Empire of the Vampire - The Epic Vampire Novel You've Been Craving!
“Dark days come, and nights yet darker. Set candles at your windows. Invite no stranger into your homes. Ever keep the fires burning in your hearths and the love of God burning in your hearts. We will triumph. For we are silver.”
Buckle in folx because Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff lands on shelves soon and you’re going to want to get a copy ASAP. The epic vampire story you’ve always wanted is finally here.
Gabriel de Leon is a member of the Silver Order, a band of brothers who keep the vampires at bay in this dark world the story is set in. One day the sun disappeared setting the world into a permanent dusk and darkness leaving vampires to run free and take over. The Silver Order rose up to fight back against this evil. But in the future, Gabriel finds himself locked in a tower with a vampire named Jean-Francois who asks simply for the story of Gabriel’s life. And so, Gabriel begins to tell it.
book mood board using images found on weheartit.com
“We are hope for the hopeless. The fire in the night. We will walk the dark as they do, and they shall know our names and despair. For so long as they burn, we shall be flame. So long as they bleed, we shall be blades. So long as they sin, we shall be saints.”
I’m going to keep this review relatively short because I don’t want to spoil anything. And trust me, you want to go into this story without knowing much so you can completely fall into this rich, deep vampire history and epic tale.
Firstly - world building. Outstanding. This is an epic fantasy horror so the world building is complex and vast. The way Kristoff has laid out this story is fantastic as he shares bits and pieces, jumping between three different timelines, as Gabriel tells his life story to Jean-Francois. Not once was I overwhelmed or confused, it’s laid out perfectly and completely absorbs you into the world almost immediately. So much so that sometimes I would look up from the book and it would take me a few seconds to readjust to real life.
Secondly - characters. HOT DAMN. Look, I’m a sucker for a tall, pale, long haired, brooding male in a fantasy book and Gabriel is my freakin’ god send. But I also fell in love with every single other character. The villains are SO villainous you can’t help but admire them, and our heroes are so complex and sassy and tough that you can’t help but develop a crush on everyone. From Chloe to Aaron to Astrid to Dior, every character is so deeply fleshed out you feel as if you know them personally. And Gabriel as our slightly unreliable, slightly off kilter, and very dark lead character is the perfect person to carry this entire story on his shoulders.
Thirdly - horror. Don’t be thrown off by the fantasy element of this story. This is a full blown horror novel. From bloody battles, to nasty addictions, to torture scenes, to vampires turning humans - it’s all horrific. I wish I could share more about these horror moments but most of these moments are spoilers, so just trust me I guess…
Fourthly - the illustrations. Bon Orthwick has done impeccable work and this book is chock full of illustrations. In the readers arc we only get a few, most of which have been shared on Kristoff’s IG, but there’s A LOT of spots that say “illustration to come” and I genuinely cannot wait to buy a copy of the completed book just to look at all the illustrations included. And damn does it make a difference having stunningly creepy illustrations to help you picture the characters and become more entranced in the story.
book mood board using images found on weheartit.com
….what number am I on now? IT DOESN’T MATTER! I loved this book so much and it has filled a vampire void I didn’t know was empty in my heart. And this is only book one. I can’t believe we have to wait for the second, I don’t know if I can bear it. Running over 700 pages, this is a thick book. But I promise you, it will fly by. It is so fast paced and compelling that when I hit page 500, I was genuinely devastated I only had 200 or so pages left. I could’ve easily read another 700 pages of this fantastically horrific world.
Kristoff has taken the token vampire lore and flipped it on its head, punched it in the mouth, given it the middle finger and rewritten it all completely fresh and new. I can’t wait for all of you to join this fandom and embrace Gabriel as your very own frustratingly handsome and complicated hero.
Pick up your own copy on September 14th wherever books are sold and a big thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an arc in return for an honest review.
“Life is not a story you can tell, de Leon. It’s only a story you can live. The bright news is, you get to choose what kind yours will be. A story of horror, or a story of courage. A story of indulgence, or a story of duty. The story of a monster. Or the story of a man…..what will your story be?”
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