Vaempires: Revolution (The Evolutionary War, Book One) by Thomas Winship

May 19, 2012 Penelope Bartotto rated it 5 of 5 stars

Often I get asked what attracts you to a book..... and I will say my answer varies, but what drew me to this book was the unique title: Vaempires. I spent forever wondering what that tiny e could mean to the story, what did it stand for. My husband said VaEMPIRES, and still insists that is what it stands for, a nd maybe one could actually think that after reading the book.
Yes, I think you should read this book. Most definitely. No matter what the twist in the title means, the story is intriguing...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Shieka( Doctor's Notes) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mr Winship has a great concept on his hands. I loved his take on vampires. It was great to see that vampires came about due to a nuclear winter. The concept of two types of vampires was a welcome change from the everyday vampire story. It added so much more depth and made it more than a typical vampire tale.In this book we start off with heart pounding action with us meeting Daniel who is a vampire battling a vaempire. Up until this point vampires and humans were living together in peace until s...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Kat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, series, 2012-read, updated

From the first page, Vaempires: Revolution jumps straight into action with Daniel, son of the head of the Royal Guard fighting some scary-ar$e vaempires on the streets of Orion, capital of the vampire territories and home to his true love Princess Cassandra. The vampires are the good guys, working with the remaining human population, and with advances in science are no longer dependent on real blood for sustenance and don’t get burnt to a crisp by daylight.

Mr. Winship adds a new twist to the age...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Jeffrey Bolden rated it 1 of 5 stars

Maybe it's because I'm an author and a perfectionist. Maybe it's because I actually like to see growth in stories and not have them end basically how they began. Maybe. Maybe this book wasn't meant for me, and if that is the case, I apologize. But let me offer my thoughts. I am a fan of character development. There was none. The plot seemed interesting enough, the outcasted vampires that evolved into something rebelled against the Royal family. And when you see a plot like this, you'd think hmmm...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Heather Jensen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Vampires books, Paranormal, and New Adult

"The moon was bright overhead, bathing everything in its chilly glow. Daniel hardly noticed. The night air, usually cool and sweet at this time of year, hung heavy with smoke from unchecked fire and the discharging of many weapons. His throat was dry and scratchy, a bitter taste sat on the back of his tongue, and his exposed skin was coated with a greasy film. And vaempire blood."

This isn't your average vampire love story.

Humans in our day would barely recognize the world in which this story tak...more "The moon was bright overhead, bathing everything in its chilly glow. Daniel hardly noticed. The night air, usually cool and sweet at this time of year, hung heavy with smoke from unchecked fire and the discharging of many weapons. His throat was dry and scratchy, a bitter taste sat on the back of his tongue, and his exposed skin was coated with a greasy film. And vaempire blood."

This isn't your average vampire love story.

Humans in our day would barely recognize the world in which this story takes place. It's a world where vampires and humans have allied against a new threat that comes in the form of vaempires; hot blooded, violent creatures who mean to take their place at the top of the food chain at any cost.

Winship's descriptive voice carries the story forward effortlessly as the reader follows the vampire Princess Cassandra and her boyfriend Daniel's struggle to stay alive and reach each other while the Orion, the planet's capital, is under attack. The story is packed with action, with details so vivid you can almost smell the copper scent of blood as vampires and vaempires clash in the deadly struggle to remain on top.

Daniel is determined to reach Cassie as he fights his way to the palace, but nothing is certain for the young couple. The future of the entire planet could very well rest on their survival. The author manages to make every vampire vs. vaempire encounter new and exciting, with a fast-paced plot that thrills and terrorizes all at once. The vampires in this story are unique, with a rich history entwined with human culture, while the vaempires present a new level of evolution as dark and menacing as the future they hope to create.

Vaempires: Revolution is the first book in the installment. Soon I'll have my review for Vaempires: White Christmas (A Prelude to The Evolutionary War) posted. Following that will be Vaempires: Zombie Rising (The Evolutionary War), the latest book in the series.

While not for the faint of heart, I highly recommend this book for vampire and paranormal fans looking for something new and exciting!
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Dec 08, 2012 A.D. Trosper rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love vampire stories, but I always enter into them a little wary. Cliché or cheesy vampire books irritate me to no end.

Vaempires is neither of those. I found the concept of book to be unique and refreshing. I love that there is a whole new level of vampire called the Vaempires and the twist on the blood requirement for Vaempires is pretty dang cool.

