26 July, 2012

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire, #1)Name: God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire #1) by Kate Locke.
Pages: 352.
Publication: 3rd July 2012/Orbit.
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | Kennys

"Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist. 


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."


Review.
Alexandra or rather Xandra lives in a world where the plague did not wipe out much of the population but rather transformed them into vampires, werewolves and goblins. Queen Victoria is ruling the empire after 175 years, as a vampire. Xandra is halvie with a vampire father and a human mother. She works for the Royal Guard protecting the aristocracy of Britain. Her life is turned  upside down when her sister goes missing and she learns that everything is not and everyone are not what they seem, even Xandra herself. 

Xandra is a great female lead character. She is feisty and full of wit. She is brave and strong but is not made of stone. She has realistic reactions to events that occur which often does not happen in books. The book is also full of other interesting and unique characters such as Church, who is Xandra's mentor, her siblings, the goblin prince as well as the handsome werewolf Vex who seems to have Xandra in his sights. 


At the beginning of the book, two characters are introduced a girl and a guy. For some reason I thought the guy might play a bigger part but he just disappears and I was disappointed because he seemed like he could have been interesting. I do not know, I just wanted to get that off my chest. 


The only real problem I had with the book is how fast Xandra's relationship escalated. You know me and insta-love. Thankfully, this was not actually insta-love, no-one was declaring anything but I felt that the trust between Xandra and her partner was built far too quick.

Locke has created a wonderful world that is well structured and detailed in her debut novel. It is not quite steam-punk yet it has elements of it along with urban fantasy. Locke's back stories for Britain and the monarch as well as the creatures and causes was interesting as well as believable. Locke has a knack for little details that help build a solid foundation for a series. The book did not lag, and moves at the right pace to keep you reading page after page.

Final Thought.
God Save The Queen is full of mystery and intrigue. The book takes twist and turns and will have devouring the pages.

2 comments:

  1. Great review! I actually already have this on my TBR pile and I'm glad you liked and excited to read it myself :) But thanks for sharing <3

    New Follower!
    xoxo, Mairam @Book-A-Holic

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  2. Excellent review~ I actually liked this guide a lot more than you did. It's a bit slowly, yes, but it's such an excellent read! I'm also grateful I selected this up outside of university or else I'm sure I wouldn't appreciate studying this in a college establishing.

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