Long Live the Queen

Immortal Empires series, Book 3

By: Kate Locke

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Xandra Vardan thought life would be simpler when she accepted the goblin crown and became their queen, but life has only become more complicated. Everyone - vampires, werewolves and humans - wants the goblins on their side, because whoever has the goblins - wins.

Queen Victoria wants her head, Alpha wolf Vex wants her heart, and she still doesn't know the identity of the person who wanted her blood. What she does know is that a project from one of the 'secret' aristocrat labs has gotten free and she's the only one who can stop the perfect killing machine - a sixteen year-old girl. With human zealots intent on ridding the world of anyone with plagued blood and supernatural politics taking Britain to the verge of civil war, Xandra's finding out that being queen isn't all it's cracked up to be, and if she doesn't do something fast, hers will be the shortest reign in history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

 

©2013 Kate Locke (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Too much Xandra Drama!

I really enjoyed the silliness of the first two in this series. This third book lost me. It might have been the exaggerated sang-froid reading by Moira Quirk that made the lead character sound like she was so bored with it all, that lost me.

Quirk became aggressively nasal in her delivery as well, so her reading for Xandra was unpleasant. That tone made it hard to focus on the story. The other characters were consistent with the first two books, so it was definitely Xandra's voice, 75% of the time, whinge-ing on and on in inner monologues and digressions. it was just painful.

Loved it

Great book. Really enjoyed it. Xandra is such a great main character and Locke does a very nice job with all the supporting characters as well. Really good plot.

The narrator does a really nice job with all of these.

Fantastic Finally

A fantastic finally! This entire series is absolutely amazing and I loved every single second of it. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. I highly recommend this series and book.

Fang me! That was delicious

This is one of those rare trilogies that maintains solid plot, characters, and world building from start to finish. Although some of the twists were predictable, I nonetheless was entertained the whole way.

There were a few minor quibbles, such as how most of the action was courtesy of “The Xandra Show” instead of letting the fabulous cast of supporting characters (goblin Prince, werewolf Vex, halvies Val & Ophelia, etc) have their “Avengers assemble!” moments. But, for a series bought on sale, this came outta nowhere and impressed the fang out of me.

Dear author, may I recommend a side story, featuring my favorite character Penny Dreadful?
Girl’s got style and moxie and deserves an adventure of her own!

BRILLIANT!

This fantasy series is one of the best, that I have ever read! The setting is genius. The storyline is unique. The characters are well rounded out. I loved every fun, scary, exciting moment. There are no lag times in this series. There is nothing left unfinished. There is family love, romance, gore, grit, fun, excitement, politics, ethical challenges, good vs evil...everything I could want in a story. The heroine starts out young and naive, but gradually grows up as she finds out truths, that have been hidden. The author's writing style and skill are first rate.

A good ending!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes it was a fun series.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Aside from the main character I thought the Queen was excellent.

What about Moira Quirk’s performance did you like?

She was not as good as the girl who did the first book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Every moment having to do with her boyfriend. He was not a typical fictional boyfriend with doubts and misunderstandings within the story. He was a solid figure not used as an antagonist. I liked that.

Stunning conclusion to this super fun series

This is the third book in The Immortal Empire series. It was an absolutely stellar conclusion to this series. These book are just so much fun to read and I absolutely love them.

I listened to this book on audiobook and it was very well done. The narrator sounds exactly like I think Xandra would sound like and does an excellent job conveying emotion and giving all of the characters distinct voices.

Xandra thought things would settle down when she finally accepted the crown and became the Goblin Queen, well she was wrong. There’s a sixteen year old girl killer that’s on the loose, and the catch is she looks exactly like Xandra. Now Xandra has to figure out how to stop this killing machine before things in London fall apart complete and end up in all out war. The Human League has been increasingly violent towards vamps, weres, halfies, and goblins and Queen Victoria is on edge as well. Luckily Xandra has her beloved alpha werewolf Vexx and the co-ruler of Goblins Prince William, to help her out.

This was a wonderful conclusion to this trilogy. These books are just so much fun to read, I absolutely love them. This is an excellent urban fantasy set in an alternate London with goblins, and werewolves, and vampires. It’s a fun world because the story is set in modern times but much of London has a Victorian feel to it since the Aristocracy is a bit stuck in the past, being vampires and all.

The heroine, Xandra, has so much pluck and attitude that she is hilarious and tons of fun to read about. She’s grown a lot both emotionally and in power since the first book. She’s learned to accept who she is, to accept help from friends, and to accept responsibility. She still struggles some with being the center of attention and having to be reasonable with idiots...but she’s becoming quite the power to be reckoned with both politically and socially.

Queen Victoria and Prince William were both in this story a lot more. It was actually nice to have some depth added to the character of Queen Victoria, she’s a very interesting character and tough in her own right. Prince William is also very interesting and it was fun to learn more about the Goblins and their history too.

Of course Vexx is in the story a lot, as are Xandra’s sisters. I love them all as characters, they are all interesting and engaging and just super fun.

The plot was very well done as well. The main mystery to be solved is the identity of the vicious killer Xandra and crew are trying to track down and then of course how to stop her. This ends up tying into the genetic experiments that have been referenced throughout the series. It also ties back into Xandra’s goblin nature and how she ended up how she is. The whole thing was woven together very nicely and everything was tied up wonderfully.

Overall just a fantastically fun read. I love the interesting world with Victorian and Steampunk overtones, the well done plot, and the wonderfully entertaining characters. I am really sad that this series is over and hope that we see another series set in this world in the future. It is just such an interesting world and there are so many awesome characters I want to know more about. This whole series is highly recommended to those who love urban fantasy, especially urban fantasy with a steampunk flair to it.