I love the post-apocalyptic world the story is set in. The pace of the book was fast and action packed. I like that the humans know about the vampi...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Diayll rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog-tour

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Blog Tour
Reviewer: CrayolaKym

This book, while about vampires, is the run of the mill vampire story. Vampires are civilized citizens holding prominent positions and satiate their thirst with synthetic blood and live in peace with the humans. Vaempire’s on the other hand…Once vampires themselves, Vaempire’s are a mutated being whose thirst for real live warm blood will make them stop at nothing in their coordin...more Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Blog Tour
Reviewer: CrayolaKym

This book, while about vampires, is the run of the mill vampire story. Vampires are civilized citizens holding prominent positions and satiate their thirst with synthetic blood and live in peace with the humans. Vaempire’s on the other hand…Once vampires themselves, Vaempire’s are a mutated being whose thirst for real live warm blood will make them stop at nothing in their coordinated efforts to wipe out the humans, and take all vampires prisoners thus becoming the superior race.

Princess Cassandra is heir to the vampire throne and under great scrutiny as her sixteenth birthday arises. Every important person in the world has gathered together to witness this momentous event, that is except her boyfriend Daniel who is outside the city walls, least to anyone’s’ knowledge, slaying Vaempire’s left and right as they gather in droves in revolution against the humans and the vampires. With the city in the shake of a blood bath and all out war, Daniel, Cassandra, and two other teenagers take it upon themselves to fight back the Vaempire’s and save humanity.

This was a good read and packed with lots of action from beginning to end which I can tell is what really fuels Winship’s writing. At times I kept asking myself, “Would four young teens really be able to do all of this and have this much physical strength despite being vampires?” I kept hearing myself repeat this with every fight sequence and thinking if my own 18 and 15 year old daughters could muster even and 1/10 of what Cassandra is capable, even if they were vampire and still felt the story was too farfetched and the characters should probably have been young men and women. Besides this, I felt the writing was solid, the story was intriguing and grabs the reader early on and eagerly teases you to read the next book when you finally come to the end of the first. I definitely can’t wait to see more of Winship’s work in the near future.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Rachel McClellan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-adult

Annnnd cut. Wow. What a great adventure! I call it that because this book isn’t your typical novel where you have a beginning, middle, end – you just have 216 pages of non stop, head ripping, blood spurting, face crunching action. Cool? Very. It was like watching a movie from start to finish.

The beginning starts with all the “higher ups” in the vampire world being brutally killed, including Daniel’s parents, at a birthday party for sixteen-year-old Princess Cassandra who is also Daniel’s girlfr...more Annnnd cut. Wow. What a great adventure! I call it that because this book isn’t your typical novel where you have a beginning, middle, end – you just have 216 pages of non stop, head ripping, blood spurting, face crunching action. Cool? Very. It was like watching a movie from start to finish.

The beginning starts with all the “higher ups” in the vampire world being brutally killed, including Daniel’s parents, at a birthday party for sixteen-year-old Princess Cassandra who is also Daniel’s girlfriend. So imagine Daniel’s fury when he learns of the terrorist action, caused by the Vaempires, an evolved vampire species, who killed everyone he loves and has captured his damsel in distress. Though Cassandra is hardly a damsel – more like a beautiful fighting machine. I really liked her character.

Moving on…the rest of the book is about Daniel trying to get across town to save Cassandra, and to do this he has to severe a few hundred heads. I like how the author created a way for this to happen (I won’t spoil it for you). It made it more believable then just saying this super strong teenage vampire is a way better fighter then hundreds of other, much older, mutated vaempires. And I also like that this “way” he uses to become crazy, super strong comes with consequences. I’m excited to see where this leads.

Something else I liked about your book is the romantic element to it. Romance in a horror novel? Sweet! But what made it great is the whole story Cassie and Daniel are trying to get to each other. They’re never really together until toward the end, but you can feel the tension as one obstacle after another gets in their way. That’s what makes great writing, always increasing the stakes, no pun intended.

Overall this was a great book. I enjoyed the author’s writing style – descriptive, but not overly so. The only minor complaint was that it was too short. I liked the characters enough that I would’ve preferred a more normal story line so I could get to know them better. I will read more of this author’s work.
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Jul 08, 2012 J. Sharp rated it 5 of 5 stars

So, first...I loved this book! Mr. Winship gets right to the action, in medias res, and the coup is in full force. I didn't need to slug through exposition explaining what vaempires are and where they came from. I got to learn all about it while the story moves quickly along. I don't mind exposition when it is meted out to me, as in Vaempires, but when it is thrown at me like an info dump, I tire of it really quickly. Mr. Winship was very careful about how he explained the world that existed in...more So, first...I loved this book! Mr. Winship gets right to the action, in medias res, and the coup is in full force. I didn't need to slug through exposition explaining what vaempires are and where they came from. I got to learn all about it while the story moves quickly along. I don't mind exposition when it is meted out to me, as in Vaempires, but when it is thrown at me like an info dump, I tire of it really quickly. Mr. Winship was very careful about how he explained the world that existed in his book and made me more and more interested as I read. This a show of great talent and I was really impressed.

