Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

At a Glance: Blood and Betrayal

Empire of the Damned doesn’t waste a page in this second installment by Jay Kristoff, with the setup complete in Empire of the Vampire we get to explore more of this dark world and it’s even darker inhabitants. This book is full of action, despair, love, pain, and the faintest glimmer of hope as we continue to hear the tale of Dior Lachance the holy grail of San Michon and a view from the other side via Gabriel’s sister Celene (Liathe), a Vampire with extreme amounts of power for her young age.

We continue to follow the story of Gabriel and Dior through the story being told to our Vampire historian Jean-François Chastain, who we get some glimpses into a few times throughout the book adding a unique change of pace from the first book. We get to explore more of the world at large, getting more details about the Blood Esani and their religious beliefs, the Blood Voss and their incredibly old bloodline, the warfare with the uber strong Blood Dyvok and the Duskdancers that live in the frozen Highlands.

Eternal Night: Vampires Rule The Realm

The world is still cursed by Daysdeath and we start to see the effects it’s having across the world. The Vampire power struggle becomes even more apparent in Empire of the Damned as we see the power that the Blood Voss and Blood Dyvok hold over the realm. The Blood Dyvok are the highlight here and have a strength that is beyond what even their brood should, allowing them to take over a well fortified kingdom for their own. The Silversaints are in disarray after the events of Empire of the Vampire, and are no longer the threat they once were to the great darkness of this world.

The Vampire culture of the Dyvok is one that treats humans as cattle for the slaughter or to be enslaved via the 3 doses of the vampire blood. The Dyvok are also brutual and cruel for sport and entertainment while living like they are the high society of old in stolen keeps and stolen clothes, enslaving the former inhabitants.

The Duskdancers (shapeshifters) the Highlands add a tribal druid like element to the world, being able to shift into different animal forms and highlighting old rivalries and wars for control of the Ossian Highlands. Like every creature in this world, Daysdeath has effected these shapeshifters as well, creating an interesting dynamic for the story.

As this world is revealed it truly becomes something more intriguing after every page, creating a unique but familiar feel of an epic fantasy intertwined with what we expect from a gritty vampire tale.

Character Bonds: Siblings With a Shared Goal

We get a much more intimate look into the relationship of Gabriel and Celen as they’re forced together through the shared goal of seeing Daysdeath ended by Dior. Their forced to work together and through this forced to face their past that is more intertwined than we originally thought. They are every bit brother and sister and the bickering and snide remarks add a familiar and sometimes comedic feel to a lot of the dark situations they find themselves in. Celen is bitter and arrogant much like Gabriel, and is never shy about letting him know when he’s being pompous or a bit of an ass, which helps give some light moments in a book full of dark overtones.

Gabriel’s relationship with Dior continues to flourish, keeping on path with the father and daughter feel from the first book. Gabe is overbearing and overprotective, while Dior is ever looking to help, even if that means she’s putting herself in harms way much to Gabriel’s constant dismay.

The found family feel of this book gets stronger and stronger as we progress, as does some of the romantic elements. The most profound part for me was Kirstoff’s ability to portray grief when it battles the longing want to love anew. You can feel Gabriels pain as he feels like he’s losing the memory of what he loved most in this world, and it’s a true talent to be able to get a reader to feel something without telling them that they should.

Relentless Momentum: Battles Rage and Hope Dwindles

Empire of the Damned is pedal to the floor action throughout majority of the story, with epic battle scenes between multiple different types of monsters. The fight scenes are visceral, gory, and never falter. Even in the most intense fight sequence, we are reminded of the stakes, and of the fear Gabriel has of losing the last person that matters to him, Dior.

While the action is abundant, the quiet moments feel almost just as intense as our characters learn to navigate their situation and each other. Dior and Gabriel’s arguments feel real, and it’s hard to decide who to root for in the moment because there is no clear right path to take.

The pace is consistent throughout the book, and the twists are abundant, the amount of times my jaw was on the floor or my heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest are more than I can count. I went through the full range of emotions reading this one, I laughed, I got teary eyed, I got furious more than once, I may have even blushed a time or two, and overall it was just an incredible journey from start to finish.

