Things To Know:

-Adult (Not YA, I see this asked a lot)
-700+ pages
-First in series
-Gore and violence

Synopsis:

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness. Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending the realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains. Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope: The Holy Grail.

Review: 5 Stars

Exceptionally bloody and spectacularly dark, Empire of the Vampire ripped my beating heart from my chest, but kept me coming back for more.

First of all, Jay Kristoff’s writing style is badass. He is extremely imaginative and his world building is striking! I have never read a vampire novel that I loved this much. I don't want to say too much because I want everyone to experience every bit of it themselves!
I saw many similarities in the world that was described in Empire of the Vampire and the country of Ishgard in Final Fantasy 14 and this made me love the world even more! I really hope Netflix or Amazon picks this book up for a series!!!

This book was 735 pages long (US standard first edition), but never did I feel like it was this long. Empire of the Vampire was the longest book (pages wise) that I have ever read to completion. The illustrations really add to the story and they are beautiful! I want murals like them in my forever home one day!

I will be keeping my eye peeled unrelentingly for book two. I am so excited that the story continues. I NEED MORE. I cannot express with mere words how much I loved this book. It will keep a special place in my heart forever. Without a doubt it is in my top 2 books read in 2021, and has made its way onto my list of favorite reads ever. I will continue to recommend Empire of a Vampire to friends whenever they ask for a book recommendation.

I was nervously waiting for this book's release, but decided to see if I could get the ARC sampler to tide me over. Boy, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest! I blew through the sampler so fast.

I'm a huge fan of gritty, dark vampire tales, especially when most of the vampires are extremely monstrous. The more feral the vampires the better. Which isn't to say there are no elegant, regal vampires! Kristoff gave a delightful mixture of both. As usual, Kristoff's writing is so descriptive and poetic without jumping the line into too much purple prose. I'm a huge fan.

I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the way the beginning was set up, but the story moved at a quick pace and always kept me interested. I loved something about each new character introduced despite the fact there were quite a lot. I also loved Kristoff's world building; he gave me just enough to make it come alive without boring me to tears for pages. (Not that I despise pages of description necessarily lol.)

If anyone is a fan of Kristoff's other works, they'll adore this one more than likely. Otherwise, if adventurous, paladin-esque, dark, and Bloodbourne-style worlds are someone's cup of tea, they'll have a great time with Empire of the Vampire. Oh, also if you're a fan of anti-heroes, too.

I have to say, I requested this one just because of the hype it's been getting. I had no idea what it was about, other than it had vampires. I am so glad I read this!
This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. So gritty, attention grabbing, with some humor sprinkled in. Gabriel has cemented himself as one of my all time favorite characters.

I have purchased the audio and a special edition of this since reading it. Fantastic!!

First, I was surprised this was a sample. It really wasn't clear on the book description here. Nevertheless, let's get into it:

I'm not sold on this after the sample. If I had a full copy, I may even DNF it at this point. I am enjoying the set-up; how Gabriel is recounting his life and times as a silversaint to a cold blood. It's very Name of the Wind and I'm into it. However, in my opinion, the story is quite dense and the names and timeline are a little hard to track.

It may just be that it requires more brain power than I have to invest in it right now. I feel like it is the type of story that requires a lot of focus. I may pick it up someday and read it in full, but I am not chomping at the bit to get my hands on it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the exclusive sample!

Awww - finally after a couple years of waiting - it's in my hands! I am a huge Jay Kristoff fan and this did not disappoint - This is probably his most ambitious world building yet...and its beautiful and glorious and bloody and devine!! Thank you so much to both NetGalley and St. Martins for this eARC of the first portion of the book in exchange for my honest review.**

All I can say after having delved into these 400 pages is that I'm already sad about finishing the book (already picked up my B&N special edition since its out now), because its NOT enough. No matter what happens in the rest of the book I already know it cannot possibly be enough of this world and these characters...I will already be pining for the next installment. Jay's world building is incredible in this, especially his unique take on the Vampires, the various famillies with their individual powers and the overall vampire lore/powers of this world he has created. I've loved his exceptionally strong female leads of his past two fantasy trilogies and wasn't sure if I was going to love his male lead quite as much....but I do. Of course.

Jumps in time are not a particular favorite of mine but it works here, or maybe its just Jay's writing that makes sure I am so engrossed in what I am reading I don't feel that moment of "oh I wish I was reading in the other timeline already this part is boring etc." - nope none of that here for me. It's all good and different parts (so far) give us a good balance of different portions of his life (but with a feeling of equal importance). Yes its gritty and bloody (I guess possibly in way that is disturbing to some but I love?), but it's also beautiful and sentimental and just ALL THE THINGS. I don't think I've read a more perfect Gothic Fantasy than this promises to be.

-Sampler Review-

It's hard for me to leave reviews, in all honesty, when it's not the complete book, and Empire of the Vampire is no exception. This book is around 800 pages total and much of the early parts are trudging through understanding what's going on with Gabriel. The world is beautifully complex and detailed while exploring a fantasy version of religious beliefs. Reading a sampler left me wanting more, especially since VAMPIRES!

Despite the controversary surrounding the author, I have purchased a full length copy of this book and intend to read, digest, and talk about it on my blog.

