Destined to become a modern classic, there’s not much about this book that hasn’t already been said. The sample we received was a glimpse into an epic world, drawn large and bloody and grim. I loved everything about EOTV from the characters to the dialogue and humour. Kristoff has achieved something great here, and I cannot wait for the next book.

oh, boy. this was one long book. long and slow. and when i saw slow, i don’t mean uninteresting. it was just hard to read. in saying that, the first half of this book felt pointless and boring. the second half picked up, and this is where i started to like the characters a little more. if this book cut the first half down considerably, it would’ve been easier to read and more entertaining.

the events were interesting, and the characters were enjoyable, but the writing made it such a tedious book to read. i liked that there was a lot of world building, but sometimes it felt too much.

dior is easily my favourite character in empire of the vampire. she’s smart, witty, and fun. astrid was also high on my favourite characters list. i enjoyed the scenes these two made an appearance in more than the others.

gabriel was interesting enough, but i did wonder at times why he was the protagonist. he didn’t seem to add anything the the story. he seemed better suited as a side character.

i’ve seen this pointed out a few times, and i’m not sure where i stand in this argument. there’s a relationship between a 15/16 year old (if someone wants to confirm the exact age of this character, please do) and a 19 year old. in many places, this is illegal. however, the fantasy world this book is set in is based off of france, where the legal age of consent is 15. (Aside from the wikipedia page, I found this article interesting).

on a different note, i absolutely loved the artwork that’s sprinkled throughout this book. i’ll always love art in books, no matter what. in empire of the vampire, i liked that the art seemed to break up the dense writing.

overall, i think empire of the vampire would’ve been more enjoyable if it had been shorter. i also understand that my feelings are in the minority for this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

There's nothing I particularly liked or didn't like about this book tbh? There were times where it felt that the writing or the main character was trying too hard to seem "edgy" and the same could be said about the constant profanity (I don't mind swearing in books but it felt like it was happening an awful lot in this).

Ultimately, I have no strong feelings for the book either way. It was interesting enough, but didn't thrill or excite me.

This is quite a hefty tome! I received a sampler from NetGalley (a sample!) which amounted to 200 odd pages. Wild! I couldn't stop myself from immediately getting a full copy when it was released. It is a lot of book and all I had hoped for from Jay Kristoff.

Kristoff has given us an intense, violent tale of a world dominated dim daylight and its consequences. Such as lack of flowers, a diet heavy in mushrooms and potatoes, and of course Vampires who have taken over. The protagonist, Gabriel de Leon, is a flawed man, a "silversaint", sired by a vampire father and human mother. He was brought into the religious order which was tasked with stopping Vampires. Problems ensue.

There is a lot going on and despite the length, I wanted to bang through this book, to hell with work! While this is a vampire novel, the story is so much more. If you've liked Kristoff's work, you should love this.

I read and loved Kristoff’s debut almost a decade ago yet somehow I haven’t managed to keep up with his work. But I am a massive vampire fan from way back so when I saw that he was delving into Vampire lore with a new trilogy it became a must read. I’ve been a little sporadic with reviews (read absolutely terrible and ridiculously far behind) but I have been reading a lot so I requested the title from NetGalley and dove almost straight in, only to discover that NetGalley are only offering a sampler – which you would be forgiven for not realising as it is over 300 pages. That realisation was the point that I ordered a digital copy for immediate download to my Kindle, and in I dove.

This is DEFINITELY NOT a Young Adult title, much of his earlier work was but this one is most definitely not. I actually think there might even be more bad language in this book than my vocabulary or regular conversation and that is saying quite a lot. It is also extremely and graphically violent and it is wieldy, but I have to say that I loved every page.

I purchased a digital copy because I wanted it immediately but I have to admit, I’m kinda tempted to buy a paperback as well because I want to be able to run my fingers over the illustrations.

Thinking about the first instalment in this epic saga, only minutes after turning the last page and I find I’m still processing, I’m still turning it all over in my mind. The more I think about it the more I see some parallels with my favourite vampire saga, the saga of Lestat the Brat Prince penned by Anne Rice. The stories are completely different; a different time, a different world but there are similarities.

The Empire of the Vampire is penned as a tale told by our hero to a historian; flashes of the present with much of the story playing out as a history told to the historian. Our main character was full of ego and bravado, and it got him in endless amounts of trouble as he failed to follow instructions or the rules. The more I think, the more parallels I see – our hero is Gabriel de Leon. Lestat’s surname was de Lioncourt and his mother was Gabrielle. Lestat has quite a saga and the books number in double digits, and I think Garbriel de Leon has quite the tale to tell so there are bound to be some story arcs that are similar but I found The Empire of the Vampire to be quite original and like nothing I have read before, aside from the similarities I have mentioned.

