I don’t know what else to say about this book other than it’s incredible. I loved every minute of this book and it was certainly worth what felt like an agonizing wait. Jay Kristoff is the master of entangling his readers and devastating them all at once. It’s a gift and a curse to his devoted readers.

I devoured this book as much as I tried to prolong it solely because I didn’t want it to end. I love the style of how the story is told. Showing both the current timeline and the past as it’s being told to someone. It was very well done too because sometimes this method can just straight flop if not done correctly.

The reader sees the defining moments of Gabriel’s life, from a young age and with each part of the book, showing him a bit older until he reaches the point of cynical man. There were so many characters I loved, even the baddies were such fleshed out in depth characters. The atmosphere was so dark as was the story itself, and I’m a sucker for dark anything so this met every need.

More than anything, I cannot wait for the next book. I want it ASAP.

Trigger Warnings: Human death (adult and child), animal death, physical abuse, mention of alcohol abuse

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff is the first book in the series of the same name. Told in a way that is very reminiscent of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, the reader is introduced to Gabriel de León, the last of the silversaints. His life has not been an easy one and as he weaves his tale he does not shy away from that fact. Becoming a silversaint is not easy and even more difficult is surviving in a land of everlasting night.

Several years ago the book market was practically flooded with vampire novels. While this isn’t a particularly bad thing when the market is oversaturated even new and unique novel ideas can seem old fast. This is one of the main reasons why I have reviewed only a handful of vampire-based novels here; there just wasn’t anything new or interesting on the market.

That’s where Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff comes in.

Told in a series of flashbacks, Empire of the Vampire is a novel that has taken numerous tropes and ideas and gives them a unique twist. It’s a coming-of-age story that isn’t quite that at all. It’s a story with secrets and mysteries a-plenty, the majority of them merely hinted at. It’s a story with fight scenes and battles where the good guys don’t always win – and that’s if you can tell who the good guys actually are.

At close to 900 pages and only the first book of the series Empire of the Vampire offers an incredibly tantalizing taste of the world Kristoff has created. The characters that populate the story are a varied bunch each with their own goals and ideals. What those goals and ideals are aren’t always readily known, leaving the reader to wonder. With as much that is said there is just as much left unsaid.

As many other reviewers have stated, Empire of the Vampire is NOT a book for young readers. There are some adult readers who might have difficulties with it as well. Personally, I really enjoyed reading it and devoured it (pun intended) in just over a week. Were it not for pesky things like a job or a family I likely would have finished it sooner.

Readers who love a good, bloody (again pun intended) vampire novel packed with fight scenes and questionable characters would do well to check out Empire of the Vampire.

Sample...over 400 pages
Gabriel tells the story of his search for the holy grail. He is a half vampire who was trained to kill the real vampires.
Vampires, some smut, special powers

I had heard so many great things about this book. I received a e-ARC of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press and then I went out and bought a copy from my local bookstore. I have picked this book up twice now and I even tried to listen to the audiobook while reading to help me get through it. However, this book is a no go for me. I could just not get invested in the characters or the storyline.

I really enjoyed this book, I loved the world building in this story, very well done. I would highly recommend this book to everyone

Dark, twisted, and bloody.

I loved it.

Follow Gabriel, a tortured soul indeed, as he recounts his quest as the last Silversaint to rid the world of Vampires. And you’ll find no sparkly, veggie, Vamps here. These mothereffers mean murderous business. Ancient, blood thirsty, ruthless… I almost want to root for them.

If you love chaos, murder and mayhem this book is for you. If you come down more on the side of sparkly veg, maybe skip it.

5/5 stars for the clever use of the word “fuck”

Never have I read something by Jay Kristoff that I haven’t loved, and Empire of the Vampire did not disappoint! The story is intricate and completely immerses you in the world. The storytelling is unique and the ending leaves you begging for book number 2. The world building is heavy so prepare yourself! But in my opinion it’s absolutely worth it. Once I started I couldn’t put it down!

After reading this preview, I am excited to get my hands on the rest! Jay Kristoff is a master of setting the scene and this crazy new world he's created is one that many fans have enjoyed so far. I will be writing a full review once I finish the novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this extended preview!

