Absolutely bloody (pun perhaps intended) brilliant. Vampires as they are meant to be--out for blood, vicious, intelligent and just plain frightening.

This is a complex story. Gabriel is a dark hero, everything you'd expect from the writer who dreamt up Mia Corvere. And much like Mia, Gabriel is the kind of person you want to know more about. How he became who he is. Why the start of the story is him imprisoned and telling his tale to a vampire historian. How he lost his faith. This book will keep you up past your bedtime. Or reading in the bright sunlight and hoping it never gets dark.

And sorry, you have to read the book. Guard the secrets. Protect the spoilers. #DontRuinTheEmpire.

This teaser was so much fun!!!!! I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS FULL RELEASE. Jay Kristoff is the king of story writing and darkness at its best.
You all are not ready

wow. wow. wow. THIS was a sampler? Hello, Gabe. SOLID world building. Definitely no sparkling vampires here. wink. (iykyk). WHAT is going to happen?! Dang, this is going to be EPIC. I cannot wait to finish this story! Less than a month to go. Then I can breathe again.

Thank you st martins press and macmillan usa for the opportunity to read the EotV exclusive sampler! I am even more excited now for my eighteen preorders to come in. JK. I only have one preorder. Help me, I'm poor.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Empire of the Vampire is the self-proclaimed baby of Interview With a Vampire and The Name of the Wind - and Jay Kristoff isn’t messing around. This book gave me those two vibes all the way through. It was gruesome, it had an unreliable narrator, and an epic adventure that you need to read, immediately.

I adored this story. I feel like I’d been waiting for something like this to come around again for a long, long time now. It fulfilled everything I look for in an epic fantasy, oh, and it had VAMPIRES. Gabriel is an ex-monster hunter who just so happens to have a little monster in him. Trapped by one of the very monsters he used to hunt, he’s forced to tell his story. And boy, is it a story.

The only thing that I felt hindered the story was the language at times. It completely took me out of the worldbuilding and the rest of the dialogue. Sometimes the curses were so inventive and GOOD and other times they felt way too modern for the apocalyptic world we were supposed to be set in that it completely jolted me out.

The cast of characters is amazing. Ash, of course, was one of my favourites. I am so intrigued by where this is going and I can’t wait for the next installment. Chefs kiss.

This sampler is full of lovely prose and stunning imagery, but at times it comes across as pedantic and overindulgent. There are also a few lines/scenes lifted almost entirely from Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire (in one case, quite literally word for word).

This 400 page sampler will more than give you a taste of what this very hyped newest offering by Jay Kristoff! Written with his usual trademark snark and humor, this is a massive undertaking for the author. The world building can't be faulted and the fantasy will suck you in immediately. Definitely getting a copy for our collection!

Ugh. I hate that I didn't realize this was a sampler, but I did enjoy what I read! Its going to be gory fantasticalness and I'm super excited to finish the book. It has Kristoff's snarky tone, but kicks off a little faster than the Nevernight series did in my opinion. I'm ready for release!

A brutal and graphic yet beautifully told vampire story mixed with the Holy Grail. As Kristoff has mentioned, it is heavily influenced by Interview with the Vampire, and you definitely get those vibes reading it. However, the interview style of narration was incredibly hard for me to get into and I found myself putting it down often to pick up something else. There were time jumps just when something would be picking up the pace for me and completely take me out of the element.

I did love the characters, though. I love that the vampires weren't simply "misunderstood" and had depth and truly gave you reason to fear them. Definitely a good spooky read to kick off your fall or a read to reignite your love for vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved it. Granted, I only read half of the book, as I received the exclusive sampler, but it was fantastic. If you are familiar with Jay Kristoff’s work, you know he writes on the darker side and this book follows suit. This is not for children. It is an adult book and stated as such, so keep that in mind.

This is a dark tale about vampires, more specifically one half vampire named Gabriel De Leon. The start of the book is slightly slow, though very intriguing. It begins with present day Gabriel as he narrates his life. We get flashbacks of his younger self. Taking us along the ride through his life story. It goes a bit of back and forth, yet I didn’t mind it. I did not get whiplash from the constant flashbacks like I did with V.E Schwab’s, Villians.

The wold building was dark and haunted, the character development captivating and plot was marvelous. This is one long gory, dark and mysterious book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the book when it is released.

