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
Empire of the Vampire is the first vampire book I have read since… Twilight. I’m not a huge fan of vampires. I don’t know what it is about them, but they aren’t really for me. However, I enjoyed Empire of the Vampire.
So why did I enjoy this vampire-related book when others have fallen so short? I think it was because, to me, they made sense in this world. I can’t give more than that; they just made sense.
Empire of the Vampire is a dark, almost horror fantasy that falls within the New Adult to Adult age group. It is mature and quite dark, which is one reason why it took me so long to read it. I’m not usually a dark or horror fantasy reader. Another reason would be the heavy world-building, a classic trait of the first books in a series.
I liked the way Jay Kristoff has written it. As the synopsis says, Gabriel, the main character, tells his story and his adventures to the vampires. The whole way through, you feel like you're sitting in the tower with him while also watching the events he is telling us about. I quite enjoyed this; it was very cinematic in my head. That is the best way I can describe it.
This is the first Jay Kristoff book I have read, and I immensely enjoyed how he writes. There are some incredible moments of description that just had me captivated and able to conjure a very clear image in my mind's eye. Some of these descriptions were also very lyrical, almost poetic.
One of the other things that I really enjoyed about Empire of the Vampire was the pieces of art throughout—little snippets of characters. I found this useful, and I enjoyed studying the pictures while reading. More books, especially fantasy, should do this more often. It helps with your mental image of places and characters. It also just adds another element to the story.
I enjoyed it far more than I expected, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and learning how everything plays out. Keep a look out for my review of Empire of the Damned as soon as I have read it!
