The Greyfriar

The Greyfriar is the first book of Clay and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire.

In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world.  It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming. Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire.  When she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan, her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious 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 Breakdown:
1. The Griffith's have created an interesting world in this book. Humans are no longer the sole dominant species. The vampires are a terrifying creatures in this world. They make no effort to understand humans or be human-like in appearance. The humans struggle after the vampires rose out of the shadows, and now they are amassing power to reassert their dominance in the world. It makes for some interesting political moves both in the human and vampire worlds.

2. I liked the way the book changes between all the major players in the story's perspective. This gives me glimpse into other characters thought processes and motivations for their actions. It really brings the story together well, and helped me to understand the world even better.

3. Princess Adele was wonderful. She is a wonderful combination of strong and soft. She is not afraid to protect was she loves including her family and her empire. She shows a vulnerability that makes her enduring when she is with Greyfriar. Her character makes it easy to see that she will be a great Empress.

4. One of my favorite characters is Prince Gareth, the heir to the British Vampire throne. He has a fascination with humans, and wants to be so much more than a savage vampire.  He shows restraint and logical thinking, and is not ruled by his instincts like many of his brethren. Plus his love of his cats is cute.

5. The Greyfriar is mysterious hero, with some really amazing secrets, but I don't want to give away too much.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Currently Reading:
Crown of Ice
by Vicki L. Weavil