Customer Reviews

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book doesn't set out to educate us on Queen Victoria, though from what little research I did, some of this book is indeed historically accurate, no this book has one purpose...to entertain. And if I am being honest, I was thoroughly entertained!

At almost 400 pages, I didn't find the book overly long, and truth be told I wouldn't have minded another 50-100 pages. From the beginning we are told that demons exist among us, some pass as humans and even develop human emotions, some are more forthcoming with who and what they are. And some demons are actually humans, but then if you live in the real world you already know that. We are told that Queen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert are to sire an heir to the throne, a descendant of the demon Baal, but we know that there is more to the royal couple than meets the eye. Along the way, we meet the Queen's loyal Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, and we can see the fatherly feelings he has towards the queen. We meet Maggie Brown the Royal "protector" and her soldiers-Hudson, HIcks and Vasquez (yes, if you are a fan of Aliens like I am this will give you pause and a bit of a laugh), but it is the Queen that takes center stage as she should.

I can only assume that the author, A.E.Moorat is an Alien fan. Aside from the names of the 'grunts' charged with protecting the queen, Moorat's Victoria bears more than a passing resemblance to Weaver's Ellen Ripley. If this was deliberate, I enjoyed the 'joke' as it were, if not...well, I won't speculate that and will assume the author knew what he was doing. (though I did look at the author's website and no mention of Aliens...sooo...) The author did a good job writing of a strong, determined woman. One that realizes her destiny isn't necessarily carved in stone. I believed in the love of Victoria and Albert, and though it was 'mushy' at times, I never found myself turned off by the detour from the violence that is central to the story.

This book was fun, it didn't try to be something it wasn't, and I appreciate that in a book like this. I wouldn't classify it as horror though, more of a satire, though a very well written one. I will certainly seek out the author's next book!

After reading this book, I went online and did a search of the author, as i mentioned above. I was so surprised at the homages to Aliens, that I actually sent a quick email to the author asking if he was a fan and if the similarities were intentional. Not only did the author email me back, but he took the time to read my review here and even thanked me for it! I really enjoyed the book, and would have sought out the author's other books as they were published, but him taking the time to respond and answer my questions sealed the deal for me. I thought that was a really cool thing to do, and wanted to share with you guys how humble and nice this guy was.

Count me as one of the many readers who recently devoured the guilty pleasure that is "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." And so while I know very little about England's Queen Victoria, I could not resist diving into "Queen Victoria: Demon Killer." I must conclude that while "QVDK" splashes considerably more blood on the stage than "PPZ," ultimately Victoria does not emerge as the book's most intriguing character.

More on that in a moment. The background for this story is simple: the book opens with Victoria about to become queen, but queen of an England full of zombies, demons, and other dark magic. Certain real historical figures are in actuality demons, working to bring about their own form of hereditary rule over Britain. All that seems to stand in their way is Victoria and her team, including the exquisite assassin and Protektor, Maggie Brown. Along the way, we see that Victoria is no slouch with a blade and keeps her own dark secrets, which may in fact be unknown even to her.

What ensues is a fairly conventional tale of the supernatural, although chock full with entertainingly gory scenes. Rats are used to great effect, and zombies get to wreak delightful havoc in Parliament.

But the most enjoyable character, by far, is the "noble" Quimby. We first meet this nasty piece of business as he is hosting a party, only to learn to his chagrin that "the zombies are eating the prostitutes." Quimby is the kind of guy who will use his manservant Perkins as a human shield against the zombies, only to re-press Perkins into service when the poor sap reanimates. Quimby's perpetual need to angle for his own benefit in the face of zombies, demons, and darker beings is a delight, as he must also maintain the typical aristocratic arrogance that makes Victorian England such a ripe target for satire.

There are intrigues, plots, and double-crosses galore in this book, but ultimately the failure of Queen Victoria to emerge as the most interesting character in her own tale is a disappointment. It's still a good fun read, but it could have been so much more.

