Thank you St. Martin's Press for the arc of this book!

Warning: Spoilers for the first book!! (Go read it now, then come back.)

There are only two timelines in this one, prisoner Gabe telling the story and the quest for the grail with Dior. Oddly enough, the part where we're being told the story is now told by Jean-François not Gabriel.

Gabriel’s old apprentice joins them for a while. I liked Lachlan and the relationship he had with Gabe. It's a sign of how good a writer he is that I really felt like these two had a history with inside jokes and a deep relationship, despite just meeting him. (I hated that Gabe had this huge terrible secret hanging over them. It made me nervous! I just know it's going to go badly once Lachlan finds out!)

Dior and Gabe's relationship is still the best part. I love how close they've gotten! They're too much alike though, so they often argue.

I don't like Celene. I wanted to because she's a strong kick butt vampire with awesome blood magic, but she's so immature! I lost count of how many times she told Gabe she hated him and blamed him for her death, and couldn't stand the sight of him…

There were only two battles (not counting the time Celene tried to kill Gabe and Dior saved him.) and neither was particularly spectacular. I enjoyed the action in the battle with the Dyvok, but I wish Gabe had killed one of the highbloods. Instead, he's saved by Celene. (Then he almost drowned and was saved by another girl.) I told you, he's a regular damsel, our Gabe. That was all in the beginning though. He's not so hopeless later on. In the battle against the Voss, they're hopelessly outnumbered and he has a really clever plan to get them out of it. Unfortunately, Gabe has the worst luck ever!

Same as the first book, this one was only a part of the story. But it felt way too short! Maybe the Netgalley arc is just part of the book? I hope so. I need more!!

Content: No sex in Gabe's parts, so we get a threesome with Jean-François. (I just realized how that sounds, Gabe wasn't a part of it.)
Lots of swearing.
No torture.
Gore and violence as usual. (The Dyvok kept people in cages for food and I found that whole situation really yucky.)

I absolutely love this sample!! I can't wait for my final copy to arrive. The writing, the characters, the story, are all incredible.

I am disappointed that this is only a sample of the book. And what's more it does not even indicate the page count. So I have absolutely no idea where I am in this 700+ page monster.

Gripes aside, this looks to be a promising start (third? half?) to Kristoff's newest book. I am so excited to read more on March 12th!

This gave a slightly edgier vibe than what was expected. I didn't expect such explicit scenes of violent tendencies, power dynamics, and dismissal of women from the main character. It came off a bit merciless at times. A bit too dark, but the writing style, character recap, and map illustrations made it easier to follow along.

It’s incredibly difficult to review a sampler, and I’m unclear on why the publisher chose to go that route! So for now, this decision left me wanting more & feeling frustrated with where it ended!

The fact that it was not disclosed that this was a sample and not the full novel is bullshit. I loved EoTV and the writing and characters are just as good here but how can I give full feedback on a quarter of a book. I can definitely recommend the book and Jay Kristoff generally but I can't recommend this bait and switch by the publisher and Netgalley.

Five stars for anything Jay Kristoff writes - I can’t wait for this book!

Zero stars for the publisher not disclosing that this was a sampler and not the full book. That was a really unfortunate disappointment

Overall average three stars

One of the best books I've read. It was so fast paced and picked up right where it needed to! I love this series, and think the author has a great grasp on what his world is, and continues to bring us deeper.

I struggled to get through the writing style of the first book, Empire of the Vampire, but I was able to read this ARC right after reading EOTV, so it was fresh in my mind and I didn't struggle with EOTD. It also meant I finished it way faster. 700-something pages and all of I sudden, I was at a cliffhanger and it just ends??! What??!

Nearly every series has their filler book and this one felt like that. There was some exposition and reveals but honestly, it was very little. I've connected with Gabriel and Dior enough to continue this series, but so far, the Nevernight Chronicles is still my favorite of Jay's books. Be warned, if you decide to read this series, it is NOT for children. It is incredibly violent, profane, gory, and BLEAK - figuratively and literally.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The bloodthirsty sequel to the dark fantasy series by Jay Kristoff Empire of the Vampire, is here, and we are well and truly damned. Sadly, Empire of the Damned falls into the classic “sequel”itis trap, and ends up being all bark, no bite.

I have been a fan of Jay Kristoff for awhile now, and devoured his dark YA trilogy The Nevernight Chronicles. His new series The Empire of the Vampire with its self-titled first book, released to near-mainstream acclaim, with praise for his gritty and violent storytelling, a fresh coat of bloody paint thrown on the vampire fantasy genre which has lately fallen into the mire of romantasy. The novel went a long way in bringing the vampire genre back to its dark fantasy roots with large parallels drawn to the massively successful Castlevania franchise. Being an avid grimdark fan, I picked up Empire of the Vampire and enjoyed the quick pacing, creative cast of characters and dense worldbuilding, all held together by Kristoffs hyperedgy prose (more on this later). When the possibility of reviewing the new entry Empire of the Damned came across my desk, I jumped at its throat, fangs bared.