Gabriel de Leon was a hero of the order of Silversaints, working hard for every accolade he earned while also being a little too full of himself and creating dangerous situations for those around him – though always out of the best intentions. He had been raised in the lower classes, working for everything that he had. Watching as life got harder for all in his village as the years after daysdeath marched on and those who thrived in the night became ever stronger with the absence of proper sunlight.

I’m sure his story would be a wonder to behold if it was told from start to finish as apparently all good stories should be, but Gabriel refuses to tell his story chronologically; demanding that it’s his story and if they want it told badly enough they will let him tell it his way, or no way at all. He starts at the beginning and then when the telling gets too painful he skips forward to a time closer to the present, but that is still aways away from when he is sitting in a tower telling his story.

Kristoff builds worlds that I can plainly see in my minds eye, and I don’t really want to go there but I can immerse myself. His writing is evocative and descriptive in a way that makes it easy to visualise what he is seeing and the fact that Empire of the Vampire is illustrated only serves to help with the visualisation.

I tend not to read reviews of a book until after I have written mine so that I don’t muddy my own thoughts but tonight I had a quiet wander through the Goodreads reviews and see that some people put the fan in fanatic. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and the book has raced up the bestseller charts in it’s first few weeks since release, and I can see why. I loved this book. I loved the story and I loved the characters, even the ones I couldn’t like very much. I am determined that I will not let this series fall off the way I did with The Lotus Wars trilogy. I do intend to go back and read the back catalogue – when I find the time.

Empire of the Vampire is dark, darker than dark. It is bloody and vicious and dark. The profanity is over the top which, because my mouth is certainly no stranger to over the top profanity, I often found just made me laugh and may just see me adding some new phrases to my repertoire. Sometimes it was most definitely gratuitous profanity, but sometimes it felt warranted and sometimes it was that jesty profanity that helped paint a picture of the bond that was growing between characters – but that could just be me because it’s the way that I watch the bonds that grow within my friendships.

There is also a rather humunguous vein of nasty bloodslinging profanity that took teenage macho one-upping taunts to dizzying new heights of posturing name calling that felt to me like that stereotyped way movies portray the way new recruits to the army are treated when they start their training, and when I think about it that’s exactly the way that it was used in this story.

If you love darkness and you love vampire lore I would recommend giving this one a run. The worldbuilding was stellar and I found some quite original new vampire lore that I’m enjoying watch develop.

Gabriel de Leon fought his way up from the bottom of the pack to become the legendary warrior he is renowned for across the lands, but he has fallen far from those heights to become a faithless drunk trying to drown the past in spirits (or the spirits of the past maybe), addicted to what was once a holy sacrament.

His story is far from finished and I can’t wait to discover what comes next, unfortunately I have no idea when the next book may be due.

I will have to admit that I haven't been the biggest fan of vampire books for many years, and because of this I was a bit apprehensive about picking up EOTV. That still didn't stop the FOMO and I jumped on the bandwagon with everyone else and I am so glad I did!

I found the begging to be a little slow and the writting style a little hard to settle in to. I even put it down for a week or two while I finished a different book, but once I hit a certain point in the story there was no stopping and it has left me aching for more! Bring on book two!

And in sight of God and his Seven Martyrs, I do here vow;
Let the dark know my name and despair.
So as it burns, I am the flame.
So long as it bleeds, I am the blade.
So long as it sins, I am the saint.
And I am silver.

Thank the Redeemer this man's editor saw fit to allow a 725 page book and not cut a single page from it. I read the 400 page sampler in record time and was hooked - I immediately ran out and bought the paperback, full of beautiful illustrations that I now regret I didn't get the hardcover.

Glorious in the telling, this is the alternate universe dystopian medieval fantasy of a world where Vampires are invading the land, and the last stronghold is held in the monastery of San Michon. This is the story of the last Silversaint. Half-blood vampire and human, a disciple of San Michon, foresworn to Hunt the Dead.

Poetic in the writing of the world, the fanaticism, the religion, the lore of the Dead with French revolution undertones and hints of Underworld throughout.

Anne Rice without the boring, Buffy with religion. The best vampire novel for a long time. Gabriel de Leon, the Black Lion, can be my hero any day.

Please tell me there will be a sequel!!

Empire of the Vampire is an epic high fantasy, with phenomenal world building and characters.
I thoroughly enjoyed the dark atmospheric elements of the story and cannot wait for book two!

This was an absolute throw-against-the-wall-sleep-depriving masterpiece. I absolutely loved every minute of this book.

