"Clay and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire is Transforming Genre Fiction" Paul Goat Allen, BN Explorations.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Behold "The Rift Walker" Cover

Gaze upon the cover art for Vampire Empire, Book 2! The artist, Chris McGrath, has outdone himself! We love the colors and the mood the art sets for the tone of the novel. And the figure of Greyfriar is just...well...damn. 


We would love for you to tell us what you think! We know it's hard waiting until September for this to be in your hands, so we promise to give you what we can between now and then. Stay tuned! 


Till then, here's the details:

Princess Adele struggles with a life of marriage and obligation as her Equatorian Empire and their American Republic allies stand on the brink of war against the vampire clans of the north.  However, the alliance’s horrific strategy for total victory drives Adele to abandon her duty and embark on a desperate quest to keep her nation from staining its hands with genocide.
Reunited with her great love, the mysterious adventurer known to the world as the Greyfriar, Adele is pursued by her own people as well as her vengeful husband, Senator Clark. With the human alliance in disarray, Prince Cesare, lord of the British vampire clan, seizes the initiative and strikes at the very heart of Equatoria.
As Adele labors to bring order to her world, she learns more about the strange powers she exhibited in the north. Her teacher, Mamoru, leads a secret cabal of geomancers who believe Adele is the one who can touch the vast power of the Earth that surges through ley lines and wells up at the rifts where the lines meet. These energies are the key to defeating the enemy of mankind, and if Princess Adele could ever bring this power under her command, she could be death to vampires.
But such a victory will also cost the life of Adele’s beloved Greyfriar.
The Rift Walker is the second book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, the Vampire Empire series brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.

15 comments:

kahea said...

LOVE the cover!! And I agree that September is a long time to wait, but I'm sure it will be totally worth the wait :)

Artemis Grey said...

SQUEE

Enough said

Elisabeth said...

C'est magnifique, wonderful cover by Chris McGrath :) Congratulations! and thank you so much for the details.

Sorwen said...

I hate to be rude, but you asked for opinions so I'm going to be honest. While the rest of the imagery looks fine I don't like the, I assume the Greyfriar, male character's look. For some reason to me, while I assume that the female is Adele and she looks fine, he comes off as an actor standing there in a cheap costume. I felt the male character looked out of place on the first cover as well for that matter though.

Also because of the male character the imagery comes off less steam punk and more dime store romance novel. I'm waiting for Fabio to walk into the picture and tell him to pose correctly. That maybe a little harsh, but I couldn't find any better words to describe the way the cover makes me feel. The first cover was part of the reason it took me so long to read the book.

However, I'm actually more dishearten at the book description than the cover. To learn the character I felt was the second villain of the first book, Senator Clark, wins enough they actually got married. Whether intended or not (I assume it was), he really is just a human version of Prince Cesare. From what was supposed to happen for him to have cemented his place in both countries bothers me. I was really hoping he would be thwarted. :(

Neither the cover nor the description will keep me from reading it. I'm still hoping for a horrible death for Clark before he gets too many people on both sides killed. Though I think he is more a detriment to the humans than the vampires. Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I really hated that guy in the first book.

Rain Maiden said...

I love the cover! To me it has a Romeo and Juilet feel to it. I just hope it doesn't play out that way. Greyfriar was my favorite read last year.

Clay and Susan said...

Thanks for the comments everyone. And, Sorwen, we appreciate your honesty. Nobody can like everything. We are very grateful that you are still going to read the book, even though the cover isn't your cup of tea. And Senator Clark is a polarizing character...some folks love him, some folks hate him. We really love hearing your passion about it!

Lynne said...

It's beautiful...great colours and amazing detail. I imagine the imagery fits the book perfectly, as did the cover for The Greyfriar.

This is a highly anticipated read for me. Thanks for writing guys.

Cheshire Cat said...

Oh my goodness ... That's just, well, "delicious" seems to be the only appropriate word. I love it. And truly, it must be some kind of boon to you to know that we have all been frustrated waiting to know what happens to Gareth and Adele. <3

September cannot come soon enough! Thank you for your vibrant writing and deft skill.

KatAround said...

The cover is absolutely FAB!!! Thanks so much for sharing it. And thanks for writing a wonderfully original book/story.

kathyann

Sarah said...

It looks great! I can't wait to see what happens~ I loved the first one. Keep up the good work and have fun with your book tours/conventions ^^

Janice said...

I love the cover! :) I just stayed up until four am last night finishing The Greyfriar! September can't come fast enough!!

LillyC said...

I can only agree! I can't wait until September.

I'm just hoping it will come out on Kindle as well. :)

Clay and Susan said...

Thanks, everyone. There should certainly be a Kindle edition.

Anonymous said...

Do you have an ETA for eBook format that would work on Kindles? Either Amazon direct or publisher (like Baen does)?

Due to space limitations, I only purchase ebooks (or get from Library)

Lisa said...

I can't wait! Book 2 is on my most wanted list - I've been patient for a year- but enough is enough- I just re-read Book 1- and my loathing of the Senator knows no bounds- This last bit is the worst-