Sadly, Empire of the Damned is all filler, no killer. And I am utterly disappointed.

The novel continues the travels of our protagonist, the paleblood (halfblood) swordsaint, Gabriel de Leon, as he tries to end the eternal night and eventual utter dominion of the vampire lords. He does this by protecting the scion of Heaven, heir to the great Redeemer himself, Dior LaChance. Similar to the first book, this tale is also told in the form of a “recounting of events” as our protagonist languishes in the dungeons of the dark Empress of Wolf and Man, via her faithful historian, Marquis Jean-Francois Chastain, a pureblood vampire of the ruling bloodline.

“There is no one more afraid of dying than things who live forever”

This time around, things are obviously more messed up than ever, as the scion of heaven is missing, her protector, the halfblood knight having failed to protect her from the clutches of the big bad Voss bloodline (who’s patriarch was killed by Dior in book 1 and hoo boy they’re pissed off now!) However, the similar format of the story was immediately a step backward, as it felt like the trope while novel in the first book, had run its natural course, and it was time to move the story forward. It also took away a lot of the danger and gravitas of the story when told backwards, when we know that key players in the narrative are still alive.

Empire of the Damned felt like a story cut short in the middle, and I am still unsure whether I received the entire novel as a review copy (and I tried to confirm… a lot) and it was not just “part 1”. That’s how abrupt and unfulfilling the climax to the sequel felt. While it felt like a natural stopping point in the overall narrative, it did not do a good job of setting up, what I assume to be the finale of the series. This book truly felt like Book 2 of 4 or even a five book series, at how little the story pushed the plot forward toward its grand sequence. It is to be expected that the middle book in many trilogies tends to flounder as the author tries to set up the board and move all the key players into the place for the final showdown, while adequately setting up just enough lore to expand the world, while also creating enough tension to leave the reader salivating for the next installment that will be the crescendo of all the hardwork put into a seemingly lackluster book two.

While this story does flesh out some of the side characters, namely a character relative of de Leon that dove into the story at the climax of the first book, many of the new side characters and plotlines felt like utter padding and provided very little in terms of setting the stage of the ultimate big-bad showdown. I waited patiently as the story plodded along, while the characters spent their time rue-ing the tragic and frankly, excellently crafted story and action setpieces in Empire of the Vampire, but did very little else to push forth the narrative in a new direction. The shtick of “I have to protect you from the forces of Darkness hot on our tails” does get a little tiresome, especially when the Darkness kinda stays away for so much of the book, that the threat never felt imminent to the reader, no matter how often Kristoff had our characters say it to each other.

There are precisely two action set-pieces, well written in classic Kristoff fashion. His action storytelling is among the best in the dark fantasy space, with eloquent descriptions of violence painted with an elegant hand. I wish he spent more time fleshing out the dire nature of a world on the precipice of darkness where mortals are no match for the blood lords, and are mere chattle to be fed by the immortal host.

Jay Kristoff’s prose has become a thing of a controversial argument in the dark fantasy spaces. Many criticize his overly flowery prose as nearing a purple hue, and he was certainly throwing all he had at us, flexing all his edge in Empire of the the Vampire. Sadly on Damned, while he seems to have reined his prose to be less needlessy verbose, it goes even further to make the entire affair rather bland and flat. In addition, his tumblr-esque wordbuilding like “swordsaint”, “duskdancer”, “wealdling”, “daysdeath”, “dreamwalker”, does more to push the series towards a younger audience, and I can imagine, the grittier consumers among us would roll our eyes at the cheesy/edgy nomenclature. If that wasnt enough, his overly crass dialog crafting especially in the “quippier-than-thou, you f!@$# b@#!#$@” back and forth between Gabriel and Dior, while fun the first few times, gets awfully tiresome especially in book 2, where the stakes are considerably higher and the worldview more grim. Kristoff doesnt nearly have the helf that Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, or even Michael Fletcher has to use abrasive dialog as a value-add to the scene.


“It matters not what you hold faith in. But you must hold faith in something.”

It feels like Empire of the Damned wanted to deal with the emotional aftermath of the dramatic ending of the first book, where Gabriel has to run from human and vampire alike, while Dior struggles to come to terms with her pivotal nature as the savior of the world in the body of a teenage girl in a world of horror. Yet again, the actual narrative fails to capture much of this angst in a rewarding or sincere way. While de Leon spends a LOT of time pining away for his lost wife and daughter, and trying to care for and train LaChance, Kristoff simply did not devote enough time to weave the “meta” plot into the more immediate plotlines. The angst felt extremely “filler” and as a reader, it was a lot of “fine, lets move this along and get to the plot already”, rather than be walked through rewarding character development.

This book felt less like a story of Gabriel and Dior, and more about the new side character. While they are an absolute badass in terms of both character and action, they felt like more of a narrative anchor, forced into a “come with me to fulfill your destiny” while constantly at odds with the primary protagonist. It all felt entirely too tropey and hamfisted. Add a new set of meh antagonists, and you really have an overly dilute chalice to sip from.

While I will still eagerly thirst for the third, and daresay final installment of the series, Empire of the Damned felt truly anemic.

