Also posted on Lovey Dovey Books

Albert's fangs! Kate Locke's God Save the Queen, the first book in the new Immortal Empire Trilogy, blew my mind so far away that I probably won't find it until the next installment releases.

Locke's storytelling is so phenomenal. The progression of the story had me questioning the title over and over again, but finally I understood. I fell for God Save the Queen when I realized the track I was on was completely different from the novel's. It's best to warn fellow readers to throw all preconceived notions of the story out of the window because this is not the average fantasy.

The usual creatures of the night make appearances: weres, vamps, and gobs, but there's something special about their way of living. They're much more civilized than I've seen before, especially because most are royalty. I was a little afraid that the world building would overshadow the plot, but it was surprisingly easy to understand the Aristocracy and the court-like culture. I really enjoyed this world Locke has created and I believe it's my favorite aspect of this novel. Well that and the kick-butt heroine, Xandra Vardan.

Xandra is strong, but she takes independence to a whole new level. She's hardly ever plagued by guilt when it comes to the choices she makes and she's hands down the scariest lead I've had the pleasure to meet! One thing I'm sure will endear readers to Xandy is the fact that she has no delusions about her character. She knows where her faults lie and knows that she's self-centered or arrogant at times. Oh, and her loyalty to family caused my eyes to water on numerous occasions. There are reasons to cry, but it never got to the point where I bawled my eyes out, because Xandra's strength just made the sad scenes easier to get through.

I thought I had the characteristics of steampunk figured out until I stepped into Locke's intriguing world of digigrams and logic engines. It doesn't hurt that the novel sports an informative glossary of unfamiliar gizmos, gadgets, and phrases. After Locke's fascinating take on steampunk and fantasy I'm definitely looking forward to more of her work.

Fang me, but if you don't pick up of copy of this novel you'll miss an exciting and exceptional start to The Immortal Empire Trilogy!

*Copy of book provided by publisher, via LibraryThing Early Reviewers, in exchange for an honest review*