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    The Kingmakers
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    The Kingmakers
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    The Kingmakers
    Ebook514 pages7 hours

    The Kingmakers

    By Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The epic Vampire Empire trilogy rushes to a heart-wrenching conclusion of honor and love, hatred and vengeance, sacrifice and loss. A war to the death. Empress Adele has launched a grand crusade against the vampire clans of the north. Prince Gareth, the vampire lord of Scotland, serves the Equatorian cause, fighting in the bloody trenches of France in his guise as the dashing Greyfriar. But the human armies are pinned down, battered by harsh weather and merciless attacks from vampire packs. To even the odds, Adele unleashes the power of her geomancy, a fearsome weapon capable of slaughtering vampires in vast numbers. However, the power she expends threatens her own life even as she questions the morality of such a weapon. As the war turns ever bloodier and Adele is threatened by betrayal, Gareth faces a terrible choice. Their only hope is a desperate strike against the lord of the vampire clans--Gareth's brother, Cesare. It is a gamble that could win the war or signal the final days of the Greyfriar. From the Trade Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPyr
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781616146757
    Unavailable
    The Kingmakers
    Author

    Clay Griffith

    Susan and Clay Griffith are a husband and wife team who have written the original Vampire Empire fantasy series for Pyr Books, the tie-in Crown & Key series for Random House, and THE FLASH: THE HAUNTING OF BARRY ALLEN for Titan Books. They've written numerous short stories for anthologies, some featuring noted genre characters such as Kolchak the Night Stalker and The Phantom, and have scripted comics including The Tick, The Simpsons, and Vincent Price Presents.

    Read more from Clay Griffith

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    Reviews for The Kingmakers

    4/5

    37 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Can it end well, can it? Can it? That was my question throughout this book; make that throughout the whole series. I will not give you that answer; you have to read the book for yourself. I will not say if it ends well, bad, I will just say that, oh I will not say anything at all about that.

      Which brings me to the story. Doomed love, utterly doomed love. All vampires are evil and will kill and drink. The good ones will perhaps think not to kill all as they need their cattle. Then we have our hero Gareth, a good vampire. Why? Who knows? Maybe it was the madness after killing thousands. But he is an awesome hero, pretending to be a hero called Greyfriar and the chosen of Empress Adele. A heroine who has the power of the earth and now who could kill him with that. She is getting to be quite toxic to him. But that is not why their love is doomed. He is masked all the time, because if people knew he was a vampire. Yes there can be no happy ending for this too and it kept breaking my heart thinking of it. Some just have to be together!

      War is here. Human vs vampires. Killing across Europe. Adele does have the power to end it all, but will she? The price is high, but some do not care. Just like those outside the vampire held lands think that the humans left behind are mindless cattle. It's not a pretty world. And I seriously hate some characters. For some reason no vampires, no, it's just their nature.

      It was a thrilling conclusion to a good series. A world where all went to hell when vampires rose to crush all humans. It's such a well thought world, cool and different. A world of steam and vampires. So if you want evil vampires (but still one that is sexy and nice) then this is sure the series for you.

