God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire #1) by Kate Locke

Read: September 3-7, 2012

read in 5 days

pages: 354

Book Blurb:

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.

For starters, I knew nothing about this book. I was quite surprised to see that it was recently published and even more surprised to see I got it so quickly from the library. Made me wonder a little about whether there was any hype over wanting to read this book or not and if not then maybe it was not so good. Well after a little digging around I find out that Kate Locke is a pseudonym, one of a few apparently, of Kady Cross....aka Kathryn Smith oh yeah and also Kate Cross.  Dang it! If I had known all this I wouldn't have read THIS book next. I just finished the book The Girl in the Steel Corset which is by Kady Cross. I thought that one was ok, but I like to get a break from the same author and switch things up a bit. I was a little mislead. I try not to read too much about a book before I start it because I don't like spoilers and I'm always afraid a review could sway my opinion and cause me to miss out on a book I would have otherwise enjoyed. They have before. So that aside I did start reading this one anyways. I was already 30+ pages when I discovered the pseudonym thing and for me I'd rather keep me going than to just drop it.

There are three things that I didn't particularly care for and I'll just get those out there and move on to what I liked and what kept me reading. The first thing that annoyed me to no end was the constant use of "bloody", "bollocks", and "fang me". I understand "fang me" was used rather than the F word which was creative BUT not as often as it was repeated. I understand also that the book is set in London and there are going to be other phrases they use that we here in America do not, but it is painfully clear that the author is not British in her overuse of the words. I also noticed early in the novel there are some spellings that are obviously intended to be British but they just fall away and you never see them again. That was strange and not consistent. The other thing that bothered me was more for understanding the plot. I had no clue what the heck was going on or how these classes of people came to be. We have Vampires, Werewolves, Goblins, and Humans. You also have these halvies running around that can be part Vampire and Human or part Werewolf part Human. Very odd. Humans are the minority in this society as somehow the Aristocracy is completely full of nothing but Werewolves and Vampires. Something to do with the plague causing these mutations, but why it is that only the Aristocracy are Vamps and Weres is beyond me. I did appreciate that Author Note at the beginning that gives you the run down on the time and place historically. That was helpful. I think though that the Author's Note should have mentioned the fact that there is a very handy little GLOSSARY and UNDERSTANDING THE ARISTOCRACY section in the back of the book!!! How do you NOT tell your reader?? I'm the reader who never reads the end first and I don't flip through so I'd never be looking at the end for something I need to know in the BEGINNING!! Lastly the other annoyance was that this book is billed as steampunk. This is not steampunk. This is urban fantasy on steroids. There are so many underworld creatures that it is a bit much to keep all of the goings on straight until you get really vested in the story. There are some gadgets that I guess the author was going for steampunk but the story is set in the 20th century and all the gadgets we see are common place just named something different and somehow they work slightly different. Not quite what I think or expect of steampunk. I expect some gadgets I really don't have an idea as to what they are or how they work! So once I resigned myself to the fact that I was not reading steampunk but in fact urban fantasy I was a little more on board. I was bummed as I was wanting to read steampunk but got urban fantasy.

All right that is all out there. Now this was not a terrible book. I did not hate the book. I did enjoy it honestly I did despite what I disliked. There is a fairly interesting story going on here. The main character can be a bit obnoxious at times she is only 21 or so and is a bit on the immature side. Very quick to respond emotionally especially where her family is concerned. If not for the family we honestly would not have a story. What kept me reading though was the introduction of the character Vexation "Vex" MacLaughlin aka Vex or the MacLaughlin. Now I've never been one to favor a wolf character; I've always preferred the Vampires. But THIS Alpha Were has something that I can't describe. He kinda won me over. HE was what kept me reading. I read this to the end, despite wanting to throw it across the room because of all the times I read "bloody", "bollocks, and "FANG ME", I continued to read to see how much Vex would appear and what his role was in this story. The name is weird I will say that....Vexation....yeah but Vex was a good way to shorten it. Almost seemed like Vex was picked first and then it was like oh crap I need a FULL NAME! How about Vexation cause that may sound mysterious. Whatever either way the name works for the character.

On the whole there is a lot going on so I can definitely see where this is going to be a series. IF I should read any further it would be to see if my favorite character Vex remains a part of the story. That's what kept me here, that would be what could draw me in again. Since this is the first in the series and was just released it may be awhile before I can expect another. At this point I'm undecided.  I'm on the fence looking over thinking hmm would it be worth the jump or remain where I am.

I'd recommend the book to someone who enjoys urban fantasy with a kick ass, no wait kick arse according to the book, heroine with an interesting twist to how Vampires and Werewolves come to be and a dash of steamy romance, then by all means pick this up. OH and please read the back material! Trust me it will all make much more sense!