The Geomancer

The Griffiths spin a new series off of their Vampire Empire trilogy, highlighting the unlikely love between vampire Prince Gareth and human Empress Adele of Equatoria on a steampunk alternate Earth. In a previous story, Adele, a geomancer of considerable talent, destroyed the vampire population of London—except for Gareth, a fairly progressive vampire who turns on his more backward clan. Now other vampires have created amulets that render them impervious to Adele’s powers, and have employed a Witchfinder who plans to use the legendary Tear of Death to kill every human on Earth. Can Adele and Gareth save humankind? Will humans and vampires ever learn to live together in peace? These questions and others are answered as our hero and heroine swashbuckle their way around the world. Despite some infelicitous writing and an occasional lapse in logic (why would vampires want to wipe out humans, their only source of food?), the Griffiths know how to keep the action moving, and in Prince Gareth they have created a surprisingly multidimensional character whose complexity goes far beyond the run-of-the-mill creature of the night. Agent: Ann Collette, Helen Rees Literary. (Nov.)