Please do understand that this book is almost a year old, and that this review is as full of spoil as the main character, so proceed knowing that.  I have to say, that when I read the premise of the book, I was rather skeptical. How many sub-genres can we cram into one story and not plunge off the edge into the ridiculous?  Often, when something has a lot of “catch-culture” in it and it is, in a word, disastrous.  I must say that while Ms. Grey teeters on the aforementioned ‘edge of ridiculous’ in Avalon Revisited, it is saved by the rather dynamic anti-hero, Arthur Tudor, as well as quite a lot of her charming wit.  In this story you see Vampires, mad scientists, and Victorian-era steampunk (my personal fave) set against a time when men were impeccably dressed, but not foppish, who looked devilishly handsome on their adventures and women were corseted and bustled to accentuate the most celebrated parts of their sex, but were also starting to assert themselves for their own equality.  A very exciting time, but I digress.  Not only does the nefarious Ms. Grey tap into all of these little intriguing hot buttons in our current pop-culture, but she adds the spice of making the main character, whose debaucherous point of view we experience throughout, the heir apparent to the Tudor Dynasty - Arthur, the Prince of Wales.  Pepper this with some werewolves, zombies, and enormous dirigibles, and you have one complicated mystery/horror/adventure. I was dizzy with the prospect of how this dear authoress would pull it all together truth be told. I will say that in particular, the Prince of Wales had me clicking the pages of my E-Reader feverishly, but the book did not fly by without fault.  I am currently on a roller coaster ride of opinions on this. So, let’s go for that ride, shall we?

With how popular the Twilight franchise is, it seems ignoring Vampire lore is obviously not a daunting task for the general populace. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about that as much with Arthur. However, that’s not to say there aren’t some difficult loop holes one must wrestle with.  The author often refers to the undead’s lack of metabolism (i.e., shriveled heart, lack of need to breathe, that kind of thing) and yet the main character can eat regular food, takes tea at an almost overly redundant intervals throughout the story, and experiences some of the most scrumptious sex scenes (complete with orgasm and discharge) I have read in a very, very long time. So  let us suspend our disbelief to the extent that the undead can have sex, then we know that Arthur has blood tears, a fact that comes out later in the story, wouldn’t one deduce that all of his bodily fluids would be a bit, well, appalling? (Sorry to get graphic, but if you are a bit squeamish about sex or gore, you shouldn’t be reading this book anyway.) In conclusion I would get rid of one, or the other.  Given the choice, I would drop the blood tears, but that might be my personal taste.

The pacing of the book was perfect for me. I like descriptions, but not a whole lot of dwelling on minute details. I like to fill those in on my own. The read was quick, though I would have liked a bit more of a Victorian voice.  As it was, it handled very adult themes, but spoke in a very young adult novel voice, using terms like “okay” and “how cute”. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a pop-culture novel, but then get thrown by references to the daring ankle peek, or bumpy carriage ride. It can be argued that certain  liberties can be taken when dealing in the genre of steampunk writing. After all it is by its very nature anachronistic, so it could be a matter of taste, but, personally, I felt that it was just a bit too jarring.

I think the most remarkable thing about our anti-hero, is that he is so flawed, one really should hate him.  He’s appalling.  But you cant help but fall for his rakish charm.  You realize that the one thing that has gotten him through the ages is running away from the past by being inhuman and burying himself in 350 years of carnal pleasures, both euphemistically and literally.  It is Avalon who shatters his entire way of life by first looking like his lost love (Catherine of Aragon), then by being someone loyal and caring who he could truly fall in love with.  It makes him relive and face his past, it makes the trivial pleasures he so relished seem fruitless.  His existential crisis got a bit tedious, but it did not make me hate him, just made me want to slap him around a little bit.  It’s a love story, its a suspense thriller and it’s a mystery with a quick cameo of Sherlock Holmes and Watson themselves for the well versed in Sir Conan Doyle’s work.

The biggest issue I had with this book is that when one is limited by first person narrative in any story, the pitfall seems to be that the other characters fall painfully out of focus and are subject to being far too two dimensional.  Arthur was well written in the that he was inherently selfish and conceded.  So because of that, his descriptions of other people were just that, limited by a man who could not see past himself and how everything affected him.  I did not see the ending as improbable, I did see it as a stretch though.  I want to see her through the eyes of personal introspection, because through the eyes of a man who cared little for anything that didn’t directly effect him was beautiful within his character, however, very frustrating to the reader who wants to know how on god’s green earth did she justify being not only comfortable with the position he puts her in, but downright embracing of it.  I know there was probably a process, the character was far too intelligent not to have one, but I wanted to see it.

I was indeed dizzy at the prospect of bringing all of these themes together: Vampires, Victorians, and Tudors, Oh MY!  But Ms. Grey actually weaved these things together in a very well thought out, and smart way, to the point where I believed it all as a possibility. I love historical fiction that does that for me.  Weaving truth in with fantasy is positively my cup of tea (no drops please). I felt that she did this beautifully well.  Anything that makes me fact check without making me spend more the half my time thumbing through Wikipedia is a wonderful read! Though I would have liked to know who “The Dark Angel” was and why she turned Arthur, then why she abandoned him.  His back story was told in a rush, during a time that needed to be rushed, and perhaps I have a bit of a perverse fascination with him, but I wanted to know more.  Was it that the author wanted us to crave more flesh to the story by the end of it? If so, she succeeded. Perhaps, Ms. Grey will favor us with a sequel from Avalon’s perspective where, not only do we find out more about her and her back story, but also squeeze a bit more out about Arthur.  I know I would read it. As I said, at the prospect of finding out more about what makes the character’s gears grind, so to speak,  and to see where their lives go from here. I can’t help but think that by the very nature of their relationship, that Avalon would grow in to her own and leave him once the reality of his selfishness through eternity became apparent.  He’s just too flawed to make it last in my opinion.  This inquiring mind would like to know, and if I did see the sequel in the works, I would be the first in line to buy.

In conclusion, it was a very fun read.  The book is called Avalon Revisited. I would so love to revisit Avalon’s character and find out what it was that made her tick, and why she made the decisions she did. Despite the issues I may have had with a few things, the characters and the story were very compelling. I finished it in a day and a half and wanted more.  For me to say that, is a big compliment to the author indeed.  I do look forward to reading more of Ms. Greys work, and give this one 3 cogs out of five!

Talloolah Love is a contributor to the Steampunk Chronicle, founder of the Atlanta Burlesque & Cabaret Club, as well as a burlesque sensation and promoter of events.  You can follow her activities at www.talloolah.com.