While many would likely decry some of these ostensibly derivative moments, I think these familiar conventions are used as shorthand, not to shortchange they convey a horizon of expectation that can later be satisfied or subverted. Season this already well-traversed blend with the princess's arrogant fiancée, a blustering war hero from America who we love to hate, a vampire court filled with the intrigue we've all come to assume vampires excel at (just consider the vampires of the Parasol Protectorate series), and a secret cabal of magicians seeking to save the world, and you have a stirring melange of both traditional vampire (this book has some great, gory vampire fights) and the modern vampire (he's a monster, but still pretty sexy and date-worthy). Mix both those familiar tropes and add some more: make the princess a very capable Chosen One, and give the masked hero a dark reason to wear that mask. Now add a Princess gone missing in deep vampire territory, and a mysterious masked hero who comes to her aid. Take that vampire cataclysm and substitute it for the meteor strike in Stirling's Peshawar Lancers, and you have a good idea of the world of the Vampire Empire series: vampires rule the northern hemisphere, and the greatest nations of the world live close to the equator, where longer days provide the protection of sunlight longer. Take the world of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula, make the vampires the victors, and extrapolate a century into the future. While quality is certainly no requisite for a sequel in the publishing world, I grew curious as to what had prompted PYR to continue this series. But when the sequel showed up on my desk, I became intrigued. The photo manipulated cover by Chris McGrath screams teen gothic paranormal romance with a dash o' steampunk. To be sure, PYR was marketing this toward a YA audience, even if that isn't the stated intent.
I must confess, I judged this book by it's cover, unjustly dismissing it as the worst kind of publishing opportunism, capitalizing on both the popularity of hunky vampires and steampunk back in 2011. I'm sad it took me over a year to get to it (and then a few more years to post the review!), but thankful I had the sequel, The Riftwalker, already waiting to be read when I completed The Greyfriar. I'm getting that out of the way, so the desire to sing its praises won't get in the way of anything else I have to say about it. I loved The Greyfriar, the first book in Clay and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire series.
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