Next, I loved the characters in this book. Cassandra, heir to the throne, is a powerful female lead character. I have to give Mr. Winship credit for putting together a female lead that is vulnerable but doesn't roll over when she is faced with some impossible situations. She doesn't need a bad-ass male character to save her. I also really like Daniel who is so desperate to find Cassandra. He is just the very bad-ass male character I was talking about before, but he's so cool, and the situations that he finds himself in are so harrowing, I was rooting for him all the way to the end.

One of the things that I liked about this book, that may not be to everyone's liking, was that it was filled with the bloody violence you would expect when vampires battle mutated vaempires. I liked it because Mr. Winship did not flinch when he wrote the book. He didn't worry that everyone wouldn't like the violence. I like that in a writer. Bravery. This is definitely an adult book in the violence department, though it is about teenagers.

Last, I must give Mr. Winship high marks in originality. He has a "rescuing the princess" plot and gives it a twist because it's about vampires. This twist has taken both the vampire story and the princess captivity story and given them both a great shot in the arm. Really original!

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the ending. Without giving away the plot, I'll just say that the story didn't come to a satisfactory close for me. It is obvious that the story can and will continue, but it could have had a better "wrapping up" of events, in my opinion.

No matter, this book Vaempires: Revolution is a great time and I would recommend it to anyone who loves horror, heroic fantasy, and something that combines the two into a purely original way. Mr. Winship has a new fan and his name is me. (less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Sapphyria rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-romances-challenge

What a wild ride into a completely new twist on vampires. In Thomas Winship's world of vampires there are 3 races of beings inhabiting the world: Humans, Vampires, and Vaempires. As noted above Vaempires are a former vampires that inexplicably transformed into dangerous, dark creatures with abilities that defy reason. These extremely harmful beings have waged war against the entire world; human and vampire combined. A war that cropped up out of the blue after hundreds of years of peace.

"Vaempir...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Frishawn Rasheed rated it 4 of 5 stars

This new and exciting take on "vampiric fiction" is a breath of fresh air for those of us who like a little bite in our read.
It appears that the "living dead" get to be the good guys in this book.
That's right!
There are bigger, badder, faster, stronger Vaempire, and they are sooo bad.

The action in this book starts from the opening pages and because of that, it takes a moment to fully understand who is who. When you do get it,and you will. It's off to the blood baths. LOL!!
You don't want to cheer...more

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Apr 20, 2012 aobibliophile™ rated it 5 of 5 stars

We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution. - Eric Hoffer

it is Princess Cassandra's sixteenth birthday and the great capital city of Orion is among those under attack. the væmpires have undergone mutations and have staged a revolution across the planet. hope and salvation lie in the hands of Daniel, a teenage vampire, and his three companions.
author Thomas Winship's novel about a new breed of vampires...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Sandra "Jeanz" rated it 5 of 5 stars

MY REVIEW
I will start off by giving you this books full title, Vaempires Revolution (The Evolutionary War).I really enjoyed this action packed war of the races novel. Its a different concept of Vampires. As in this book there has been a war, where everything was devastated between the Humans and the Vampires. A truce is reached between the Humans and Vampires, and that has lasted quite well. then certain Vampires start mutating into something even scarier than a Vampire. The mutated Vampires nam...more
MY REVIEW
I will start off by giving you this books full title, Vaempires Revolution (The Evolutionary War).I really enjoyed this action packed war of the races novel. Its a different concept of Vampires. As in this book there has been a war, where everything was devastated between the Humans and the Vampires. A truce is reached between the Humans and Vampires, and that has lasted quite well. then certain Vampires start mutating into something even scarier than a Vampire. The mutated Vampires name themselves Vaempires (read the book to find out why). The Vaempires are sick of being at the bottom of the pecking order as they put it. So there's another war brewing.
The royal family have great defences, I mean Vampires with their extra strong gene and their heightened senses surely they would see an attack from miles away?
Have the Vampire just become a bit too overconfident, thinking their security is unpenetratable. They seem to underestimate the strengths of the Vaempires. The Vaempires are even stronger, faster, and tougher than a Vampire, theres also rumors that some of them have supernatural powers?
I loved the characters of Daniel, Cassir, Linq and Ray. Their friendship shines through the story, they would do anything to protect one another and as survivors they also have to do what is best for their people.
The book is from two points of view, that of Daniel and of Cassie. We follow Daniel, desperate to find his girlfriend Cassies. Then we are with Cassie as she fights an old marriage suitor Vielyn. Cassie and Vielyn were in a relationship, then vielyn began to mutate. they split up, Vielyn says because he bagan to mutate, though Cassie denies this and says it was the personality and emotional changes in Vielyn that made her end their relationship that had been heading towards a marriage. Naturally Vielyn and Daniel do not get along as both think Cassie is theirs to love and protect etc.
The book is non-stop action which makes it very difficult to put down lol! When I got to the end I sort of just though WOW theres GOT to be a bk 2 and where can I get it from?
I just want to add that I would definitely recommend reading Vaempire Christmas the prelude book as you understnad the different relationships that are going on and you get a feel for the inter racial tensions that are also going on too.
So did I enjoy? YES Would I recommend? Yes, Would I read bk 2? Its already on the wishlist!(less)

