprises and comes up with all kinds of creative ways around the situations that she gets herself into, thank goodness for all of that special forces training. She also has a huge heart when it comes to family and her family is quite varied. When she finds out one of her sisters is missing she stops at nothing until she uncovers the truth of her disappearance, even if it means finding out things she never thought possible.There is a wonderful romance that sparks up in this story as well as a few misplaced and misguided feelings from a few others that Xandra is not so sure about. Things get complicated very quickly for Xandra and she is pulled in so many directions: new love, people trying to kill her and others trying to save her. Things are never dull in her life - especially after all of the things that she encounters in this novel.The entire world building in Kate Locke's book was amazing. I cannot even fathom coming up with such a world and keeping things flowing so well like Ms. Locke has accomplished. The locale, the lingo and the idea of this Plague infested world will just blow your mind. The lingo itself is quite fun and there is even a glossary at the back if you gets stumped. AND there is even a little section in the back called Understanding The Aristocracy that explains how this DNA plague issue came to be, how the different strains of paranormals have come to be and so much more.I am completely looking forward to the second book in the series, The Queen is Dead (The Immortal Empire #2) to find out what more could happen to Xandra, her family and the new life that she has fallen into.I seriously recommend this book to any vampire or werewolf lovers out there - this has such a dark and twisted storyline and will have you turning pages faster than you can say GOBLINS!
Show lessFirst off I fell in love with this cover - how could you not? Awesome colours, fun text and a wicked chick with a gun and a corset! The book that was sent to me is a cute little hardcover book with no dust jacket and it's smaller than a normal paperback in height. Quite unique.Now for the actual plot, location and characters. The location is pretty intriguing in itself with this being 2012 England, but in a totally different context than expected. Things seem to be a mix of 1930s vintage and modern technology - they have the vintage cars, clothes and buildings and some even have old ideas on how things should be while they have updated medical, technology and warfare. It's quite an interesting mix of things. And the best part of the plot outline is that it is based around people having mutated genes due to a plague like virus called Black Death which caused a special protein called the Prometheus Protein to change people into either vampires or werewolves. These enhanced humans carry the strains that cause either or and some can even become halvies where they have half-human/vamp or half-human/were characteristics. The full blooded vamps and weres are mostly of the aristocratic lineage and maintain high positions among the hierarchy. Then there are the true Plague victims that resulted in Goblins - they are scary and completely creepy - no one dares to go near them unless they wish death upon themselves. Now the characters are even more interesting. Xandra is by far a kick ass heroine. Her position as Royal Guard puts her in the mentality of not taking shit from anyone and she is completely full of snark - I love it! She doesn't take no for an answer especially when it comes to anything involving her family or friends. Xandra is completely full of surprises and comes up with all kinds of creative ways around the situations that she gets herself into, thank goodness for all of that special forces training. She also has a huge heart when it comes to family and her family is quite varied. When she finds out one of her sisters is missing she stops at nothing until she uncovers the truth of her disappearance, even if it means finding out things she never thought possible.There is a wonderful romance that sparks up in this story as well as a few misplaced and misguided feelings from a few others that Xandra is not so sure about. Things get complicated very quickly for Xandra and she is pulled in so many directions: new love, people trying to kill her and others trying to save her. Things are never dull in her life - especially after all of the things that she encounters in this novel.The entire world building in Kate Locke's book was amazing. I cannot even fathom coming up with such a world and keeping things flowing so well like Ms. Locke has accomplished. The locale, the lingo and the idea of this Plague infested world will just blow your mind. The lingo itself is quite fun and there is even a glossary at the back if you gets stumped. AND there is even a little section in the back called Understanding The Aristocracy that explains how this DNA plague issue came to be, how the different strains of paranormals have come to be and so much more.I am completely looking forward to the second book in the series, The Queen is Dead (The Immortal Empire #2) to find out what more could happen to Xandra, her family and the new life that she has fallen into.I seriously recommend this book to any vampire or werewolf lovers out there - this has such a dark and twisted storyline and will have you turning pages faster than you can say GOBLINS!
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