Empire of the Vampire

At a Glance: A History of Shared Sins Born of Forbidden Love

Empire of the Vampire is a Grimdark fantasy in a unique world cast into perpetual darkness by “Daysdeath”, but underneath it’s grim exterior, at it’s core Empire of the Vampire is a story about forbidden love and the price the last Silversaint Gabriel de León pays attempting to experience it. Jay Kristoff has managed to create a Grimdark fantasy that I can easily tell people would fit into the Romantasy category (even if he’ll probably cringe to see it).

Daysdeath has plunged the world into darkness, Vampires are roaming the world freely slowly exterminating humanity, and the last line of defense is the Silversaints of San Michon monastery. This story is gritty, brutal, dark, but has moments of reprieve through the small amount of good left in the world that can be seen through our characters experiences.

Our story is told through a frame narrative that jumps between 3 different timelines smoothly via our main character recounting his life to his captor and vampire historian Jean-François. This structure works so well for this book, while we have some inkling into the grander plot from the beginning, getting to hear Gabriel tell the story and remark on portions of it from time to time adds a level of connection and insight that makes you feel what he felt in those moments while avoiding the common trap of telling the reader how to feel while reading it.

Daysdeath: Darkness Where Creatures of the Night Thrive

27 years after a mysterious event plunged the world into perpetual darkness, all manner of fantastical beast and monsters are able to roam. While there is still a typical day and night cycle, there is never a truly daytime element to the world.

The main antagonist of the world are the Vampires, and Kristoff does an incredible job making an age old “monster” feel fresh and unique. The Vampires are broken into four distinct bloodlines that the world knows of, each with their own unique powers. This adds a lot of depth to the politicking not just between the humans, but between the Vampires as well. Then we have the “palebloods” which are half vampires, half human with powers derived from the bloodline of the vampires that sired them.

The Silver Order consists of the “palebloods” as Silversaints, they utilize their inherited powers and silver ink as armor and weapon to fight against the different vampire houses taking over the realm. They are a largely religious order, with vows of celibacy and service to their god above all else.

The magic system is tied directly to the vampires lineage and the Christianity adjacent faith system of the world. The stronger ones faith, the brighter their silver shines and effects their vampire enemy. The blood lines give distinctly different powers from mind reading, superrnatural strength, control over animals, and glamour like influence over others. The palebloods use sanctus, a powdered form of vampire blood, to manifest their dormant powers and control their thirst for human blood.

Character Choices: Blurred Lines Between Sinner and Saint

Gabriel de León the last Silversaint is as morally grey as they come, a boy who until 13 years old assumed the drunk abusive man his mother was married to was his father, only to learn that the reality was arguably worse. Gabriel grows as the story is told, when we first encounter him he is harsh, drunk, and in his own words a “bastard”. He is as complicated as they come, and has a metric ton of underlying trauma that drives him, but at his core he isn’t necessarily good, but good intentioned at times.

Astrid Rennier is a sister of the order who is crass but elegant, self serving but at times selfless, and could care less about the “faith”. She and Gabriel’s love story is one for the ages, a slow burn full of longing and stolen moments within San Michon. Their love story is more believable than some romance i’ve seen before because it’s not just blind devotion, it’s built upon, and full of light hearted banter and deeply passionate moments. No greater sin that the sin that is shared is how Gabriel describes their love as it starts, and that proves to be true throughout the story.

The rest of the cast of characters are all well done, they feel relatable, from the most devout in faith to the most cynical, no character feels convenient or easy to figure out. Each person we’re introduced to has a story, depth, and something that drives them that doesn’t always align with Gabriel’s goals. Even some of the characters we don’t see often, I found myself wondering about where they were or what happened to them.

Plot: Recounting Past Sins

The framed narrative gives us a gripping opening where the stakes feel high and Gabriel’s situation is grim, but leaves a lot shrouded in mystery which is set to unfold through the recounting of his life to Jean-François our vampire reporter who has been tasked with getting the story from it’s bitter beginnings.

The pace varies throughout the retelling, a bit of a slow start but never feels like it is dragging, then a faster paced and more action filled last 1/3. We jump between 3 different timelines, young Gabriel and his journey to becoming a silver saint, Gabriel’s story after his legend has spread across the realm, and the present with Jean-François where Gabriel tells the story of the other 2 timelines. This structure is always fun for me because I’m never sure how truthful Gabriel is being when recounting parts of the tales.

Through this narration style there is never a shortage of twists and jaw dropping reveals. Some things felt a little obvious, while some parts left me truly with my jaw slack and my wife looking at me like I’m more stupid than she normally does. Kristoff has created a story that is compelling with what feels like such an incredible romantic subplot that I found myself wanting more of it and not less.

