Vampire Empire- Book One: The Greyfriar

Today’s post is on Vampire Empire- Book One: The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith. It is the first in the Vampire Empire trilogy. It is 308 pages long and is published by PYR. The cover has the two main characters looking cool and intense. The intended reader is someone who likes Steampunk, vampires, and action with a little romance. There is language, lots of violence but no sex. So 16 and up just to be safe. The story is told from various points of view of the main characters changing from scene to scene. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- 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 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 man she does not know. But her quest turns black 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.
The Greyfriar is the first book in a trilogy of huge adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with Steampunk style, the Vampire Empire brings epic political themes to life with a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.

Review- This is a fun book if you looking for a Steampunk vampire political book. I liked it. The setting was interesting, the characters were well drawn, and the action was good. The only thing that I wish was better was the dialog. It is not bad dialog but it was not groundbreaking. Still that is really my only complaint about the book. One strange that I liked about this book was that the chapters were not very long. I think that it is because I was reading a nonfiction book with 100+ page chapters so this was a wonderful relief from that. If you are into Steampunk then read this, if you looking at Steampunk and want to give it a try, try this. If you are neither of those then read of my other reviews and find something to read. I feel a little bad about one thing and that is how long this book was on my TBR shelf. I was given this book before it was released back in 2010. But I have read it now and I will be reading the others in this series.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this book as an ARC from DragonCon years ago.