First, can we just discuss that ART. It was so gorgeous and went so well and depicted the scenes amazingly. My fave is the thousands and thousands of vampires one. Just stunning.

Secondly, this was written so well. I loved the whole Interview with a Vampire *hunter* x Into the Wind mashup, and of course the obscure little Easter eggs and references.

It was 240k words of pure hell, but worth every minute of it. Jay Kristoff really outdid himself on this one, and I’m SO KEEN for book 2.

This sample left me dying for more! As always Jay Kristoff has shown his amazing skill in character building, worldbuilding and storytelling. He is a true master of his craft and I'm so glad that he was able to share this treasure with us all because I know how hard he worked on it. Bravo Mr Kristoff!

Well! That was a wild ride.

Daysdeath (the yet unexplained darkening of the skies) has resulted in the rise of the vampire and the escalation of the war between the living and the dead. We begin this book in a dungeon with Gabriel, the fallen last silversaint hero, and his vampiric jailor who has been tasked with learning about Gabriel’s life and the events leading to the end he will soon face.

This book was reminisce to ‘The Name of the Wind’ in that the tale is told as a retelling of Gabriel’s life from the beginning of the end when all is lost. Its fascinating that I’m desperate to know how everything went wrong when standing at the desperate end! Even though you know things end badly you can’t help but hope at each step that things will end differently.

And oh boy! Was this book action packed and full of scary scenes! The hair on the back of my neck keeps standing on end every now and again when I think over passages in this book. I’m reminded of the scene of the battle of Hardhome - both the fighting and then the rise...😬. There were so many amazing elements to this book in addition to the action and thrill - family, friendship, love, faith, and betrayal.

There was also beautiful artwork scattered throughout the book. Personally, I prefer to have my own images of things in my mind but they were beautiful and I am sure there will be many readers who will enjoy this extra feature.

This book was also nice and long too. There were, delightfully, a few twists which were great (and sad).
My only complaint is that I have to wait for book 2!

Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this!

Wow this was a big one. This was exactly the book to get me back into what I loved reading about vampires! The world was so immersive. The fight scenes were great and the fantasy element really drove it home.

I was hesitant to read this one but it was a really good read.

I stopped reading this preview after about 3 chapters. I immediately ordered myself a hardcover copy to continue on with instead. Jay Kristoff's world building was so captivating so quickly. I cannot wait to dive in and read more about the Last Silversaint.

Thank you to Netgalley, Jay Kristoff and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the chance to read this sampler early

An entertaining start to Empire of the Vampire. The sampler convinced me to purchase the book. 5/5 stars.

This was a sample of Empire of the Vampire, so please note this is not a comprehensive review., but rather a quick snapshot!

Gabriel is a vampire hunter, who has been captured and, while in waiting for his execution, reiterates his story as the last hunter of the SIlversaints..I was worried with how this story was being delivered, however in this portion (while still very sizeable!) it was done really well,. it is definitely one book that you need to be focused on though, not one to skim and loose focus with fairies!

I absolutely loved Gabe and his morally grey character traits, he was hilarious in a sarcastically bland way.. Gabe provided a story that was dark, gory, and violent.. All characters have depth and provide context to the plot. Speaking of which, it is done so well!! The building of the characters, the world, the story... I feel like I am there!!!!

So far, plot, characters and the phenomenal world building are all 5 stars. Also, I was impressed with the offensive language - meaning it wasn't over the top or done for the sake of throwing in an F bomb.

I am super excited to finish this book off (my physical copy has arrived - yay!), and see where Gabe's story ends, or leaves me on a killer cliff-hanger, because, after all this is Jay Kristoff!!!!

Taster chapter only by publisher waiting for full book, but boy what a taster it was!!
Rounded characters, excitement from the outset - I can't wait to read the whole book!!

Thankyou so much for the teaser, if you can even call it that it was huge 🙈 I've now finished the entire book and I was absolutely blown away. The world building, the magic system the character development. Everything was immaculate and I am so eager to see what happens in book two. Honestly just need more Gabe content in my life. Thanks again for the teaser and highly recommend this one for vampire fans or even just fans of high fantasy in general ❤️

What a book! While this was only a 400 page sampler, I have since continued on and read the entire book. All I can say is it left me reeling! The story was engaging the entire way through, with no lulls. Timelines were jumping around a bit, but there was no confusion with following the story. I am very excited to read the next book in the series.

Until this month, I’d been waiting to read EotV for forever. Okay…in truth, it was more like a few months short of 3 years, but this led to some pretty high expectations – something I generally try to avoid for fear of heartbreak. Yet, to my complete surprise, this book managed to meet them, mostly.