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Apr 21, 2012 Vidya-BooksAreMagic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, blog-tour, other-mythical-creatures, series, start-of-the-series, vampires

Its really not fair to end a novel with such a cliffhanger..its "Catching Fire" all over again. I was so angry with Suzanne Collins, when she finished it like that. Now, I am angry with Thomas Winship too.

The plot was set in a futuristic world. Humans mutated to vampires and there started a war of power called H-V War, meaning Human-Vampire War. This war was also called as The Great Devastation or World War III. The After Devastation (AD) years of H-V War ended up with the some peace makings and...more Its really not fair to end a novel with such a cliffhanger..its "Catching Fire" all over again. I was so angry with Suzanne Collins, when she finished it like that. Now, I am angry with Thomas Winship too.

The plot was set in a futuristic world. Humans mutated to vampires and there started a war of power called H-V War, meaning Human-Vampire War. This war was also called as The Great Devastation or World War III. The After Devastation (AD) years of H-V War ended up with the some peace makings and renaming of Earth as Tarados - Earth Two and the vampires becoming the leaders.

For years, the humans and vampires were living peacefully helping one another, although vampires ruled. The vampires were given synthetic blood to quench their thirst, so that they doesn't harm anyone. Then the mutation hit - and the Væmpires came along. These new species thirsted for vampire blood.

The story begins with how these Væmpires start a war destroying all humans and vampires along the way, draining the blood from vampires. Some of the Væmpires also have some special powers, like flying, reading the minds, killing with a touch, etc. So, one can imagine how cruel the war will be. The King, Queen and most of the royalty is also killed. But, Princess Cassandra, who is celebrating her sixteenth birthday on that day escapes somehow. So is Daniel, Cassandra's boyfriend and the son of the leader of the Royal Guard, and now is the acting King until Cassandra is coronated. Daniel's friends, Ray and Linq, also escapes the cruel Væmpires, fighting along the way.

These four friends do not know whether the other one is alive or dead and makes their way hoping to win the war. With their parents killed, these teenager have to win the war, save the remaining people and above all, stay alive in the process.

The plot was new and refreshing in the vampire genre. The writing and story-telling are great. This novel is all about war, so violence and blood dominates the plot than romance. Taking responsibility and tough decisions is not an easy task even for heroes, but Daniel is great on that perspective. Cassandra is brave, beautiful and intelligent. The stories of Ray and Linq are not explained, so I expect them to be in the scene in the next book. I really can't wait to read the next!

Well-written, face-paced and imaginative take on vampires!(less)

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Sep 09, 2012 Robert Zimmermann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-books-of-2012

Wow, just wow! This book started out with a bang and that bang never seemed to stop.

What I especially liked is that Winship cut most of the set up for the story into a few paragraphs. The description you see for this book is a brief intro before Chapter One. This gave me, as a reader, enough to set up what was going on when the first chapter jumped into Daniel's story. I think without cutting the back story down like that, the book would have dragged on a bit, been longer, and may have had a dif...more Wow, just wow! This book started out with a bang and that bang never seemed to stop.

What I especially liked is that Winship cut most of the set up for the story into a few paragraphs. The description you see for this book is a brief intro before Chapter One. This gave me, as a reader, enough to set up what was going on when the first chapter jumped into Daniel's story. I think without cutting the back story down like that, the book would have dragged on a bit, been longer, and may have had a different overall effect on me. This book is about forward momentum, and when that's stopped the enjoyment does too. But it didn't occur.

By the middle of this book I knew what I wanted for Christmas this year. I wanted the powers of these Vampires. Essentially, when I read the battle scenes I pictured Daniel, the main character, as is her were Wolverine from X-men. Most of the abilities are the same, and when you add the ability Vampires have of being in the sun (due to consuming synth-blood instead of real blood) they are even more similar. This is in no way saying Daniel, and these vampires in general, are rip-offs of this ultimate fighting machine Wolverine. But it helps put into perspective just how much action and devastation occurs during the many fights Daniel gets in to. He has to race through the city of Orion a few times in order to achieve his goal of saving the Princess Cassandra.

