Empire of the Vampire

by Jay Kristoff

Indigo Exclusive Edition, 736 pages

English language

Published Sept. 14, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-28072-5

Twenty-seven years have passed since the last sunrise, and for almost three decades, the creatures of the night have walked the day without fear. Once, humanity fought bravely against the coldblood legions, but now, we exist only in a few scattered settlements—tiny sparks of light in a growing sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is the last of the Silversaints, a holy order dedicated to defending realm and church, now utterly destroyed. Imprisoned for the murder of the vampiric king, Gabriel is charged with telling the story of his life.

His tale spans years, from his youth in the monastery of San Michel, to the forbidden love that spelled his undoing, and the betrayal that saw his order annihilated. Most importantly, Gabriel will tell of his discovery of the Grail—the legendary cup prophesied to bring an end to the eternal night.

But the Grail was no simple …

But the Grail was no simple chalice; it was a smart-mouthed teenage urchin named Dior. Their journey with a band of unlikely allies would see Dior and Gabriel forge an unbreakable bond, and set the broken paragon on a road to redemption.

But now, the Grail is shattered. And with the cup of the Savior destroyed and the last Silversaint awaiting execution, what can bring an end to this unholy empire?

9 editions

Prauffet reviewed Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (Empire of the Vampire Series, #1)

None

5 stars

This story is built around our "hero" Gabe, telling his captor his life story. Just to get it out of the way now, the story is dark fantasy while edging into horror in places. If you don't like religious overtones, foul language, violence, or unhappy endings, this book probably isn't for you. Back to the actual story, Gabe is a vampire-killing, foul-mouthed, pessimistic son of a b*tch. I loved him from the very beginning, and he stayed my favorite throughout the book. This book really rides the line of action and horror, making me feel like all of the many characters introduced could be ripped away at any point. On top of that, the world building was magnificent. Kristoff really brings an apocalyptic setting to the tale and puts humanity right on the brink of being a total loss. In more ways than one. Different vampiric bloodlines have traditional abilities with some interesting tweaks here and there. Although at some points it really seems like some of the bloodlines are really punching above their weight just due to the vampires increasing their power with age. I haven't dipped my toes back into dark fantasy since reading Black Company, so this was a nice foray back into it. That being said, now that I am older and apparently more impressionable, there were portions that were difficult to stomach. Although in more of a "my heart hurts for these characters" way instead of an "I am disgusted" way. Sometimes I get from some other horror stories. I would urge anyone to try it. All in all, the book is excellent; definitely going to dig more into the series!