This book couldn't have been published without Pride and Prejudice and Zombies seeing print, but the books are really quite different. While PPZ is a spit-take on a classic, Queen Vic is . . . well, alternative history comes close, but alternative universe history is probably better.

There are demons, werewolves, Lovecraftian horrors, hedonistic nobles, the wretched poor and a clockwork chainsaw wielded against a horde of zombies.

It's awesome, rollicking fun, establishing just enough tension to keep you interested, but not so much that you become deeply invested in the book, become too interested and cause the book's credulity to evaporate.

Brief moments of hilarity can't help the convoluted plot and lack of character development in "Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter." Whereas "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" tacked its supernatural elements onto an existing classic, "Queen Victoria" was created from the ground up to be a satire. It's not exactly a mash-up, though; it's more like a historical fantasy novel with flashes of humor.

The plot meanders, and the "demons" promised in the title are mostly zombies, succubi, and werewolves. There are so many evil creatures to keep track of that the main characters often seem secondary (and, in fact, Queen Victoria isn't the main protagonist here--her demon-hunting trainer is). Every time we feel like we're getting into a character's head, the author pulls us out of the scene and thrusts us into another. Flashbacks and timeshifts are frequent and disorienting; the author's humor ("It was a time to dismember") would have worked better in a more straightforward story.

"Queen Victoria" is intermittently amusing, but neither the humor nor the story are enough to keep the reader engaged for all 384 pages.

I thought it was a fun read. The plot actually loosely follows historical events which I thought was pretty cool. My view of history will be a little skewed from now on though.

A book about the politics involved in being the reigning monarch in England while a demon horde ravages the lands and vies for the throne just sounds like Full of Win. Unfortunately (or not) as I read the novel, I found that it paced like a SyFy movie just developed a little more.
The book jacket promises a story about a newly crowned queen who receives an arsenal of demon hunting weapons in addition to her crown and scepter. Not exactly true. I would describe the book as a conspiracy thriller. The book actually follows the Queen as circumstances lead her to become a demon hunting monarch and mother of two.
A sequel to this books would undoubtedly chronicle her blood and gory exploits during her reign but this novel did not. This is not to write that there were routine descriptions of death, flesh eating, bloody katanas, and other atrocities. On the contrary, the author describes gruesome scenes with vivid imagery, ingenious quips, and evil villains all with a dash of romance.
The characters to note are Phillip, Victoria, Maggie, Melbourne, and Quimby. Quimby provides the comedy in the story. Maggie moves the action along. The evolving relationships between Melbourn and Victoria and Phillip and Victoria provide both conflict and intrigue. The evolution of Victoria's character from third in line to the throne to a demon hunter is really slow. Even so, the book could have added another 100 pages or so to the second gorier half and I would have been perfectly pleased. Perfect scene staging for a Saturday night movie.

You should read this book if you like action, plot twists, zombies, coach chases, hand to paw combat, monster rats, demonology, visits to the lunatic asylum, and discussing the role of state sanctioned torture for political prisoners.

Originally posted at: [...]

When I saw the cover for Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, I had a vision of the journey I was about to take. I saw an older Queen, her long suffering nation, and a crap load of zombies. So imagine my shock when I opened the first page, started reading, and discovered my first impression was way off the mark. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter is smart, hilarious, gory, and so unlike anything on the market that you can't help but question your own morals and depravity for deriving enjoyment from reading it.

The book is actually a mash-up of intertwined stories that come together. You have Lord Quimby and his manservant Perkins who have found a way to reanimate the dead, Queen Victoria who comes to power at an early age and finds herself falling in love with the quiet and even-tempered Prince Albert, and the demon slaying Maggie Brown who has taken a vow to protect the new sovereign from harm while ensuring the evil taint which would overtake the world remain in hell where they belong. There is a lot of interplay, with plot twists and turns that will throw you for a whammy.

As the story progresses, all of the wonderfully developed characters play their part, and the result is a fascinating tale that is as macabre as it is brilliant. Each storyline presents a little something for everyone. Be it gore (zombie or demon style, courtesy of Lord Quimby), romance (Victoria and Albert's love story is exceptional and well written for the page time provided them), or campy action (Maggie Brown has cemented a place at the top of my all time favorite characters list). Added in for good measure are demon politics, dark plans to take over the world, and dastardly villains who would rip Victoria and Albert apart if given the chance.