It’s a Vampire’s World

First off, the world building in this book is fantastic! It’s complex, intriguing, intricate, and somehow JK breaks it down for the reader in ways that are easy to understand without bogging down the story. I was engaged in the world right from the very beginning and really enjoyed learning about its vampire lore and bloodlines, the Silver Order, Elidaen’s religion, and how the loss of the sun and vampire invasion affected people’s lives (a diet involving lots of potatoes, apparently). There were a couple of things raised and not fully explained but there’s got to be material left for the sequels, right? The one thing that bothered me a little was the use of random French words like ‘oui’ or ‘ma famillie’. It’s weird because the spoken language isn’t really discussed so it looks like they’re there purely to try and French-ify things.

Nevernight Vibes

I think it’s safe to say that if you loved JK’s Nevernight books it’s likely you’ll enjoy EotV. While there aren’t any footnotes (thank God), it’s similarly full of violence, revenge, corruption, foul language, moody-vibes, smut, religious themes, and emotional moments. It’s DARRRKKK. Vampires bathing in the blood of babies dark. The kind of dark and scary vampires should be. However, part of my reasoning for dropping that .5 of a star is that some of these things were slightly overdone in places. In the case of gore and violence, over time I felt myself becoming desensitised to the horror described, having read so much of it. Dead children littering the ground? Well, alrighty then! Likewise with the swearing and crassness, in that some lines came off feeling forced and excessive – we get it, they’re badasses with dirty mouths. And for the love of all that’s holy, please, no more ‘your mother/wife’ jokes. The audience is not a bunch of twelve-year-old boys.

Full Steam Ahead

There was no point while reading this book where I felt bored, and for a 700+ page novel, that’s pretty darn impressive. The plot of EotV is like if The Name of the Wind, The Witcher and The Last of Us had a threesome in a vampire nest with a twist from The Da Vinci Code thrown in. I have no idea if that sounds appealing, but it was. Gabriel’s tale switches back and forth between two different parts of his life. The first details his teenage years, during which he studied with the Silver Order and built his legend as The Black Lion. The second looks at more recent events – Gabe’s journey with a small group protecting a teenage street urchin named Dior in connection with the Holy Grail. At first, I was bothered by this structure but after seeing that it didn’t negatively impact the momentum, I realised it was a clever narrative choice. This is because it: a) stopped the book from being stuck in one place for too long, and b) allowed JK to slowly unfold certain plot elements to dramatic (and heartbreaking) effect. My only minor complaint is there were a couple of character-oriented moments in the first timeline which were summarised rather than shown to allow the book to move on to other events that I wish we’d actually seen.

A Grumpy “Hero”, Talking Sword and Scrappy Pickpocket

Talking about EotV’s characters without spoilers is a minefield, but I can safely say I liked a lot of them. Our lead, Gabriel, has been through a great deal and is akin to a more broken, bitter and arrogant Geralt of Rivia. He’s lost his faith and self-respect, and generally adopts a ‘F*** off’ attitude. While Gabe frustrated me early on, I came to understand and appreciate his interesting mix of heroic and asshole-ish qualities. His relationship with Dior was one of my favourite parts of the book and I loved seeing them come to trust and care for one another despite negative original perceptions. The surrounding cast of characters were also good but time with them was limited in some cases. A few standouts for me were Aaron, Gabe’s Silversaint nemesis turned friend; Ashdrinker, Gabe’s crazy, talking sword; Bellamy, basically Dandelion from The Witcher but more battle adept; and of course, Dior, our locking picking, smart-mouthed dynamo.

Magical Illustrations

It would be a crime not to mention the stunning illustrations by Bon Orthwick in this book. As someone who doesn’t see books play out like movies in their head, these artworks truly enhanced my reading experience and helped me to feel and visualise scenes. HOWEVER, that one piece – you’ll know when the time comes – how DARE you squash my heart like that?
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As I’m sure you already know, I had a blast reading this crazy, bloody, vampire ride of a paperweight and I’ll be looking forward to the next book in the series, whenever it finally makes an appearance.

4.5 STARS

Note: Thank you to Harper Collins AU and Netgalley for a large sampler of this book which allowed me to get started early!

This is my first ever Jay Kristoff book and from the sampler that I received thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, I can safely say that this is nothing like any other vampire book I've read before. Kristoff has a way of drawing you into the world he has created and utterly compelling you to be one with the incidents unfolding on the page. From the language to the outfits to the environment, everything is written in such a lush and vivid manner. Although I did enjoy this book, I don't think I'll be running to pick it up and finish it.