Between the Sheets: Kristoff Doesn’t Dissapoint

This book throws you into the spice in the opening scene this time around, earning Emprie of the Damned a 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ (3.5) on our spice scale. It’s an incredible thing to be able to read spice done by a male author, but Kristoff nails the yearning, the build up in the moment, and the reward, always finishing strong (pun intended).

Much like the first book, this one doesn’t shy away from the detail, but it’s never gratuitous, it always feels like it fits. Kristoff even through his grimdark story is clearly a romantic, the spice is accompanied by passion that jumps off the page.

The platonic relationships are just as good in this as the romantic ones, the bonds between these characters and this found family is some of the best I’ve read.

Bro Reading Comfort: Safely Dark

Much like the first book, Empire of the Damned has an incredibly well done cover, but no one that would lead anyone not in the know to have any idea how steam it can get, earning this the same 😳😳(2.0) on the public reading scale as the first.

The book is very grimdark, heavy usage of profanity, detailed sexual encounters, and gory battle scenes might make this one a little less comfy to read on the subway than others, but overall it’s a pretty safe bet for public consumption.

Darkness Factor: As Grimdark as Expected

Keeping on pace with the first book, Empire of the Damned is getting a 💀💀💀💀 (4.0) on the darkness scale. Themes of torture, human cattle, detailed gory battle scenes including dismemberment, and child abuse are all present.

While the themes are dark and some of the content can feel brutal at times, it never feels like ti doesn’t fit and only serves to really paint the picture of how truly awful the world Gabriel and his companions are trying to save.

Throughout the stories brutal tones, there are moments of levity and happiness that don’t make this feel like a pit of despair.

Book Battlefield: Unique and Familiar

Empire of the Damned is in an interesting position because it fits in a few categories and would thrive in any of them. I think at it’s core I’d consider it a Grimdark fantasy, but there is enough world building and uniqueness that it could even fall into the Epic Fantasy category.

It also has plenty of horror elements befitting of it’s core antagonist being a host of different and powerful Vampires and their zombie like thralls. This book is also heavy on the character development and I think has a bit of something for everyone that reads in the SFF space from Romantasy to High Fantasy alike.

While it is a framed narrative, the approach of Kristoff is unique because he makes it feels like we can’t fully trust what is being told to Jean-François Chastain throughout his collection of the tale because of the hatred the person telling it has for his kind.

Should You Bother?

For the Vampire Fans: This doesn’t fail to deliver, Vampires have been done 100 times over in different ways, but this world and power structure Kristoff has created between the different blood lines feels fresh and awesome.

For Series Readers: This book doesn’t suffer from the typical book two syndrome a lot of other trilogies I’ve read do, nothing feels like a filler, and we get a complete arc with a compelling end leaving you ready for the last book.

For Grimdark Fans: An absolute must read, this book does what grimdark does best, leaves you guessing, full of despair, but gives you the slightest glimmer of hope, full of twists and jaw dropping moments that will leave you begging for more.

Final BroMantasy Verdict

Empire of the Damned is an incredible sequel, that avoids the many pitfalls of second books that sometimes feel longer than they should, have pacing issues, or are trying to prolong something with filler content, earning it a 4.5/5.

Kristoff’s ability to make you feel things without leading or being told how to feel in the moment by a character is truly something special. He is clearly a romantic at heart, and you can feel the passion of his characters leaping off the page. The scenes where Gabriel is dealing with and talking about his grief is some of the best writing on the subject I’ve ever gotten to read.

There was so many moments where my jaw was on the floor, the plotting in this book is incredible, which is truly special because it’s being told through a framed narrative where we already have an idea of where things are going, yet I still found my self shocked more times than I can count.

Empire of the Damned has such an interesting take on the Vampires and their culture, but also their depth as characters themselves. The dead feel alive in this book in the best way, I even a few times found myself empathizing with them which I did not expect, and is a shining example of Kristoff’s character work. The passion, the found family, the grief, and the hope all mix together flawlessly through this truly gritty and dark story, while still leaving me questioning everything I think I know because I feel like I can’t truly trust what I’m being told.

I’m excited to read the final book Empire of the Dawn this November (2025) and I highly recommend getting caught up for what I have no doubt will be an epic conclusion to an incredible trilogy.

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