For anyone who loves Jay Kristoff, Fantasy or Vampires, this is the book for you. From the 400 (!!!!) page sample I was graciously allowed to read, my first thoughts were this is The Witcher meets Interview with the Vampire crossed with a little bit of Arthurian lore. The subtle nods to fantasy tropes and not-so-subtle themes make this book something to devour voraciously. A book where there is no doubt there is an unearthly presence and perhaps the Almighty care and perhaps he doesn't, our anti-hero is left to make the best out of his present. The book is told in media res so as Kristoff would say, be patient gentle read. The book unfurls like a mistress long desired and finally possessed. I look forward to reaching the conclusion!

This was unexpected. The concept of the story is a vampire interviewing a vampire slayer. It at times felt like two friends talking at the bar and then you were jarred to the concept that the vampire slayer is actually held hostage. I wanted to love this more and i understand book 1 being 700+ pages in a series was going to be a lot of world building. There was action, fighgts, sad moments, very adult moments and so much building. I feel the world they built in my mind from the descritopns is a dystopia in that i just imagine it hundreds of years in the future with the fall of man and technology and the rise of vampires. for me i liked it.. but i didnt love it

I only got to read a sampler, however I've been hooked. I'm so glad I preordered and cannot wait to read the rest of this book. The book pulled me in from the beginning - I'm counting the days down till release!

Thank you for allowing me to read the sampler. I will update this review when I've finished the story.

A 400 page SAMPLE? I mean, ok, fine, seems cruel, but ok fine. The sampler was amazing, and I will conceded that I absolutely want a physical copy because of the illustrations. Basically I stayed up all night reading, and that sucks, because now I have to wait. The storytelling? Perfect. The humour? What an unexpected balm, and when balanced with the ... hope? I dunno. I'm here for it.

Well this is unusual cruel behaviour and I’m a glutton for punishment. That’s the only reason I could possibly have for reading a 400 page SAMPLE 🤪

Sometimes the most simple things are the most compelling. The story begins with two "men" sitting in a room and having a conversation. A story is told. And I was hooked from the very beginning. This tale is dark and Gothic: a tale of mythical creatures yet still heartfelt. "Empire of the Vampire" reminds me of Anne Rice at her absolute best. A vampire tale that reminds us of what it means to be human, and the true cost of immortality.

I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can delve deeper into the divine illustrations. This is a book to be savored, but good luck not inhaling it instead.

Jay Kristoff is one of my all time favorite authors so you know I'm going to tell you this sampler was amazing. The only complaint I have is that it was 400 pages lol 400 pages is a crazy sampler size and I thought this big of a sampler would be perfect and not leave me wanting more. I was so wrong I need the next half stat.

5 glowing stars and is it September yet?????

this book was absolutely phenomenal. jay kristoff yet again hits it out of the park. now just to wait for the next one

Empire of the Vampire is an epic marvel! Gabriel de León, a hopeless half-vampire , is telling his life story in two parts as he awaits his execution for murder. This is the best book that Jay Kristoff has written. He is a master storyteller and we see this unfold through the story and illustrations gifted to us. As Gabriel tells his tale, he completely shocked me, had me laughing at his wit and sarcasm, made me cry many tears, had my stomach churning as the viciousness of monsters, and moved my heart at the relationships of love, brotherhood, and friendship he formed. I cannot wait for this story to make an impact on all of its readers as it has done on me. This is a story of vampires and heroes, of love and sorrow, of friendship and loss, of joy and devastation. It is a story of death and darkness, but if you look closely you will find a thread of hope that shines brighter than the sun.

Wow! This book…I’m just blown away by the unexpected of this story. Before reading this, I already had some predictions what the story will be about and was I wrong. So wrong! Wrong as in the best and awesome kind of way. If you like dark, snarky, rich details, bloody and sensual situations. This is the book to read. I’m definitely buying this book. I love jay Kristoff books but this…this might be my favorite vampire series ever. Might? That’s a lie. This is my favorite vampire series!

Just when I think Jay Kristoff can't possible write anything cooler than he already has...he proves me wrong! Empire of the Vampire was breathtaking in so many ways - horror, love, deep world building, inventive cussing, you name it. I cannot WAIT for the full book!