      Conclusion:
      Do read it.
    • 1/5
      ***Possible spoilers you've been warned***I don't know what happened in this one. The first two books were excellent and fun to read. It got you looking forward to the final installment and wanting a nice close to the series. This one falls short. Drastically.You get smidgens of action here and there but the bulk of the novel is Gareth and Adele having cheesy love sick conversation about their relationship and what the future holds for them. The setting changes throughout the book but they keep talking about the same bloody thing over and over again. It's a bloody record that's been scratched and you can't turn it off. Adele goes on the major pity party and gets whiny. I don't know how she managed to pull this 360 when the first two books she was an excellent character to read. Now all of a sudden it's "poor me" and "What about Gareth?" "Everybody is leaving me. Wah. Wah. Wah" Oh lordy Adele. Shut up. You're an Empress. Act like it. The geomancy theory was okay and interesting but there wasn't much to it. Sure Adele, let's destroy the vampire race right? okay good. Save humans. Yay. Oh wait your boyfriend is a vampire but hey! he's okay with the massive genocide you're doing. Yeah! that's great! Thumbs up Gareth! we're voting for you next time around!The most disappointing factor of all was the inner vampire plotting was left to a few pages here and there and it lacked any substance. Cesare barely made an appearance and if he did it's all about "Bwahhaah my plot is unfolding" several more scenes later: "Bwahahaha my plot is still unfolding" it's like the villain who talks to much and doesn't actually do the deed he's supposed to do.I was severely disappointed with this final book. It's unfortunate to see such great characters come to a lackluster end.
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyThe Vampire Empire series has been a cinematic thrill ride from start to finish. High adventure, pulse-pounding danger, and sweeping romance have been the calling card of this series since THE GREYFRIAR. Now, in the final book of the series, all out war has broken out between the humans and the vampires. It’s bloody and unforgiving and a powerful sendoff to a fantastic series.What has remained so compelling throughout this series is the character of The Greyfriar. This legendary hero whose bravery and unmatched prowess with a blade even inspires fear in the vampires. He is nothing short of magnificent, and yet, he doesn’t see himself that way. His secrets won’t allow him to. And he is well matched in Adele, the young princess turned Empress of Equatoria. She has grown into a strong and selfless leader, as well as a formidable threat to the vampires because of her unprecedented geomancer abilities. Together, Greyfriar and Adele have discovered a love that cannot be broken, and a strength that could save the world.From the first explosive scene depicting a pivotal battle where bombs lit up the night’s sky, briefly illuminating the swarms of vampires descending from the sky, I got chills. Assassination attempts, betrayal, sacrifice, and passion fill THE KINGMAKERS pages leading up to an ending that was nothing short of heroic. Greyfriar and Adele’s romantic adventure will leave an indelible mark on all who read it.Sexual Content:Kissing. References to sex
    • 5/5
      Vampire Empire is by far, an amazing series. I have followed this series from the first book and love it. I'm, sad to see the story end, but so happy that it's ending well.The characters of the book have grown and learned so much. It is so cool to see both Gareth and Adele working together. The way the came up with plans so flawlessly, the way they work together, the trusted each other. They were a fabulous team. They both made some very important decisions, that I think well do them good. They thought things out and weren't doing anything rash.Now, their love for each other is so amazing to see. It's a love that everyone yearns to have and jealous to watch. They are a match made in heaven. Their few stolen moments of peace left me in awe and wanting more.The plot itself is excellent. Loose ties are tied as well as the final secrets are exposed. The magnificent action sequences leads the reader to full blown adventure right where you are sitting. It's fast, it heart-racing, it's AWESOMENESS! The intimate details of the world building along with flowing emotions, it blows you away.The Kingmakers is an amazing story! Written beautifully, The Kingmakers raises the bar for all YA books. A complete package of writing, story line with amazing characters, nothing goes wrong in The Kingmakers. If you want a adventure that takes you away, The Kingmakers will rock your world!!
    • 4/5
      I would've given this a 5 stars but the battle scenes overwhelmed it and slowed it down. About the first 80 pages are located on the battle front and there is just a little movement of the plot. I think they wanted to show how The Greyfriar was in the middle of the action. He says that he is more Garreth now than the Greyfriar as he is back to indiscriminate killing. I think it didn't need so many pages devoted to it, and it was slow and boring. Once the story got out of this it moved along in pace similar to book 2, except for 2 more airship battles that are not as long and not as slow.