After the clusterf**k that was Darkdawn, I was very worried going into this novel that suddenly I was no longer into Jay Kristoff's novels. While this is only a sampler, I can safely say that this, indeed, brought back my love of his world building, characters, and writing style. Jay comes back into the adult genre with a vengeance only suited to himself, and I think he's truly the perfect candidate to write dark, grueling vampire stories. His writing is still as blunt as the sharp edge of a sword, and I think the main character Gabriel would approve most certainly.
I was interested to see Jay writing in the adult genre with a male lead. I've never read Stormdancer (don't plan to either), and in Nevernight, it's a coming of age tale about an assassin turned goddess (basically). It's interesting to see that finally Jay has a male lead, and he didn't disappoint at all. Gabriel sometimes falls a bit close to Mia's characterization, but their motivations of vengeance and survival do differ slightly. I think in many ways Gabriel's own self loathing really permeated his character throughout this whole sampler. He's high and mighty at times, but his slow growth in knowledge over the inevitability of the end to humanity is something I'm excited to dissect/ analyze deeply.
I'm REALLY intrigued to see what happens in the rest of the novel. I'll probably come back to this review then, so it can be complete.

Gripping! From start to finish! This excerpt was such a tease! It left me wanting more! Phenomenal read! I can’t sing it’s praises enough!

I already felt that I was going to read this based on loving his co-authored series but I wanted to see how his individual writing style was. Yup picking this up. Already fantastic

I was so done with Vampire books, like so over then. But then what happens is a favorite author of mine is like 'hey I'm writing this book and it is about vampires'. And I TOTALLY fall over myself saying "What! I love vampire books, tell me more." If I didn't ultimately enj0y myself through this book, I might feel like a fraud, reading yet another vampire story.

What the Empire of the Vampire is, it is dark, it is not for children, heck I don't even think it is for some adults. That is how dark it is! Think Vampires and zombiesk creatures that want to kill and drink you dry and blood families fighting against each other and losing so many characters you love (seriously Fortuna, how could you do that to me) and well...so much more death, pain, lost faith and more, so much more. Only Jay Kristoff makes you love him and hate him all at the same time as he brings you to the conclusion of this tale only to want more...more hurt, more pain and more of this dark world that will ultimately break your heart as you hug it to console all the characters you love in it.

I hated this story as much as I loved it, it's complicated. It is not for the faint of heart reader. It is for the reader that travels with the hero for promise of redemption, even if it never comes. It is for those who root for the underdog even when you know in the end they might not survive. It is for the reader who has lost faith in a true story telling ability. Not all heroes are all good and some have scars deeper than you've ever dreamed of feeling. Our hero is a man who has lost his faith; he is an addict to blood smoke; he is a bastard most days instead of a fool and he has lost more in his short/long 32 years in this world than many with double his years.

Gabriel, our hero, you will love him, you will hate him and ultimately you will cry for the life he has lived and the people he has lost. As he tells his tale to his Vampire jailer, you will live his life through two different time frames and become attached to the boy he was and the man he became, I think it would be impossible not to. He is both a hero and a villain, a saint and a sinner, he is the main character and a sidekick. Let's just say he is complicated and his tale even more so. It might take a little while to get rolling but once the story takes flight there is no landing until the crash at the end.

Better to live one day a lion, than 10,000 a sheep.

Jay Kristoff kept me with bated breath until the end and then all I wanted was the next tale in this saga. I was left bereft that I needed to wait to see what would transpire in this dark saga. This will not be for everyone. It is dark, dangerous, a little smutty in a few areas and heartbreaking. But it is a fantastically brutal tale that will leave some wanting and waiting for more.

Definitely take Jay Kristoff's word: this is not a book for children!
This was absolutely hands down one of the best books I have read this year. This story is a little slow to start and get into but once you do, grab hold and get ready for this thrilling tale! The tone and prose is quite unique and from what I understand a bit different from his usual style, as this is my first book by him. And the art throughout is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to read the entire version as this sampler is just amazing. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review!

Oh I loved this story so much, I ordered a hardcover so I could always have this in my library. If I could describe the book, it’s a good mash up of Interview With A Vampire and The Witcher. It was dark, sensual in some parts, really sad in other and I lived for it. This was my first read by the author and I can’t wait to read more by him now.

Empire of the Vampire is exactly what I hoped for while getting in and much more. It’s Brutal, humorous, heartfelt and most importantly well written. Definitely my Top 5 read of this year.

The Nevernight series was the first of Jay's books I read and when I finished the series, I was dying for more. This book DID NOT disappoint. I absolutely adore the world building he does in all his book, not just this one, but it help's me be immersed and enraptured by his beautiful worlds.

I love these characters. Sometimes it's hard to write a dark and light personality reflection in characters, but this is absolutely well done. I will be waiting here with my hands wide open for book 2!

I enjoyed this ARC. It was well written and gory. It seemed slow to start for me but after a few chapters, I was able to get into it full force. The characters were mostly like-able and relatively life-like. The telling of the story was unique and the jumping back and forth was easy to get used to. It was enjoyable and dark

The book so far (being this is a preview or a sample of the book) is amazing. The writing, the art, the world and characters is so unique but also reminiscent of other vampire fiction. Super epic writing and action. Can’t wait to read the full story and see all the artwork in the physical book. I had a lot of fun reading it!

I can’t say enough about this story and how powerfully written it was. Jay Kristoff is just a pure literary mastermind. The story captivated me from the beginning and kept me awake reading all hours of the night. It was written in similar fashion to “Interview With The Vampire” by Anne Rice with a warrior turned vampire who is retelling his story as he is held captive awaiting his death. I would highly suggest this book to anyone, but would caution those YA readers that this story is no YA story at all. There are things in here that definitely made me blush and I loved every minute. Lol.

So very good!! The plot, the world building, and the characters surpassed my expectations of this highly anticipated novel. All I can say is, give me the rest 😍

This dark fantasy is what most classic vampire lovers are looking for. Violence, heartache, questioning faith, Jay Kristoff takes you on a journey through the eyes of a half-vampire who has lost his sense of purpose in a life that is full of evil and injustice.

DNF at about 15%

I couldn't read any further than I'd already forced myself to. I hate the way this was written; the fllow is terrible and i couldn't get into it