Gain The Rift Walker (Vampire Empire, #2) Edited By Clay Griffith Rendered As Print

don't know what I was expecting when I first got into Vampire Empire, probably something light and fun given its vampire and steampunk concept.
But I have to say though, this is shaping up to be quite an impressive series, Somewhere along the way, these books have gone beyond simply being candy for my mind, to the point now where I find myself emotionally invested in the story and its characters in particular.


After the events in The Greyfriar, Princess Adele finds herself back in the heart of the Equatorian Empire, trying to put off her dreaded marriage to Senator Clark of the American Republic.
Unfortunately, her husbandtobe is eager to get on with sealing their vows so that the new human alliance can start waging war on the vampire clans of the north.
His battle plans, however, involve committing atrocities Adele would have no part of,

Besides, her heart still belongs to mysterious swordsman and great vampire hunter known as the Greyfriar, While I would by no means categorize these books as pure "Romance", the relationship between Adele and Greyfriar is still a strong element in this series, and I want to highlight it again because it was what struck me in the first book.
Theirs is probably one of the most wellwritten and engaging love stories I've encountered in my reading, which I think is why the romance still manages to shine through here amidst all the action and adventure.
There is just so much chemistry between these two characters,

To put it into perspective, take this one minor scene in which Adele puts on some inconspicuous clothes as a disguise and asks Greyfriar offhandedly how she looks.
His response: "Strong. Determined. " THAT'S how Greyfriar always sees his beloved! And the world of significance behind his simple twoword answer is like the biggest turn on ever.
In any book, the fact that two lovers can originate from vastly different backgrounds but still be able to stand together and treat each other as equals is a very important thing for me.


Quite honestly, despite the various action scenes in the first quarter or so of this book, I find I could not enjoy myself to the fullest until the the two of them were reunited.
After that, I was happy and relieved, even if they did get themselves into more than a few harrowing situations, and as ever the vampire clans are a constant threat.


In these books, vampires are a whole separate species from humans, with their own civilizations and desires to expand and conquer.
With the humans driven south, a lot of this series takes place in an area of the world not frequently seen in vampire fiction.
The seat of Equatoria is in Alexandria, and with the displaced people from all nations and faiths coming together as one to defeat the vampires, I also loved the diversity in the cast of characters.


With secrets blown wide open, the war with the vampires raging on, and Adele and the Greyfriar's future hanging in the balance, I have a feeling there's a lot in store for me in the third book.
Can't wait to read the conclusion to this trilogy!

Note: I received a review copy of this book compliments of the publisher, in exchange for my honest opinions.
Thanks, Pyr/Prometheus Books!.stars. Whenever I read a new book with vampires, the element I most enjoy is seeing what the author attributes to the, Some authors decide vampires will die in daylight, most say that vampires create vampires through attacking humans they can eat food or they can't I like this writer team's take on the vampire world and I particularly enjoy th vampiric cultures and empire created.

A really good sequel to the Greyfriar, Adele begins to discover more of her skills, betrayal abounds, changes in the balance of power within Equatoria and the vampire clans.
Plenty of action, loyalties tested, All left to play for in the final book,
Recommended series. sitelink blogspot. com/

Once I finished up sitelinkThe Greyfriar , I dove right into The Rift Walker.
As mentioned in the debut's review, an extremely fun novel, but noted some grievances I had with it, So started reading the sequel with some trepidation and leveled my expectations I shouldn't have,   The Rift Walker took all my concerns and rendered them moot, If Clay amp Susan Griffith's debut was a good one, then The Rift Walker is an excellent sequel in the Vampire Empire series.


