The Romanceaholic

*** Spoiler Warning ***

This review contains spoilers for The Greyfriar.  Please scroll past the bullet points to avoid any possible spoilers. 

Expected Release Date: September 2011 (Available Now!)
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Imprint: Pyr
Author’s Website: http://clayandsusangriffith.blogspot.com/
My Source for This Book: Gift from the Publisher
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 2, Vampire Empire Trilogy
Series Best Read In Order: Yes
Steam Level: Warm

Official Blurb:

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.

As Adele labors to bring order to her world, she learns more about the strange powers she exhibited in the north. Her teacher, Mamoru, leads a secret cabal of geomancers who believe Adele is the one who can touch the vast power of the Earth that surges through ley lines and wells up at the rifts where the lines meet. These energies are the key to defeating the enemy of mankind, and if Princess Adele could ever bring this power under her command, she could be death to vampires. But such a victory will also cost the life of Adele’s beloved Greyfriar.

The Rift Walker is the second book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, the Vampire Empire series brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.

The Rift Walker picks up a short time after The Greyfriar left off.  When we last saw Adele, she had returned to Alexandria to “recover” from her time with the vampires, and to await her political marriage to the insufferable Senator Clark, while Gareth returned to Caesare’s side, hoping to ingratiate himself to his younger brother in order to get inside information into Caesare’s plans for the war.

Expanding on the incredible Steampunk world created in the first novel, The Rift Walker follows Adele’s adventures through the African interior, as she attempts to not only avoid marriage to the deplorable Senator Clark, but struggles to harness her newfound ability to actually manipulate the powers of the earth to in turn superheat and destroy vampires from the inside out.   A perpetual pawn in the schemes of others, she is finally beginning to come into her own as a leader, and while Garret/Greyfriar does play a large part in the story, this is truly Adele’s moment to shine.

What Worked For Me:

• The entire universe has been expanded to include larger areas of Africa and brings together vampire clans from around the globe. Whereas the first novel concentrated on Adele’s adventures in the north, this book sends her south, much deeper into Africa and away from Caesare’s London.  Don’t think for a moment that this move allows her any greater level of safety, however, because Caesare’s reach has begun to extend far greater than ever anticipated before.
• Just as in The Greyfriar, the political maneuvering is absolutely incredible.  Horrific betrayals, unforeseen alliances, shocking twists of the plot, and heart-stopping moments abound in this novel, which literally makes it so you can’t stand to put it down for even a moment.
• I was both shocked and excited that certain major characters were killed off rather brutally.  While it’s always vaguely traumatic for me as a reader to have a character I may have enjoyed died unexpectedly, the bloodthirsty wench in me loves that the authors were brave enough to take the story in a direction that some readers may not appreciate.
• Adele’s new-found powers, which were touched lightly upon at the end of The Greyfriar, are expanded greatly, as is the importance and influence of the cabal of geomancers, including her tutor, Mamoru.   One of the things I adore about this series is that Adele is and has always been a pawn in the greater political maneuverings of others, and yet as she grows into herself as a character, she begins to see manipulations for what they are and starts to dictate her own future.
• As my name states, I’m a romance addict. As such, I was very pleased that the romance, while still very chaste, was stepped up a bit from the first book.
• The ending was perfect. I said the same of The Greyfriar, but it is so nice to read a book by authors who know what a good stopping point is. There’s no feeling that you have to read the next book in order for the story to feel complete, merely that you really want to.  This is a skill that I truly wish more authors would master.

What Didn’t Work For Me:

• There were moments where an occasional turn of phrase felt a bit awkward or stilted, which would pull me slightly out of the story.
• I also think a lot of the “foreign” names were too similar, and I admit I did get a few characters momentarily mixed up in my mind on occasion.

While perhaps not quite as gory as the first novel, there are still plenty of action sequences that should satisfy the more blood-thirsty readers, and there are more than enough surprising twists to catch anyone’s interest.Like The Greyfriar before it, The Rift Walker quite literally has something for everyone: politics, betrayals, mysteries, romance, murder, family drama, action, steampunk, magic, and more, which make this novel quite literally the most incredible narrative that I’ve had the pleasure of reading for the entire year.

One thing that some readers may object to is the price of this novel. I will freely admit that this series falls far outside of my own comfort zone as far as price point goes.  The MSRP of the paperback is $16.00 and the ebook’s MSRP is $11.00.  However, there are two very important things to note on this. First off, is that as of the time this review is published, the paperback is $10.88 at Amazon.com and the Kindle version is $9.59, which should make it more comfortable for most readers to click the “buy” button.  Secondly, and most importantly, this book actually is worth the MSRP. I’m just as frugal as the next girl when it comes to purchasing books, but I promise you, buying anything from the Vampire Empire trilogy will be money well spent.

Something I should stress, however, is that I very highly suggest reading THE GREYFRIAR first, because not only is it an absolutely incredible book in and of itself, but because I think new readers to the series will be pretty much lost in the plot without the experience of the previous novel to fall back on. Plus, part of the awesomeness of The Rift Walker is probably just the sheer and utter joy of being thrown back into the world readers came to love from The Greyfriar.

In the end, I of course adored it.  It is by far the best book I have read all year long (which is definitely saying something) and I am delighted to give it an incredibly solid 5/5 Stars.

So, because The Rift Walker was so incredible, I want to give away a copy to one lucky reader! Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter Widget below (requires Javascript), and good luck!

Note: If GFC is being wonky, just click that you did it, and let me know in the comment space. Old followers are welcome (and encouraged) to enter!

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