Aside from all the action that is included within these pages there are some underlying issues that are brought up. This story takes place in a future, much altered world. It's still the Earth, but a human-vampire war has taken place, nuclear winter, continental shifting, and the dominate race has become Vampires. On top of that a new race is present. Vaempires. Having three races walking the Earth, or Tarados as it's now referred to, will bring conflict. Race conflict is a huge theme in the book. At times when different characters' viewpoints were being brought into play, I began to sympathize with all sides. Even the Vaempires who started the current war. It brings to mind that if we don't all treat the races of our current world equally and humanly...something like this (without the super-human powers) could happen in our life time. Just because a group of people are different doesn't mean they are less of a person. In the defense of the Vampires, the Vaempires are said to be inherently less stable minded and were impatient in the government's actions to adapt to the new race's presence.

Off of that topic and on to a very bad a** character. Daniel was my favorite butt-kicker for most of the book until later one. Cassie can really hold her own in a fight. Some of the stuff she does would make more action heroes hang their heads in shame. And it's not only her fighting. Her will-power and ability to keep a clear mind in a difficult situation is enviable.

What else is there to say about this book other than I loved? I think the mix of genres are worth mentioning. This is part sci-fi, post(-post)-apocalyptic, vampire, action-adventure, (minor) romance, urban fantasy. It's a bit mixture of different elements that fit very well together. I think it'd appeal to lowers of many genres as well as many different reading levels. While most of the gory battles and other violence will probably consider this a more adult book, I also think it could be read by a younger reader (with a parent's permission of course). I think the younger readers will really enjoy the action and almost comic book feel to it. Along with that....can we make this thing into a video game? I don't normally feel that way about a book, but I think it'd be great.

One thing I "disliked" about the book, to finish off the review. The cliff-hanger ending. It's a cliff-hanger!!!! I'm a so happy I read this book when I did because it's only about a month until Vaempires: Zombie Rising is released. At least the wait isn't very long and I still have the novella Vaempires: A White Christmas to read until then.(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Jeanie Grey rated it 4 of 5 stars

My rating: 3.5 stars (but they'll only let you do whole stars here, so we'll round it up to 4)

Vaempires: Revolution begins in the middle of an uprising. Not as the first shot is fired, not as the last body falls to the ground--right in the middle of the action. Love this choice. Right away I know I'm in for something original.

The book takes place hundreds--perhaps even thousands of years--in the future. Not only post-apocalypse, but post-rebuilding-post-apocalypse. Humans have destroyed themselv...more

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Nov 13, 2011 C.V. Hunt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With a strange twist, and a creative imagination, Thomas Winship has taken the vampire and turned it into his own creature.

The story starts with an action sequence and is nonstop action through the rest of the book. Væmpires opens with a war being waged on the capital of what is left of the world. Daniel, a fifteen year-old vampire, and the son of the captain of the guard, finds himself amongst a battle for his life against an even more terrifying group of vampires referred to as væmpires. With...more With a strange twist, and a creative imagination, Thomas Winship has taken the vampire and turned it into his own creature.

The story starts with an action sequence and is nonstop action through the rest of the book. Væmpires opens with a war being waged on the capital of what is left of the world. Daniel, a fifteen year-old vampire, and the son of the captain of the guard, finds himself amongst a battle for his life against an even more terrifying group of vampires referred to as væmpires. With most of the royal family dead, he must try to rescue one of the few survivors of the family – Princess Cassandra.

Væmpires used to be regular vampires, but evolution has put a change to that. These vampires are warm-blooded, their hearts beat, they are stronger, have grown an extra set of thumbs, and their humanity is slowly slipping back to an animal instinct of survival. They have been shunned by the humans and vampire race. Vielyn, a former vampire, and former friend of the royal family states it best:

FROM THE BOOK:
“Vampires – our former people – rejected us. The world at large ignored us. The medical community failed us. The government abandoned us. What else was left but to forge our own path?”

Vampires are able to survive on a synthetic blood, and have gain a peaceful resolution with humans. The synth-blood allows them to walk in the daylight, and it quenches there never ending thirst for human blood. But væmpires are unable to produce the synthetic dead blood of a vampire, and with the feeling of being dejected by their own people, and uprising has been boiling below the surface.

Now the hunters have become the hunted, and vampires are discovering that væmpires are more powerful that what they appear.

Væmpires was extremely original and inventive. It took an apocalyptic world, added vampires, some X-men-like mutants, and added some futurist sci-fi elements. I know there are a lot of people that still like their old-school vampires, with the sunlight and holy relics, but I'm certainly liking these new and improved vampires that have been emerging. It’s time for the vampire to evolve into something more terrifying, and I can’t wait to see the sequel to this book.
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Jan 25, 2012 Rain Maiden rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this futuristic world, Vampires and Humans live in peace. A portion of the vampire race have experienced mutations that leave them with super powers and craving vampire blood. From chapter one, your right in the chaos after the vaempires attack.