      The slowness makes this book is not as good as the last and there were too many 'plans' that didn't work correctly. Still, the plot was good, as well as the relationship building. The end was quite satisfactory.
    • 5/5
      This is the concluding novel in the Vampire Empire trilogy. It was an excellent end to the series. Lots of wonderful action, some romance, and epic battles. These are some great characters in a truly creative world.Adele is launching an all out attack on the Northern European vampires. She is set on using her Geomancy to its fullest to save lives and reduce combat time. At her side helping support her cause is Gareth as the Greyfriar. As the war continues Gareth realizes he might make a larger difference by leaving Greyfriar behind and stepping up to claim his birthright. This book is very well balanced. There is a well thought out and detailed world that is creative and interesting. The characters are likable and easy to engage with. There are lots of excellent military/battle scenes but also lots of tender scenes between Adele and Gareth. This book seamlessly blends steampunk themes with epic fantasy.Adele and Gareth continue to be very well done characters. Adele is strong and smart and does what she has to for her country. Your heart goes out to her and Gareth and their star-crossed love, especially since with the war moving at a faster pace Adele has to use her Geomancy power more than ever which makes it so that Gareth can’t be near her without being in pain. It was pretty awesome to see Adele finally embrace her Geomancy.Gareth continues to be a complex and interesting character who is completely and absolutely loyal to Adele. He grew a lot as a character in this story and finally begins to realize that his birthright allows him a lot of power to influence the war between vampires and humans.The side characters are all very well done. Anhalt is loyal and completely supportive of Adele; he is one of the few who truly understands what she is dealing with. We learn a lot more about Mamoru and some of the decisions he makes feature strongly in the plot as well. Cesare doesn’t have a ton of page space but Flay does, and she has an interesting role to play in things.This is a long book, but it doesn’t feel like it when you read it. I am not a huge fan of war-based storylines, but this book completely sucked me in. The writing it so well done and so easy to read. Everything is just in perfect balance. So you want to know if Adele and Gareth get their fairy tale ending? Well I can’t you that without spoiling the book, but let’s just say I think readers will be pleased with how things are left. Things end in a way that I thought was plausible and, while up beat,wasn’t completely fairy tale unrealistic.Overall an excellent conclusion to this series. I can’t wait to see what the Griffiths come up with next. If you are a fan of epic fantasy check this series out. If you are a fan of steampunk check this series out. It is a very creative and engaging series that balances action, politics, war, and romance incredibly well. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I was so happy when I found out that Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith were returning to the world of Vampire Empire this fall with another Adele and Gareth book. Even though you can read the upcoming novel as a stand-alone without reading this trilogy first, I still wanted to find out how things will end in the third book before tackling The Geomancer. Plus, I am a completionist at heart.It’s actually been quite a while since I read the first two books in this series, but this is a very special world full of very special characters, the kind that stay with you for a long time. I jumped right back in with no problems, and it was like I never left. War between humans and vampire is at full tilt, with Empress Adele of Equatoria launching a campaign to take back the lands of the north. Fighting at her side is her consort, the vampire Prince Gareth who is helping the human cause in his guise as the legendary Greyfriar.The Equatorians also have a secret weapon – Adele herself. A talented geomancer, she has the ability to use the powers of the earth to burn away vampires in vast numbers. But geomancy has its costs. As surely as it kills vampires, the power also poses a danger to her beloved Gareth, not to mention every time she uses geomancy it drains her energy and threatens her own life. After a huge attack on the heart of vampire territory, Adele sees the destruction she has wrought and starts to wonder if there is another way to wage this war. Gareth seeks a chance to do affect change as well, using his influence to undermine the efforts of his brother Cesare, who has become the new king of the vampire clans.This book is full of bloody battles, hidden alliances, and betrayals. It’s a lot to fit into the concluding volume of a trilogy, but in spite of this, the novel is well balanced and pulls everything together in a spectacular finish. Of all three books, The Kingmakers is probably the most action-packed and fast-paced, building up to the climax of the war.And yet, there’s also plenty of what first drew me to this series: the romance! In between all the intense fighting and war planning, it’s good to see that Adele and Gareth are still able to find ways to spend quality time together. When it comes to forbidden love, theirs is one of my favorites. So many tales involving star-crossed lovers rely on unnecessary drama and emotional manipulation to keep things “interesting”, but there’s no need for that nonsense when it comes to Adele and Gareth. Throughout the trilogy, their romance has never once felt contrived to me, with their relationship rising above all those cloying clichés. It’s always good to see them as a team, with the Greyfriar’s resolve complementing the Empress’s indomitable spirit.The Kingmakers is an emotional finale, filled with difficult choices and dark twists. You might be surprised at how things end. For me, it was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, and that’s what mattered. Clay and Susan Griffith did something very amazing here, taking a tired old trope like vampires but still somehow managed to make it interesting and unique. Throwing in the alternate history and steampunk setting was a stroke of genius as well.This book has only cemented my love for this world and the characters. Thinking about the sweet moments like the scenes of Gareth and Adele together at the opera house or at the Great Library of Alexandria still makes me smile. It has also made me realize that it’s probably a good thing that I read this only after I found out there’s another Vampire Empire book on the horizon. Clearly, I’m not ready to say good bye just yet! Now onwards to The Geomancer!
    • 5/5
      What an ending for this trilogy, WOW-it had it all- intrigue, betrayals, action, political upheavals, and of course love. What a wonderful end to the series. I found myself cheering at the demise of some nasty characters, they really asked for it so many times. I was also in tears for the ones lost for no reason other than cruelty. There is a lot of drama packed into this one book. It all comes to a fine point that left me satisfied and a bit jarred from the thrill ride.
      I can't tell you anything about the story without spoiling it.