Between the Sheets: Male Written Spice That Doesn’t Fade To Black

There are a few truly spicy scenes in Empire of the Vampire earning it a 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3.0) rating in this Male written Grimdark fantasy. Kristoff doesn’t shy away from the details when describing the intimacy between characters, which is something rare in my experience when it comes to Male authors writing spice, usually it consist of starting to undress, maybe a comment about the woman and her chest, and fade to black leaving the reader to make up the details on their own.

Kristoff does a great job at incorporating the feelings that Gabriel is having in the moment and not just the physical details, the want and need during the scenes is palpable adding a level to the spice that we usually only get in a traditional Romantasy.

The platonic relationships like the one between Dior and Gabriel also can’t be understated and are done in a way that makes them feel as relevant, if not more important, than the romantic one between Gabriel and Astrid.

If you’re a Male reader who is on the fence about Romantasy and you enjoyed Empire of the Vampire, this book should be your gateway into the genre.

Bro Reading Comfort: If You Know, You Know

The cover doesn’t show anything that would lead a passerby to think you’re reading anything spicy, but just a bit dark which earns this book a 😳😳 (2.0) on the public reading scale. Now if someone come across you reading this and has read it themselves, depending on the chapter you might feel a little out of place reading in the coffee shop or airport.

The book has dark themes and a few chapters with some detailed spice but overall I think in the grand scheme of things reading this anywhere is a safe bet, but if you’re doing the audiobook you might just want to make sure the windows are up.

Darkness Factor: Daysdeath Makes It All Dark

This book is as dark as you’d expect from a Grimdark fantasy, the book is graphic in detailing it’s combat, including but not limited to dismemberment which earns Empire of the Vampire a 💀💀💀💀 (4.0) on the darkness scale.

Kristoff doesn’t shy away from complex and dark topics throughout this story, there are a lot of scenes that are graphically detailed but never feel gratuitous. Every scene serves the narrative or sets the tone for the reader. Kristoff uses these scenes to really make the reader feel the gravity of the situation and world the characters are in. Doing this makes the love story and small pockets of happiness truly enjoyable, and are a welcome reprieve from the sad state of things.

Book Battlefield: Sharing a Shelf with the Greats

Empire of the Vampire is a true Grimdark fantasy that deserves to share shelf space with some of the other greats in the genre like Joe Abercrombie and GRRM. That honestly isn’t all that surprising to most I’m sure, but what I found stood out even more is that Kristoff could also share shelf space with authors like Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros if you’re someone who enjoys Romantasy as a whole.

What really makes Empire of the Vampire stand out in the genre is not only the prose and Kristoff’s ability to write spice, but the absolutely stunning artwork throughout the book. This is such a rare thing in adult fantasy, and as someone who struggles to visualize sometimes, this was such a welcome surprise when I picked this up. All of the art was incredible and really added to the story and never felt like a distraction. It’s clear why you see so many sick tattoos based on the artwork in this book.

Should You Bother?

For Grimdark Fans: This is an absolute must read from one of the genres greats, if you’ve read Joe Abercrombie and loved it, this is something you should pick up ASAP.

For Romantasy Fans: This book honestly could have been marketed as Romantasy and done well in my opinion. If you love a good story where the romance is pivotal to it’s development won’t be disappointed.

For Framed Narrative Fans: I love this style of story telling, and Empire of the Vampire ticks all the boxes for this style of storytelling.

For Vampire Fans: This is such a unique way of using vampires, between different blood lines, different powers, and the addition of the Daysdeath, this is a great addition to your vampire story collection.

Final BroMantasy Verdict

Jay Kristoff has quickly become one of my favorite authors through his incredible prose and plot in Empire of the Vampire, earning it a 4.5 rating overall. Framed narrative can make or break a story, and Kristoff absolutely dominates in the space with the way he’s handled it. I’d argue that it’s done as well as the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, which for anyone who has read my reviews know is very high praise.

This story was an absolute thrill ride, there were jaw dropping twists, incredible action scenes, and a love story that I easily became invested in. When these characters hurt, I hurt, when they were sad, I felt sad, when they were in danger, I was scared for them. Kristoff managed to truly make me feel like I was in this world and I found myself rooting for Gabriels success even early on.

As a self described character first reader, Empire of the Vampire knocks it out of the park when it comes to both main and side characters. Every one of them felt purposeful and relatable, never once did i find myself bored or annoyed with someone on the page. Even our antagonists were full of depth and lore, with motivations that felt real and never just for plot connivence.

The overall plot was engaging and unique, and I had a lot of moments where I had to stop my self from skimming because the anticipation was killing me. The book left enough on the table that I’ll be reading the next installment very soon in preparation for the last book in the series coming out this November. The framed narrative gave us three completely unique stories of growth, trauma, and adventure and they never felt outshined by another. Kristoff is certainly going to be an author that is an instant read for me, and after I wrap this trilogy up, I’ll be jumping into some of his other worlds.

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