Alexander Charalambides

Vampire State Alexander Charalambides

Her family torn apart by war, her country utterly defeated, in an empire of vampires must Rowena die in order to survive?

She may be only 18, but she's nobody's fool. When her father goes off to war Rowena keeps her head down and learns to survive, but when he returns a hero, everything changes.

Rowena's family are offered 'the gift': conversion from human to vampire. They'll be rich, virtually immortal, and live in luxury in the vampire capital.

Uncertain and out of her depth, Rowena is appalled by the Empire's use of humans as slaves, but she doesn't have much time to make up her mind. Is it better to die and join the immortal undead, battling for change from the inside, or to rebel and fight from the outside? Has she found, in the short lives of human slaves, a cause worth living for?

Vampire State is the first in a series of contemporary fantasies: fast-paced dystopian novels with a romantic twist.

Reviewers say "Charalambides ... build(s) an original and thoroughly engaging dystopian adventure that crosses genres from strictly YA, the traditional target of vampire stories, to a much more mature mainstream tale that should entertain adult readers as well. PublishersDailyReview