Wow, this story was packed full of vampire action and gore. When I first started the book, I was a bit lost as to what was going on and the nature of the two different kinds of vampires. It didn't take long for the pieces to fall together and see the e...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, won-in-giveaway, signed-by-author-copy

Book Synopsis

It is the morning of Princess Cassandra’s sixteenth birthday. Everyone’s attention is focused on the heir to the vampire throne. World leaders, the rich and famous, and VIPs from every corner of the globe have gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the momentous event.

Cassandra’s boyfriend, Daniel, is late for the party. He’s still outside the city when all hell breaks loose. What he believes is an act of terrorism proves to be a full-fledged revolution. Væmpires—former vam...more

Book Synopsis

It is the morning of Princess Cassandra’s sixteenth birthday. Everyone’s attention is focused on the heir to the vampire throne. World leaders, the rich and famous, and VIPs from every corner of the globe have gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the momentous event.

Cassandra’s boyfriend, Daniel, is late for the party. He’s still outside the city when all hell breaks loose. What he believes is an act of terrorism proves to be a full-fledged revolution. Væmpires—former vampires who mutated into warm-blooded creatures with an insatiable hunger for cold blood—have launched coordinated attacks across the globe, with three goals: the eradication of humanity, the enslavement of vampires, and the ascension of væmpires as the dominant species on the planet.

The vampire and human leaders are killed. Cassandra is missing. Daniel is the acting king. Desperate to find the princess, Daniel and his friends fight their way across the besieged city. With the hopes of the free world resting on the shoulders of four vampire teenagers, væmpires unleash their secret weapons—væmpires with special powers.

What can four teens do against an enemy that can shape-shift, fly, or walk through walls?

My Thoughts

Ready for chills and thrills and lots of gory action packed scenes? Stop right now and find a copy of this intense and fast paced read!

I went into reading this one knowing full well it was going to be dark, bloody and at times even a bit gruesome. Knowing and reading are two very different things, this book grabbed me, took me deep into the world built oh so carefully by the author and did not let me out until the last page was turned. I rooted for Cassie and Daniel, booed the evil creatures that they battled, was totally disgusted by the actions of the villain who orchestrated the attacks and was utterly horrified at the way the book ended!
There is nothing quite like reading something so action packed, it is better than seeing it on the big screen because your imagination is allowed to absorb the scenarios in vivid detail as they happen without the distraction of having to actually watch the brain matter and blood splatter that special effects would use in a movie!

Fans of darker Urban Fantasy will love this start to the authors series, fans of teens with brains and more courage than common sense will enjoy the main characters as well! It pains me now to wait for the second book to release but have a feeling it will be worth it to find out what happens after the mind blowing cliff hanger that ended this book.

[This book was won from author in a blog giveaway but that in no way affected the books review.]

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Aug 31, 2012 Jessica Fortunato rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my tbr pile for ages, and I was happy to finally settle in last night and give it my full attention. Winship's tale begins right in the middle of the action, in the distant future where vaempires and vampires are controlling the world. I won't give a full synopsis, since it's listed above. I will say the originality of this piece was incredibly refreshing. I began the book intending to read only a chapter or two and didn't put it down until I finished. I loved Cassandra esp...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Maghon Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal, review-4-author, young-adult

Ok let me see if I can explain without spoilers. Vampires and humans live in a post apocalyptic world together and vaempires are a mutated version of vampires. Hehe the vampires are the good guys and vaempires are monsters. There are two points of view- Cassie and Daniel. Cassie is the princess and Daniel is a royal guard (her guard) who happen to secretly love each other…. And the tragedy strikes!! PS you get a small glimpse of this in the prequel-no worries I’ll talk about that too

This book i...more Ok let me see if I can explain without spoilers. Vampires and humans live in a post apocalyptic world together and vaempires are a mutated version of vampires. Hehe the vampires are the good guys and vaempires are monsters. There are two points of view- Cassie and Daniel. Cassie is the princess and Daniel is a royal guard (her guard) who happen to secretly love each other…. And the tragedy strikes!! PS you get a small glimpse of this in the prequel-no worries I’ll talk about that too

This book is not like the typical vampire books. It’s a very survivalistic, action packed, fast read. And the whole time is based on the day of the doomed attacking of the Princess’s birthday celebration. It’s very well written and makes me want to change my mind and be a vampire! I was at first reluctant, as there is always a brooding male vampire in love with a human girl, and blah, blah, blah, romance… NO!! This is not that kinda thing. After the crazy humans (yep, we are crazy and you know it) declared war (with pretty much everything, including the vampires) they launched some nuclear bombs (STUPID) which took out half the planet and killed most of the population of both humans and vampires. For those who happen to survive, they have worked out a way to all live together peacefully, or so they thought.