While not for everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter. Although it is not a romance novel per se, Victoria and Albert have several scenes that will grip the heart, and the threat to their happiness eventually brings their love front and center. I would recommend this story to anyone who has been searching for something dark, comical, and different. This is definitely one book that, like it or not, you won't be able to forget.

I was expecting a mix of Brian Keene & Phillipa Gregory; instead, this was more like Army of Darkness meets The Mighty Boosh...a very entertaining fantasy-adventure, but not quite horror.

The main story is about Queeen Victoria fighting the evil clan of Baal, with the help of the Royal Protektor, Maggie Brown. Most of England is completely ignorant of the demonic dangers, so the Royal battles are suppose to be kept secret.

I found myself more interested in the adventures of Lord Quimby and his zombie-manservant, Perkins. "Drag, drag, drag." Every scene with those two made me laugh out loud -- I wish they had their own novel. I will think of Perkin's leg replacement every time I see red nail polish, from now on. The high-speed carriage chase with werewolves in wigs seemed boring compared to the House of Commons being over-run by zombies.

I didn't think much of the ending with Conroy; after the way he tortured others, I wish he suffered more. I also didn't like the way things were left open with the Dutchess, after we find out her lineage, considering her relationship with Conroy. BUT, I still thought the novel was amazing. This is such an unusual work of fiction that I recommend it to anyone looking for a different twist on zombies and/or demons.

Two books that came to mind while reading this were Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim.

Based on the title alone, I was looking forward to reading A.E.Moorat's "Queen Victoria Demon Hunter." New tellings of history in stories like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! or The Anubis Gates or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 (the graphic novels, not the movie), or The Dracula Tape, can be a lot of fun. And, the fact is, this novel was fun, but it wasn't internally consistent and the story just didn't hold together. The emphasis placed throughout the book on the "fallen" and "demons" is largely over-ridden by the fact that the "demons" in question are werewolves and succubi, pretty standard stuff. Then, there's the extended focus on zombies, again, fun, but it splits away from the main focus of the story which was supposed to be "demons." Several times I just got tossed out of the story and was reading along just to finish because of these internal breaks.

The writing was reasonably solid, although, the lack of action in the first part of the book was not terribly offset by character development. With the exception of Queen Victoria, and more than a little shorthand is used with her, there is very little in the way of character supplied for others in the book. Even the principal hero, Maggie Brown, is not exactly fleshed out in a way to understand her motivations, internal conflicts, etc. When you thought you might have a handle on a character, they would act completely differently for a scene or two.

I did enjoy the movie nods that I spotted. The Aliens nod was a little over obvious, but still fun.

Overall, I liked the concept, and really enjoyed parts of the book, but as a whole, it just didn't satisfy. The internal inconsistencies, the general weakness of the plot, the lack of strong characterization, I'm sorry, but I need more, even in my fluffy, fun, horror stories. If you're not too discerning and you're just looking for a good ride, wade through the first half of the book, try not to think too much, and then enjoy the second half (except for the silly, silly, "door to hell", don't get me started).

Of course, when reviewing a book about Queen Victoria fighting demons, one is tempted to say, "We are not amused." But the fact is, I was, indeed, amused. This was a well crafted bit of silliness. The plot, strange as it was, held together, and the main characters (Maggie Brown [wife of John Brown], a certain Lord Quimby who has a deep involvement with zombies, the Prime Minister, Prince Albert, etc) were all fleshed out, as it were, very well.

What is there to say, however, about a book that includes Queen Victoria as a young queen and, then, a demon hunter? It is difficult to know where to start. Of course, the concept is absurd. But I found myself laughing throughout, and genuinely enjoying this book.

I recommend it highly to those who enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and others of that genre. Actually, I rather hope for a sequel, which I would certainly purchase!