Review: Vaempires: Revolution (The Evolutionary War) by Thomas Winship

TLDR recap:

Daniel finds himself alone, in the midst of a full scale attack on the capital city with only his training and wits to get him to safety. Being the hero type, he also picks up innocents to protect and guide to safety along the way. His love, Cassie, is in peril, all the adults and peeps in charge are out of the picture, and communications are spotty. This is civil war in a futuristic society run by vampires and humans together who are under attack by vaempires, a newly evolving species who are bloodthirsty, cruel, and have an agenda that will take more than one book to resolve. Are you ready for the revolution? Cause this series is like chips – you won’t be able to stop with just one! Vaempires: Revolution is a GraveTells Recommended Read!

• Title: Vaempires: Revolution
• Series: The Evolutionary War
• Author: Thomas Winship
• Prominent Characters: Daniel, Cassie
• Genre(s): Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
• Recommended reader age: 15+
• Sexual content level: None

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence!***

Thoughts:

I don’t read too much YA. I generally find that the ones with a female protagonist end up with love triangles that never resolve (I’m looking at you House of Night, Carrie Jone’s pixie series that started with Need… you get my drift.) However, when you get a male protagonist as the main character, things generally run differently. Thus my fan girl appreciation of Cinda Williams Chima’s Heir series. (It’s fantastic, go check it out).

So, Mr. Winship’s series, I’m totally digging. I like science fiction, which definitely influences this story. I also like futuristic stories with monsters and evolution. You can probably guess that I’m an X-Men fan. 🙂

This is a story about civil war, and the repercussions of a disenfranchised part of society growing strong enough and angry enough to resort to terrorist tactics to acheive what they want rather than using the slower-moving, peaceful diplomacy to achieve their ends. I think we can all agree that there are unfortunate examples of this happening in the news everyday.

While the vaempires are the “bad guys” in this series, I actually felt sympathy for them. Their acts are atrocious, the means they use deplorable, and yet, I understood the motivation. I empathisized with them. Maybe that’s why I like Magneto et al in the X-Men movies. Meh, y’all know my brain doesn’t work like most other people’s.

Daniel is a great hero, trained since birth to step up and help those in need by his father and the role they play in the vampire government. His lady love, Cassie, is a real live princess, but shrinking violet wall flower she is not. Both of them have spines of steel, smarts, compassion, and a sense of responsibility to the greater society at large. No spoiled brats here.

My only problem with this book is that Daniel and Cassie are both only 15. Now, they’ve been brought up, groomed to assume very adult roles if the need arose. So, perhaps they really would be able to handle the violence, terror, and huge responsibilities thrust on them the way they do. I just found myself wondering when the break down would occur. They are only kids after all. However, they’re not human, this is futuristic/other species/urban fantasy. So maybe I need to take a chill pill and just enjoy the ride.

If you liked Vaempires: Revolution…

I’m going to reiterate what I said above, check out Cinda Williams Chima’s Heir series, starting with The Warrior Heir. It’s the start of a fantastic trilogy with heroes and heroines you’re going to love following on their journey of self discovery, war, and the path to a new world.

Final thoughts:

The world is masterfully created, and even though this book ends on a cliff hanger, it only leaves you salivating for the next installment. The hero and heroine here are tough, resourceful, and willing to sacrifice themselves for their people – I don’t know if I’ve liked a couple of kids in a book more than these two in recent memory. I’ve already gone and bought the prequel novella Vaempires: White Christmas because I want to learn more about them and their world. At .99, it’s quite a steal, IMO. Winship has the start of a very promising series here, and I’m happy to say that I was really surprised by the quality of this book. I generally avoid self published books, but there wasn’t a single editing error or “what the hell” moment for me in this book. Go get a copy!  Vaempires: Revolution is a GraveTells Recommended Read!

Rating:Vampires: Revolution