Empire of the Vampire
Book 1 in Empire of the Vampire trilogy
Jay Kristoff

E P I C is the name of Jay Kristoff’s dark, dark fantasy, and first in his new Empire of the Vampire trilogy. It’s a behemoth at 27 hours in audio and almost 800 pages in print but every word is imperative because Gabriel de León has quite a story to tell, about faith, forbidden love, true believers and zealots about good vs evil - where sometimes the line between heroes and villains is razor thin. Told in three timelines, the present where Gabriel is telling his story, Gabriel’s early years and his past as a 32-year-old adult where he describes a dark unforgiving world that’s only getting worse and like a train wreck where all evidence points to a terrible ending the audience still won’t be able to stop watching. Kristoff is a master storyteller and world builder, his brilliant cataclysmic narrative meticulously describes a grim, hopeless empire giving his audience a chilling authentic taste of his bleak, ruthless world.

All of his characters stand out but Gabriel is unforgettable, a hero, a warrior, a failure, a tortured soul and as he narrates his tragic tale be prepared to experience a multitude of emotions, horror, sadness, brief happiness and hopelessness.

If you’re looking for silver linings and happy endings this is not the book for you but if you’re looking for a truly dark epic fantasy tale you will not be able to put this instant bestseller down.

NARRATION:
The narration by Damian Lynch is unmatched he is the perfect Gabriel from the swordsmith to the drunkard, from the Knight to the prisoner. Spoken in a clear, clean voice Lynch gives his audience an unforgettable performance.

It’s been twenty-seven years since day’s death and in those years with no sunshine to speak of Vampires have been slowly snuffing out humanity. But humanity has a weapon a weapon born in shame but who rise to take up the sliver embedded swords of the Silver Order of San Michon, they are legends and warriors they are Silversaints and there is one among them who stands alone as the best and now he stands alone as the last. Imprisoned by the dark creatures he vowed to destroy, Gabriel de León, The Black Lion, The Sword of the Realm, once knighted by the Empress, the last Siversaint has spent his life killing these creatures but after slaying the Vampire known as the Forever King, is now held captive by it’s new Queen, Margot Chastain, and her historian Jean-Francois is demanding Gabriel recount his life story before they send him to meet his maker. And so the story begins about how a sainted Knight lost his faith as the empire he swore to protect lost its final battle.

Such an incredible book. Empire of the Vampire is literally my new favorite book of all time. The world, the characters, the plot, the HEARTBREAK. I just love everything about this book honestly. I cannot wait to re read it.

(I’ve posted reviews for it on youtube, instagram, and good reads). @lochs.library

I loved this little peak into the whole story and I preordered it as soon as I was finished! Can't wait to finish the rest of the book

I have read the Game of Thrones series and enjoyed them but often got lost with all of the characters and numerous story lines. This is executed perfectly and the way the story is delivered made me so invested in the characters that I was emotionally scarred by the ending!!!
Gabriel de Leon is a silversaint that is telling his story to his enemy, a vampire named Jean-Francois, while imprisoned. As he tells the story we begin to learn about the battles, forbidden love, pain and the darkness that Gabriel has experienced up until this point. His story jumps around but in a really good way. You could feel the pain and anger Gabriel has been carrying for years. Of course with any great epic story there are plenty of "WTF" moments and many twists and surprises. I devoured this book and am glad that I read it and listened to it. The nerd that I am received a sample of the story from Netgalley, purchased the audiobook and a hard copy of the book because the illustrations are amazing!!!

This book was fantastic!! I loved it. It is an incredible world that Kristoff has imagined and I cannot wait until the next one.

Great sampler! Can't wait to try the whole book out since this one has some formating issue with my ebook copy. I absolutely love the cover and can't wait to see how dark this book will get.

Jay Kristoff never disappoints! This story gripped me from page 1 and I cannot wait to read the rest of EOTV to see where Jay takes the story.

Wow, what an absolute delight this was. Despite receiving 400 pages of the tale in this sampler, I still couldn't get enough of it! I wanted the story to keep going and I loved how much background and detail went into the meat of the story. The world-building was unlike anything I've ever experienced in this type of dark fantasy novel. I was intrigued and fascinated right from the beginning, and this book didn't shy away with how dark and gritty of a world it created.

This is the first work I've read by Jay Kristoff, but I had heard of his other works before like the Illminae Files, The Nevernight Chronicle, and The Aurora Cycle. I have heard so much praise for these other series and the summaries for these are so intriguing and seem right down my alley (I've already added these books to read in the future as well!), I knew I had to give Empire of the Vampire a shot. The last vampire stories I've read are probably the Twilight series if I'm being honest, and they could not be further in content from that of Empire of the Vampire.