There are a few things that are going on, and I REALLY like the supporting characters, which you meet in the prequel, and see glimpses of in here. I am seriously hoping to see more of them. I think I have the hots for one of them, hint- it’s Ray LOL And THAT ENDING!!! How ya gunna do that to me! I always say I’m a fan of well placed cliff hangers and THIS IS ONE- so fair warning lol I think I was a little devastated and shocked, but at the same time, I’m not… I dunno how to explain this. I will definitely be picking up book 2 as I cannot wait to see how it’s going to play out!! Will Daniel finally rescue his princess or will too many dangers keep them apart! Boy oh boy! Great one!! 5 paws(less)

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May 23, 2012 Franny (Mind Reader) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow... I've been feeling lots of mixed emotions about the book. It's been kinda intense, probably a little too detailed on the gory parts for my taste, but it was great!
The definition of Vaempires and the dinamics of how they were created are really refreshing, and they remind me a bit of the movie Daybreakers, which I liked very much. I really like the idea of a world ruled by vampires, even if it wouldn't be a good thing for me as a human being :)
Daniel & Cassie are two very strong charact...more

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Apr 29, 2012 S.M. Boyce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, urban-fantasy, new-adult, science-fiction, _own-it_paperback

4.5 stars -- rounding up.

The Short Version

Vaempires: Revolution is the first in an intensely original series by Thomas Winship. Elements from multiple genres are blended together: fantasy, vampire fiction, scifi. It's a cool read with a lot of violence, but it's also a coming of age about two rather bad-ass vampires. You get two perspectives for a broad view of the overall story, but because of the cliffhanger ending, it reads more like an introduction than a full novel. Still, I very much enjoy...more 4.5 stars -- rounding up.

The Short Version

Vaempires: Revolution is the first in an intensely original series by Thomas Winship. Elements from multiple genres are blended together: fantasy, vampire fiction, scifi. It's a cool read with a lot of violence, but it's also a coming of age about two rather bad-ass vampires. You get two perspectives for a broad view of the overall story, but because of the cliffhanger ending, it reads more like an introduction than a full novel. Still, I very much enjoyed it and will be tagging along for the rest of the series.

The Details

You're introduced to a lot very quickly in this novel, and you have to keep up. It's action-driven and fast-paced, and I recommend re-reading the synopsis first before diving in if it's been a while. The book's blurb gives you an inkling of what's going on that the first chapter throws you into without warning.

We have two main characters: Daniel and Cassandra. Daniel is the son of the Head Royal Guard, and Cassie is the princess. They live in an era thousands of years in the future, after atomic bombs cause a great Devastation and the world is handed over to be ruled by vampires. What's incredibly neat—besides the fact that this is a scifi vampire novel with freaking vampire zombies—is that we see a constant state of evolution. We're shown how vampires evolved beyond humans, and then we see another vampire race called vaempires (note the extra "e"), which have evolved to hunt vampires. It's all very fun and complex.

There are actually very few central characters, and it helps focus the novel onto its central purpose of showing us this advanced war and the subsequent destruction as the vaempires (again, note the extra "e") attack the vampire cities around the world. The characters we do experience—namely Daniel and Cassie—are further explored because of this isolation. It's amazing to see them come into their own and respond to the chaos and death, but it's even more endearing to see their love for each other. It's the driving force of the novel, and I believe the driving force of life. Their love was very well done and their motivations very well supported.

This is a violent book. Just throwing that out there for anyone who's squeamish. I am a little, won't lie, but I managed to skim the gory bits without losing too much of the story. Some images are still kind of sticking to my brain and I wish they wouldn't, but it's nothing that will keep me up tonight. I often read this before bed and it didn't give me any sort of bad dreams. More exciting, really, because of all the action. I love me some good action scenes.

Winship's style is very detailed, and the action scenes specific. We get play-by-plays of what's going on, which isn't my personal preference for writing action scenes. Still, you see each motion and are given the full scope of the fight scenes, which makes Daniel seem even more bad ass. He was trained to be a killer, even if he'd never had to kill before the attack, and he's been trained to protect Cassie because she's a royal. Only, that's not the only reason he wants her safe.

Cassie is just awesome. I wanted more of her voice because of her strength and unyielding will to survive and protect her people, and sometimes sped through Daniel's perspectives just to get back to her. That could also be because I'm a chick and just better related to women. Not sure.

The ending wasn't my thing, just because I wanted more resolution. I felt like Daniel's character went backwards, instead of maturing, and I kind of bit my lip when I realized I only had a page left and it wasn't enough space to resolve anything. There was also a moment when the conflict climaxed and it seemed that resolution was imminent, but then the rug was yanked from under us. I kinda sat back and thought, damn, that's no fun. It still isn't going to stop me from reading the rest of the series, nor does it ruin the overall story.