I was pretty intimidated to read this book but I have to say, after about 1/4 of the way through the book, I was hooked! The story was a story within a story done so well and I can not wait to see where our characters !

I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next one in this series. There were times where I was left confused about the setting/scene due to the heavy metaphor, but through discussions with other readers, I was able to fully comprehend the text. From what I can understand, this is simply Kristoff’s style of writing, and maybe I am just not as strong of a fantasy reader.

The battle scenes were epic, and I am really glad that I purchased a copy of the full text from my local bookstore. I would have been missing out if I stopped at the end of the sample.

Five Star Rating!

Free arc from NETGALLEY

This book was literally everything. I loved how it’s told from an interview perspective. The timeline jumping wasn’t confusing at all. The characters were fleshed out and had their own personalities. The book is quite long so be ready to commit but totally worth it. Ready for the second installment!

*will be published on August 5th

This book is huge--honestly, it was a little intimidating going into it, but it was so worth it! I loved the whole concept as well as the plot. The characters were interesting (particularly the main character). The writing so so well done and the ending just left me hungry for the next book!

First of all, I enjoyed the presentation of the story. In Empire of the Vampire, the story is told by the main character, Gabriel de Leon. Held against his will, Gabriel is forced to tell his life story--everything from his childhood to his training as a silversaint and his falling out with the brotherhood. It was a little confusing the first time he jumped forward in time to another point in the story, but once I realized there was a pattern of switching between his early years with the brotherhood and the ones after he left I was able to keep up better.
Despite the minor confusion initially, I enjoyed the way the story alternated between Gabriel's early life when he had faith and his later years when he was cynical and jaded. It worked really to pull me into the story. Immediately, I wanted to know how things had gotten so bad. What had shaken Gabriel's faith so hard to turn him into that bitter, cynical man who was narrating the story?

The different timelines both held my attention in different ways. When Gabriel talked about his time in the brotherhood I was fascinated with the whole culture and rigid discipline. I was invested in the search for the holy grail and an end to daysdeath. I loved seeing the blossoming romance as well. It didn't overshadow the main plot but was still enjoyable to see play out.

The pacing was pretty steady throughout and the story had a good deal of action. It was a pretty dark story too (you've been warned), but I honestly loved the tone. Empire of the Vampire is perfect for fans of vampires and dark fantasy. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series and will be reviewing it in the future!

I'm a fan of Jay Kristoff. I loved the series he did with Amie Kauffman (Aurora Cycle), so I was anxious to read something done solely by him. I was not disappointed. I liked the world building and characters so far. I'm excited to read the rest of this novel.

“Live as a monster, or die as a man.”

There was so much hype on this book and I did enjoy it for the most part. It seemed like this book was trying to be a lot of things for a lot of people and just feel a little short. World building was amazing though.

I really wanted to love this book, however, it was so depressing and I had to DNF. It may have been because of where I was at emotionally, however, a book without the hope of something positive was too difficult to finish.

I was shocked when I saw that this was a sampler, oh my goodness. A 400 pages sampler?! But when I say I flew through it, I really did. I am so excited for Empire of the Vampire and I cannot wait to read the rest of this book when it comes out!

I completely see the merit in this book, but it's definitely not for me and might be difficult to recommend! I would have to know the patron prior to suggesting this, for sure.

I am very glad that I had this excerpt on hand before I went ahead and purchased this book. After reading this excerpt I realized I just do not think this authors writing is for me. I felt as if there was not much plot for as long of an excerpt as this was and I never felt pulled into the story or compelled to keep going. I’m so glad so many people love this story, but unfortunately I just don’t think Kristoff is the author for me.

The epic tone is certainly there, but it didn't compell me to keep going and finish it this time around. The worldbuilding is really interesting, as it usually is with Jay Kristoff, but the characters felt so boring for some reason. I am willing to try this again at some point, maybe by the time the sequel comes out.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC of the first part that convinced me to get my own copy once it came out. I love the worldbuilding, enjoyed so many of the characters (but I'm here for Astrid and Gabriel!) and the ending is cliffhanger that Kristoff is excellently skilled at doing, enough to leave us fans agonizing for his next book.