War has been averted for the time being, though concerns still remain and the possibility of retaliation is being planned.
The citizenry have romanticized through numerous plays and stories the possibility of a relationship of Greyfriar with their Princess Adele, In the meantime she's set to be wed to Senator Clark and finally forge the alliance between their respective empires, and the date is fast approaching Adele has been trying to avoid it.
The vampires are on the move, and they're planning something big, maybe even catastrophic with the cunning Cesare leading the way,

I described The Greyfriar as a very fun, but unbalanced novel, It was action packed, but a bit uneven on the plot progression and some of the character interaction, I'm glad to say, that as far as I'm concerned, these issues were fixed in The Rift Walker.
While still having plenty of action, it was more sparse allowing many of the underlying elements to come to the forefront to be developed.
This is particularly true with how the political intrigue gets into the meat of the story and makes it that much more interesting.
I've always felt that a good political intrigue, no matter how small a part it has, really has the potential to enhance a story exponentially.
The misuse of it in the debut novel hurt it in my opinion, but it made The Rift Walker that much richer for me.
It added another layer to the plot and actually gave it the support it needed, making it stronger,

Going back to the character interaction aspect, once again much improved, particularly with the interaction between Princess Adele and Greyfriar.
The dialogue was more natural and abundant, and despite my usual reservations about romantic elements, some of it was introduced to the story which I thought was for the better.
They

got a good dynamic going, with its usual up and downs, but I think there are some interesting things going on between those two.
I just hope that the balance that exists at the moment remains,

Outside of the two main characters great strides were also made, I thought just about every character that has been introduced in the story to this point became plenty better, a marked step in the right direction.
Even Senator Clark, who I figured to be annoying in the first book, Still annoying as heck, but Clay amp Susan made it work, even making fun of the character's buffoonery which is a sign that the authors know what they actually have with him.
There was also Cesare, a prince among vampires and the main antagonist, who I thought was misused in the first book as his tactics were inconsistent and underwhelming, really shines in this one.
Lastly, recognition has to be given to two of my favorite side characters, Mamoru and Colonel Anhalt particularly since they were given plenty of exposure, as opposed to being relegated to obscurity.


The only real complaint that I recall having through the book is that pace could have been better, This time the story takes a while to develop, and there were some slow, maybe even dull moments, during the middle portions.
While I'm usually a patient man, I think the story progression could have used some speeding up, while still remaining detailed, The good thing is that through all of this we get plenty of interesting developments, plot twists and we get plenty of world building learned about the history of the world and the place of magic in it.


Speaking of world building, once again I have to compliment of the steampunk devices that have been introduced, They fit just right with all other aspects of what has been created, making the action plenty interesting and well balanced with magic and other supernatural aspects.
That said, I hope we get even more of the steampunk variety going forward, there's plenty of room for it, And of course, the magic gets a bigger focus this time around, so looking to see what more they can do with it.
Lastly, the world is expanding, We're entering new territories, delving deeper into Africa and we also got a few glimpses of life in North America, Asia has been mentioned, so I wonder if we'll get there at some point too,

These books have been quite action packed, and though in The Rift Walker it was a bit less so, when the action comes it comes hard and quite violent.
It can get a bit graphic at times, but not overdone, Let's call it tasteful violence, But let's just say, that the story doesn't shy away from creating a bloodbath when it calls for it, And when coupled with the improved plot progression and the numerous plot twists the novel introduced, it simply makes for very good entertaining read.


My main complaints to this point have been about characterization, about plot progression, about balance, about consistency, about character interaction.
I think I've said enough to illustrate how The Rift Walker has improved upon these issues, And let's not forget that I also had mentioned about the inconsistency of how warm weather affects vampires, and that's also addressed in this one, and put to good use.
The characters have been given more depth, more moral ambiguities, and simply became less predictable throughout, Betrayals and trust issues abound, never quite knowing who we can rely on, adding to the suspense of an already improving plot.


This is one of those books that I feel make a good crossover between the YA market and the adult market, in a similar vein to that of Blake Charlton's sitelinkSpellwright books have been doing, but only in that context.
The story is not complex, it reads simple, but not simplistic, But it's building towards something more which has me plenty interested,

I simply loved reading The Rift Walker, thought it to be an outstanding followup to Clay amp Susan Griffith's debut.
 I'm still of mind that the more discerning adult readers might not find much to their liking here, particularly those who look for more challenging reads, but this is a book that I'll recommend with little hesitation, even to those that might have not found the first one to their liking.
I'd have seen plenty of the aforementioned readers enjoying the heck of these books, so what do I know It simply gave me exactly what I was looking to get out of the Vampire Empire series, and very much looking forward to the next installment, The Kingmakers.
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