God Save the Queen

4.5/5
Very unusual. I can tell you that straight away.


Most steampunk novels operate in fictional Victorian era. Kate Locke completely turned this notion on its head and instead gave us present steampunk society where Queen Victoria never died and instead became the undead and rules for all eternity.


After the Plague during Victoria's reign the virus slowly turned the aristocrats into vampires and some of them (especially the Scottish variety) into werewolves.


In the present time, London operates as usual, only the aristocrats and the Queen are still ruling. The vampires have some sort of celebrity status, while normal people live no different apart from donating a pint of their blood occasionally and keeping a record of their DNA with show more state's hospitals so they can be monitored for the virus development.


Of course there is unrest and attempts of revolution which will give people more rights and diminish the rule of aristocracy. There is also a strange destructive drug that allows people to borrow the supernatural strength of those affected by The Plague, but the downside of it, - you burn out pretty quickly. Women wear corsets, phones and computers are adjusted to steampunk aesthetics, etc.


Xandra Vardan is a halvie, who works as a part of Royal Guard protecting the Queen and nobility during official events and ceremonies. She is quite content with her life, until her younger sister goes missing, and a body burned beyond recognition is supposed to be buried in her place.


Xandra investigation uncovers the darkest secrets and makes her question everything she believes in about the order of things and her own origins.


This book is dark and quite brutal. The Pace is breathtaking. Some bits of it reminded me of Meredith Gentry and Toby Day's series by Seanan McGuire. I loved Kate Locke's non nonsense style, and I'll definitely be reading more. It's very visual, bright and pure urban fantasy wrapped in attractive steampunk packaging.


Very much recommended. show less

There are a number of things that are wrong with this book, but I'll get to those in a bit. Admittedly, Locke created a very interesting world - it's politically fraught where the aristocrats are vampires (including Queen Victoria, about to celebrate her 175th year of rule) and werewolves, and their half-blood children serve as their protectors. Xandra is a halvie serving on the Royal Guard. While investigating her sister's disappearance and later death, she discovers that her world is more complicated and dangerous than she believed it to be.

First, I did enjoy the book. It's a quick read, and a fun one. The plot moves along briskly and the world-building was extremely interesting.

There are a few things that kept throwing me out of the show more book, though. The first was that the writing seemed amateurish at points, which is weird considering that Locke has published a number of other books under different names. But the words "chocolatey goodness" should never appear on the pages of a professionally published book. The author also tried a little too hard to make the book seem English - using "kerb" and "colour", for example. Xandra also throws in the odd "Oy". The book's setting is the Britain that Americans believe to be Britain.

Also, I got the feeling the author wrote this to piggyback onto the steampunk craze, even though this book contained very little actual steampunk (actually, pretty much nothing - there were no steam engines). Steampunk is more than corsets and tiny hats. And it pisses me off when things are labeled "steampunk" when it's obviously just a ploy to get people to buy it because steampunk is the 'in' thing right now.

The plot was interesting, and I did consider reading the next one but the awful shallowness and marketing around this book just turned me off. show less

Hmm. Look, it's fun, and there's a delightful punk bloodthirstiness about it that's something of a rare commodity in urban fantasy these days (these vampires and werewolves definitely still have fangs). But something about it just made it more of a mental exercise than an emotional or visceral one, and this sort of book - a Westwood-meets-Emilie-Autumn romp - should have its strength in the experiencing, not the thinking. It's not really full of Ideas, but for me, the betrayals and the romances were made more distant through the first-person narration, rather than bringing them closer to felt.

But hey, it was fun.

God Save The Queen / Kate Locke.
Reviewed from Advance Reader Copy received via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.
The year is 2012, and Britain is ruled by the undead. Queen Victoria and the aristocracy are vampires (unless they’re Scottish, in which case they’re werewolves) and there are man-eating goblins in the sewers. Xandra Vardan is a half blood, a daughter of the vampire Duke of Vardan and a human “breeding courtesan”. She’s also a member of the elite Royal Guard, charged with protecting the royal family. When her younger sister, Dede, disappears, Xandra starts turning over stones to find her, and discovers way, way more than she bargained for. Locke’s steampunky alternate history London is fun (in an “I’m show more glad this is a book and I don’t have to go there” way), Xandra is a strong character, and the plot rattles along handily. Aside from a couple of minor false notes (for example, Xandra referring to her scientist pal as a nerd, when slang from our world has been so carefully avoided in the rest of the book), it’s a fun read. Recommended. show less

This review originally appeared on my blog, Starting the Next Chapter.

