Vampire Empire - The Greyfriar

By: Clay Griffith, Susan Griffith

Narrated by: James Marsters

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Paranormal, 2013

1870. A time known as The Great Killing. The vampire clans arose and slaughtered humanity with unprecedented carnage in the northern parts of the world. Millions perished; millions were turned into herd animals. The great industrialized civilizations of the world were left in ruin. A remnant fled south to the safety of the ever present heat which was intolerable to vampires. There, blending with the local peoples, they rebuilt their societies founded on human ingenuity, steam and iron. The year now is 2020. The Equatorian Empire, descendant of the British Empire, stretches from Alexandria to Cape Town. Princess Adele, quick witted, combat trained and heir to throne is set to wed the scion of the American Republic, a man she has never met. Their marriage will cement an alliance between the nations and set the stage for war against the vampires in an attempt to retake the north. Prepared to do her duty she finds herself caught in a web of political intrigue and physical danger.

The Greyfriar, a legendary vampire hunter from the north, appears ready to rescue the Princess and return her home—but he harbors secrets of his own. As the power struggle between the vampires and humans increase Adele and The Greyfriar are caught in the middle, on the run, being hunted, and fighting for not just their own lives, but for future of humanity.

©2010 Buzzy Multimedia Publishing Corp. (P)2012 Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Nominee, Paranormal, 2013

So glad I bought it!!!

Not going to lie... the cover art it what originally drew me in :) I'm so glad that I bought this book because it has become a multiple read and listen.
The world building is great, and presented in a manner that doesn't bog you down with pages upon pages of history lessons.
The authors combine a perfect amount of vicious vampires, swashbuckling adventure, and just a sprinkle of steampunk.
The vampires are interesting, with their own original spin. Ferocious, but also just trying to survive.
The Greyfriar is heroic, flawed, mysterious and admirable.
Adele is strong, and confident, with a sense of duty.
When you put The Greyfriar and Adele together, it could have easily become The Greyfriar needing to save Adele, but it doesn't. It becomes a partnership between the two, with each making up for the others lacking. The romance in the story feels like an added bonus, a subplot to further the story, but not the focus.
James Marsters kills it with the narration! The main character is female, and yet I find myself forgetting that a man is reading the story.

James is Amazing

Exceptional reading by James. Highly recommend this book. Starts out slow. Jane’s reading on the material is engaging and the book ends strong.

Need a little more Character development

Would you listen to Vampire Empire - The Greyfriar again? Why?

No. The story was predictable. And I really didn't find the characters intriguing or particularly likable. I always enjoy Marsters, but do not feel this book was "full" enough to take advantage of his excellent range.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Predictable

What does James Marsters bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Marsters does an excellent job of giving the characters different voices, but I missed how he can deliver humorous dialogue, simply because there was no humor in this story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. All in all, I felt it was an average story, narrated as well as it could have been.

Mixed feelings.

the story wasn't bad, but it was unfortunate rather predictable. A few of the Characters can be summed up with a single personality trait each. The story didn't surprise me at any point. I was still entertained by it though and the James Marsters was wonderful as always.

In a Word: Fantastic!

This is an incredible story told so very well. The characters are so very real and manage to grow in believable ways throughout the story. The Greyfriar is a wonderful character, and a perfect introduction to this world. Many parts of this story had me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait to get into the rest of the series. I recently posted a review of another book (that was the first in it's series) titled "This might be my new favorite series", but this book has, hands down, knocked the other one right off that perch.

Jame Marsters is a fantastic narrator. He has such a talent with voices, and that comes through so well in this book. I only wish he narrated more books.

A Masterful Tale

Beautifully written and read, I only paused in listening to make it last longer. Can't wait to hear the other two books. Love James Marsters reading. Such a talent.

James Marsters

James Marsters is your best performer. i purchased this book for his reading of it.

Promising start

I want to say, upfront that this book is masterfully narrated (no pun intended). The performance can make or break an audiobook and James Marsters is superb.

The story started off very well, interesting premise, great writing and kept me listening. For those who like steampunk I do not think it will disappoint. Character development was excellent and I found myself genuinely interested in what would unfold. At the halfway point I was already looking to see when the next in the series would be released. However, by the end, what had been an intriguing story full of promise, seemed to descend into a romance, suggesting that book two might be just another girl meets vampire, hates vampires, but loves this "different" vampire genera. I hope I am wrong, and I will give the second installment a go, even if it is just to hear James Marsters' performance.

Wellwritten fun steampunk preternatural strory

Story is well developed and the characters make sense. The story churns along without much crawling to allow plot advancement. Would recommend this and rest of the series.

Engrossing

What an enjoyable journey. Could not stop listening! Highly recommend this book. Very entertaining and different from other vampiric tales. Fine world building