This felt to me like just a bridge to get to book 3. I still love all of the interactions between Gabriel and Jean-Francois. That is the best part of the entire book. There is not much action in this book as compared to the first one. I would have liked to get more in this one. But I look forward to the next book.

A genre departure for me but worth the risk! Very engaging story, very descriptive, will be watching for the full version. 4/5 Stars.

Thank you for the sampler. What a great exert from a beloved series. I can't wait to read the whole thing in the coming months.

Wow what an amazing start to this sequel. I was so excited to get the sneak peek. I seriously cannot wait for this epic sequel to release, it will most likely make my Top 10 of 2024 based on what I read.

You will not be disappointed with this sequel. Jay Kristoff never fails me. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review.

Where to start? Well I guess by prefacing that I read an advanced reader copy that is supposedly a teaser/sample of the book. That said, I have a lot of thoughts.

Content Warning: habitually derogatory against women, graphically violent, explicit, strong language, s*x and bl*od slavery, animal cruelty, teenage smoking, adult illustrations

If you like Interview With a Vampire, The Witcher, and Vin Diesel's The Last Witch Hunter, then this book is for you. Imagine if the Harkonens (Dune) ruled the world, but they were actually vampires and there wasn't much to stop them. That's basically the premise of the world.

I really liked the map illustrations. They were gorgeous. I really appreciated the catch up notes at the beginning of the book. Those were really helpful. I liked the Nightblood (from Warbreaker) style talking blade. The opening line was fantastic. It was a really great hook. Stylistically, the writing is very well done. The extra star is for the quality of the writing. The world building and country dynamics are well done as well. The story has an interesting and intriguing take on religion, cults, and the concept of belief as a tangible thing to be wielded.

The reveal is very well done. As far as teasers go, that was a fantastic point to end on the story. But I won't be returning to find out what happens next for several reasons listed below.

Now onto my other notes, this book jumps right into s*x and blo*d slavery. That definitely sets the tone for the rest of the book. This book features masochistic and sadistic main character men who wear a facade of being a gentleman but who actually treat women as tools and less than. This book features terrible and derogatory language towards and about women.

I would describe this author as an "edgelord", meaning that his story has to be edgy all the time, includes offensive things to get a reaction, always tries to push the envelope in terms of content and language, and just generally chases that shock and awe factor for the sake of attention.

A grown man unloads his woes on a child who people had just tried to ritualistically m*rder. She literally almost died just moments before. Not the time.

The main character calls a woman a b**ch for not answering a question he never asked in the first place.

The only female who gets respect from the main character is a sixteen/seventeen year old girl. Why? Because growing up in the gutters of society apparently means that she's basically a guy with bo*bs and therefore worthy of respect I guess? Granted, there are still jokes, but he actually listens to her and views her as his child (this is where The Witcher undertones come into play). And the jokes go both ways.

This book features crude and unnecessary "yo mama" jokes just for the shock and awe factor. And speaking of the dialogue, the main character drives almost every conversation he's a part of. Why?

I can literally hear two men I know reading this book and getting a kick out of it (granted, this would be if they cursed like a sailor, which they don't). Note to the person reading this review: they think their opinions are the end all be all and are typically the only people in the room laughing at their jokes. That's not a compliment.

There are honestly too many small yet glaring derogatory phrasing against women. I lost count by ebook page 50, and again, I only have a teaser of this book to read.

Slaughterfarms: where humans are fed their unalived companions who have served their purpose and humans are farmed for their bl*od for vampires to consume. While we don't actually have a slaughterfarm scene in this book, we do get a description polished off with a wagon full of children being taken from a human town recently conquered by vampires on their way to make a new farming facility.

There are illustrations every now and then throughout the book. As with the subject source, these illustrations are both graphic and explicit.

The author has an obsession with cat fights and unnecessary squabbling between women over the stupidest little things.

There are two instances of horses being unalived. The first is off page but described enough for the reader to get a good picture of what happened. The second is on page and somehow even more violent. I'm talking gruesome and needless sla*ghtering here.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

Great sneak peak into the 2nd book in one of Kristoff's most dynamic worlds yet! Can't wait to read when Empire of the Damned is released!

I actually didn't realize this was a sequel and so I was quite lost in the story. I didn't finish it for this reason only. I am seeking out the first book to read because the second is intriguing. I've also heard many good things about this sequel!

This was quite the teaser! I am a fan of Jay Kristoffs writing and have actually already pre-ordered this book! So far it's just as catchy as I expected. Mr. Kristoff has a very distinct style in his storytelling ability and his worlds are very uniquely his own. I feel like he takes simple ideas and executes them well. Since I have already read the Nevernight Chronicles I was really excited to see the same sort of style reflected in Empire of a Vampire and also in Empire of the Damned. I am tentatively giving this teaser a 5 and will post a full review on goodreads once I finish the book.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this!

All I can say is I’m sooo sooo happy to have been able to read this second instalment to Empire of the Vampire!

Go read now!!!! I’m still reeling from it and need the third book now!