Having been a fan of other works by Kate Locke (in the persona of Kady Cross), I was very much looking forward to God Save the Queen in spite of my continuing disinterest in vampire stories (the burn out continues). In many ways, God Save the Queen was as I expected. In the areas of world building and plot, this book was right up my alley. There were, however, things that just didn't work for me. Both sides of the coin will be covered in this review and I will tell you all about why I was left on the fence about continuing with this series.

Xandra Vardan as a main character left me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, she's spunky, determined, and capable of much show more butt-kicking. What's not to love, you may ask? For me, the dislike comes in due to Xandra's voice. I get that the story takes place in London, thus there is bound to be some English slang used. However, for much of the book it just felt like overkill. When it gets to the point that one feels intense exasperation every time the main character speaks, that says something. So far as the remaining cast of characters goes, however, I very much enjoyed the variety (vampires, werewolves, goblins, and humans) and the wide array of personalities. It definitely helped make up for a not-so-appealing MC.

The world building is probably the most well-done aspect of this book. While I hesitate to dub God Save the Queen full-on steampunk, it definitely had lovely flourishes of steampunk goodness. Instead, it has a distinctly urban fantasy feel that worked great with the high level of action and the background for how this world came to be. I especially enjoyed the sublevels of London where the goblins hold court. Overall, this is a gritty, dangerous world where you can never quite guess what will happen next.

While I didn't hate God Save the Queen, I also failed to completely win me over. After following this first installment of Xandra's story, I am unsure as to whether or not I can bring myself to pick up the second book. While I liked where the story was headed at the very end, I just can't tell if it will continue along the same vein. I will continue to keep an ear out for others' opinions and decide as I hear more about where things are headed and whether or not the copious use of slang subsides. show less

When her baby sister Dede goes missing, Alexandra "Xandra" is the only one in her family of half-siblings to question the official story they're given. Deciding to keep her suspicions even from her brother and their other sister, she decides to set out on her own investigation, knowing it will likely lead to her to places unexpected. Just how unexpected, however, she never could have imagined.

The England of the Immortal Empire series is a brilliant mix of the Victorian era along with 2012. There's electricity, but Queen Victoria is still on the throne. People still take horses and carriages, yet there are things, as well, mirroring modern transportation. There are also paranormal creatures - a result of the plague, Not all infected with show more the plague died in this version of events, rather a gene mutation was caused resulting in vampires, werewolves, goblins and some half-bloods.

Xandra herself is a halvie, half-vampire and half-human. Just how it effects her -- and other halvies -- is explained in the book but it makes her a very interesting character. She's not a vampire yet she's not human, either. In fact, the entire society and culture that Kate Locke has created here is very original and a ton of fun. (Though when it's all first explained it is a bit tricky following just how all of the 'genetics' works.)

It was nice not to get weighed down by lots of talk about hierarchy or packs, structure or the goblins vs the weres vs the vampires and why they didn't all like each other, etc. It was as much a part of the story as it needed to be but the focus was really on Xandra. There's enough action, violence, drama and danger surrounding her and her quest for the truth as it is. We find out more about her, her past, her family, those closest to her, and some new characters as her story unfolds.

I love that as much of the world that Kate Locke created was able to be so effectively brought into such a character-centric book.

Both Xandra's DNA, the make-up of the society, the tension between the different beings (as whole groups and individuals) as well as the fantastic setting make this an incredibly enjoyable read. The way that Victorian and modern day settings are woven together is pretty brilliant - it's almost a reverse steampunk idea in a sense. With Victoria still reining and others around from her era as well, they've kept Victorian period things as part of modern society and/or things have evolved in a different manner. It's strange to explain but works so well in the book.

God Save the Queen does remind readers a bit of the Steampunk Chronicles (the YA series that starts with The Girl in the Steel Corset) and Gail Carriger's YA Espionage & Etiquette -- likely her adult series as well, but I've yet to read it -- so fans of either series will likely enjoy this. It should be noted, however, that The Immortal Empire is an adult series and contains a bit of adult content and quite a bit of adult language.

I can't wait to read the next book (and then be anxiously awaiting Number 3, out this fall). show less

If you like the Parasol Protectorate books, this book is for you! I am exactly in this book's target audience, and I say, get me the sequel to this book, stat!

One thing I liked about this book was the mixture of eras/styles. The year is 2012 but Great Britain is still, literally, in the Victorian age. The characters have computers, television, and cell phones, but women wear bustles and corsets. I love how the author describes the protagonist's clothes -- and this is something that can go either way for me in a book. I'm normally not big on description but it works here (though there is a sadly high attrition rate on my favorite outfits).

Sure, the ideas aren't exactly new, but they are *so* much fun here. Vampires, werewolves, show more aristocracy, and oh yeah, goblins. Also siblings you adore but who occasionally drive you nuts. Drawing-room manners, with guns. Seriously, give this book a try. I got an ARC from LTER but it's out now for your reading convenience. show less