Kristoff's work has solid characters with clear histories, beliefs, and motivations for their actions. The vibe and atmosphere is so dark and suspenseful. And I really enjoyed the format of the storytelling in which the reader is plunged into flashbacks as told by our main character. I can't wait to finish the rest of this book, and I'm sure I'll be looking forward to the sequels as soon as I reach the last page.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this sampler arc.

It’s not often that I get stuck on a book that I have read and do not get me wrong, I knew this one would be incredible, but oh my… My heart has been ripped out, somewhat repaired, ripped out again only to bleed for a character that has the most haunting tale that it will reside in your soul. Lord help me, but Gabriel de Leon is now one of my favorite characters of all time. Jay Kristoff this truly is a bloody masterpiece and I’m loving having these editions on the ladder!

What I got to read I really like. Had 20 days left and it didn't let me open it to read so I did buy my own copy can't wait to read it.

This sampler was everything I needed. Now Kristoff's darker and big world fantasy style isn't going to be more everyone. It's the type of book that you have to read. It's not a flippant surface level rom com. But I appreciate this difference. It's dark, it's gory, it's messy. You will need a palette cleanser after reading this ... now to read the rest of this book as this sampler was just such a tease!!!!

So this style of book isn't going to be for every one. But this sampler gives great insight into the authors vibes. It's dark, it's gory, it is NOT YA .. but the story telling is amazing. World building superb, and I can't wait for the rest of this book! Highly recommend if you like higher fantasy a la Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson. Except insert vampires instead of wizards.

A bitter prisoner tells his story of revenge. He is Gabriel de Leon, last of he Silversaints, a brotherhood of half-humans and half-vampires who have sworn their lives to the Church to kill vampires (full-blooded). After the vampires arrest him for crimes against them, they make him tell his story as the empress of the vampires wants her historian to chronicle his life. Why? Gabriel gives a bitter and angry recollection of how he earned his reputation as a most “fearsome” swordsman. He abandons his fifth to kill the Forever King. Does he kill the King? His only hope that he has left is to find the Holy Grail. Will he find it?

This horror novel is long — it reminds me of reading the Anne Rice vampire novels in length. It is a different vampire novel that is chilling and fascinating. There is action and bloodshed in this story. The characters in the life of Gabriel are many and interesting. I think it is well written. There is some humor in the story at times. I liked the occasional melodrama aspect of the story. In some ways, this story has a fantasy feeling to it. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Eeeeeeeeeh I am very disappointed to say I dnf'ed this. It simply didn't grab me and I got 400 pages in. I believe the writing style simply doesn'twork for me, the way the characters spoke to eachother frustrated me. I was also a bit taken aback by the random reference to an adult character's relationship with a minor, it seemed very unnecessary?

I love a good vampire story and this was very dark and atmospheric. I'd recommend reading a chapter or two to see what you think of the writing style before commiting to this chunker!

Bloody. Brutal. Bleak.

Breathtaking. Brilliant!

⚔️🖤⚔️

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.**

This book is epic so far. Absolutely one that will not easily be forgotten! So happy to have gotten this sampler before the book came out.

Jay Kristoff knows how to write. I fell in love with his writing in late '18, and he has done nothing but improve since. In his new series, he has seamlessly created a new world with easy to read world building that doesn't feel like one giant info dump.

This was a terrible tease into his new series, both the publishers and the author knew what they were doing by only giving you the first 400 pages. Gives you enough to get hooked, then keeps you crawling back for more. Like a true horror author, Kristoff doesn't shy away from the suspense and gore. This will definitely leave you wanting to pick up the series, and any others that Kristoff has in his future arsenal.

This is my first Kristoff book and I chose to pick this one up as something completely out of my reading comfort zone from other readers who have been anticipating this novel release. As a new reader of Kristoff I definitely would head recommendations of reading his earlier work first and YA novels before venturing into this big book.

Kristoff did not disappoint with this one and I see why it was highly anticipated as his best work yet. The world building, character development, and structure were all combined so well. The writing style is unique and keeping the reader engaged to visualize the content of the story. The pacing is good with the story line, regardless of how long this book is.

I may not pick up more Vampire novels of Kristoff's since it is not preference but I will keep this author on my radar for his other work that is highly praised as well.

Absolutely epic. I am three-quarters of the way through the actual book (I got two copies!) and I cannot stop! Thank you for the sneak peek!

This book is incredible. There is a depth of worldbuilding rarely seen. The narrative in complex and grandiose. The best parts of gothic classics mixed with Dracula, Anne Rice, and more.

Thank you so much for the preview copy. It started off so fast with Gabe explains his backstory, I picked up the physically cop and plan to binge read. Jay Kristioff never fails to disappoint when it comes to his writing. From the first sentence to the last word of the series he always has me hooked.