Bottom line: this is a cool book. If you like vampires, fantasy, or hell, even scifi, I think you'll like this. It's an interesting blend of something new and refreshing, and I think it would make the coolest video game in a long time. Seriously, read it and tell me that wouldn't kick ass as a multiplayer -or- an individual campaign game! It rocks.
(less)

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Jan 22, 2013 Noelle Blakely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-reviews

Sorry this review was so long in coming. I wanted to finish reading the second book before commenting because I wanted to get a handle on how this series is playing out. What I mean by that is the way the series is written it seems to me more like a single novel in serial parts. I don't have a problem with that. I just wanted to be sure that was what was happening. So, I have combined my review and will copy it to both books.

With that said, I am patient and will wait for the next installments. I...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Christie Rich rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: rocking-original

The first thing I thought about this book was, "Vaempires? Why is there an e in there?"

The questions kept coming in this action packed thrill ride through the post appocolyptic world Thomas Winship created. I'm not usually into books that strattle the edge of horror. My vampire exposure has mostly beed those of the sparkling kind, so this whole idea of Vampires who are cold blooded undead, and Vaempires who are a mutation to warm blooded super vamps intrigued me.

From the very first page you are...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Johanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge2012, books-reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 14, 2012 Jen McConnel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, new-adult, sci-fi

I recently connected with author Thomas Winship, and last week, I dove into his new YA series.

Set in a far-future dystopian world, after the humans have caused a nuclear winter, three separate races populate the earth. The humans who survived the devastation of World War III were happy to hand over the reins of power to the Vampires, but after a few hundred years of peace, nature throws a monkey wrench into the world. Some Vampires begin to mutate into Vaempires: they can no longer drink human o...more

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May 07, 2012 Shae Carcar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Overall Thoughts:
This was a fun, brief read that easily had me engrossed!

Vaempires: Revolution is about a Dystopian world that is being taken over by mutilated vampires called Vaempires, which is exactly how the story begins. We follow a fifteen year old vampire named Daniel (Son of the head of the Royal Guard) who is literally fighting his way to Princess Cassandra's Sixteenth birthday party. Because she is the heir to the vampire throne, every guard and soldier is in attendance to ensure that...more

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May 26, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

From the moment I started Vaempires: Revolution I was hooked. We jump straight into the action with a bloody and vicious fight scene, sparing no details about what is going on and this attention to detail was what kept me hooked all the way through the book.

You may look at Vaempires: Revolution and think 'not another vampire book', but you would be wrong in thinking this. Vaempires: Revolution has a different breed of vampires. We have the usual vampires that we all know and love, butsynth...more

From the moment I started Vaempires: Revolution I was hooked. We jump straight into the action with a bloody and vicious fight scene, sparing no details about what is going on and this attention to detail was what kept me hooked all the way through the book.

You may look at Vaempires: Revolution and think 'not another vampire book', but you would be wrong in thinking this. Vaempires: Revolution has a different breed of vampires. We have the usual vampires that we all know and love, but synth blood (synthetic human blood) has allowed these vampires to evole to adapt to be able to withstand sun and make procreation possible. Next we have Vaempires. These are vampires that have evolved and become more stronger and quicker than the usual vampires and are now staging war in an attempt to gain power and control over everyone.

Vaempires: Revolution is told in two points of view, Daniel and Cassandra, who are dealing with the ongoing onslaught while also trying to find their families and each other. These multiple points of view ensures we get to see two sides to the war from different perspective and see how each person is dealing with it.
From the moment Daniel is introduced I liked him. He saves others from attack, both vampires and humans, and rescues children and leads them to safety, and at one point even risked never seeing Cassandra again to ensure the safety of others. As we get to know Daniel more his age is revealed, and I was surprised with how young he was. His actions and tough decisions make him seem older than what he actually is. He acts older and more mature than his years.

I really liked getting to see Cassandra's point of view. It was refreshing to see the thoughts of someone who is a main character but not used to violence and death. I really admire how strong she is in carrying on though it all, and when it comes down to it she finds the strength to fight for what she loves.

The only thing that disappointed me was the ending. How can you end a book like that with such a cliff hanger...it is so not fair and I really need to read the next book now!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed Vaempires: Revolution and Thomas has done a great job of dragging me into the world he has created and not letting go. If you don't mind a bit of violence and gore in your books this is the perfect read.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Nikki Jefford rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Earth is now called Tarados, New York Orion and a new land mass has emerged following the rise of water levels. The time is the future – hovercrafts, high tech communication links, all that fun futuristic stuff – and vampires and humans live peacefully side by side.

Or they did till mutant vampires: vaempires with an “e” that is, launched a full-fledged attack on the world and all its non-mutant inhabitants.

Vaempires is action packed from page one. The fight scenes are some of the most descripti...more

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Vaempires: Revolution (The Evolutionary War #1)

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