Devastating. Thought-provoking. Exhilirating. Blood. Sex. Horrifying.

That list could go on and on if I'm honest. I have never waited so long, or with so much anticipation, for a book. I was kind of terrified that it wouldn't pay off but Great Redeemer, was the wait worth it.

Empire of the Vampire takes vampires back to their origins - cold-hearted monsters who think nothing of human life except as their next meal (and who very much do *not* sparkle).

In a world where the sunlight has died, vampires now rule. And standing between them and humanity's utter ruin are a brotherhood of half-men, half-vampires who have bound themselves to God to fight all evil in an effort to redeem themselves from their 'muddied' blood.

Enter Gabriel de Leon, one of said brotherhood. Bitter, drunk and grouchy as hell - an instant favourite for me. Poor old Gabe is imprisoned by vampires and is forced to tell his story, from humble beginnings to glorious youth to his inevitable fall. What follows is a tale of brothers and friendships and the strength of one man's belief against all the dark in the world. And, in the words of dear Gabe, fuck my face.

It was epic. The worldbuilding. The array of characters. The arcs. I loved the focus not on religion itself (based off Roman Catholicism), but on the power of belief - how it gives people hope, but can also mislead them into darkness, how it can waver or be crushed. And whether it's possible to rekindle...

Kristoff has delivered and then some. Although, as always, his work comes with a disclaimer: fall in love with the characters at your own risk...

I loooved this and immediately placed a preorder for the book! I would 100% recommend this to anyone.

The premise of this book is very interesting and intriguing, but sadly it was not for me. I didn’t get as reeled in as I thought I would, and I probably would not continue with the finished copy if I had one.

A massive thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the sampler for my most anticipated book of 2021.

Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire is by far the best book I have read this year. It made me laugh, cry, and made me say once more, "F*ck you, Jay Kristoff." If you don't believe me when I say ITS THE BEST BOOK OF 2021, take the word of my five different copies on the shelf.

Not only do I already love Jay and his work, and when I knew his next book was a vampire book, I couldn't contain my excitement. I knew very well that this book would be gory, sexy and straight up rip-your-still-beating-heart-out and stomp on it.

Pick up this book. Read it, and join me in saying "F*ck you, Jay Kristoff."

Jay Kristoff seems to be an autobuy author for me, and this was no exception. (I bought a hardback copy of the finished book)

I absolutely loved Gabriel, and just found myself eating this book up.

I will admit I am not the biggest fan of Adult Fantasy but the world building in this was just spectacular and the found family aspect of the book was written so well.

I loved the sibling relationship between Gabriel and Dior, and the banter between these two characters was just fantastic. I knew going into this book I was going to get my heart broken but I just didn't know by how much. Kristoff writes his characters so well that you have no other option but to fall in love with them all.

I found that this had so many twists coming out that by the end of the book I was salivating for more.

Well, what can I say!!!! I absolutely loved this little snippet of Empire of the Vampire and I will now need to buy the book! It’s so teasing to only read part of a book but I now know that I definitely need to read the rest.

This book is hard for me to really get in there and discuss because it is a slow build and told in a way that feels detrimental to the story trying to be told? Which could be a bold claim when I haven't even launched into what the story is trying to tell.

Kristoff also was seemingly pulling from a grab bag of plots that have been the staple to previous best selling book, not just in fantasy. We had the ever popular children of vampires, a reveal plucked straight from a Robert Langdon story, another reveal reminiscent of Mulan, a series framed with our protagonist telling his life story to another character that wasn't done after just the first meeting... It started to add up as I continued to read. While at first I wasn't sure this blend of tropes and ideas wasn't going to work, eventually I got on board.
I am very conflicted on the worldbuilding of this novel because I truly think that's Jay's greatest strength when it comes to his writing. What I didn't get was why he wanted so badly to incorporate Medieval France and Catholicism into his high fantasy world. It has to be for the aesthetic and stakes regarding the plot, because any other way you look at it makes not a lick of sense. And why can't women be silversaints? Is it because of the magic system or the church? Did I miss the explanation? All I remember is someone stating that a girl couldn't be a silversaint, but it was never elaborated on. And it's just another extremely idiotic decision made in this book.

In fact my biggest criticism was the weird Catholic church facsimile. I don't think I will ever understand the way in which Kristoff recreated Catholicism for this fantasy world and incorporated it so heavily, unless it was to evoke the imagery. He pulled so much from the Church, including the Spanish Inquisition and their love of torture devices, to actual scripture from the real world church that several times I had to remind myself that while this was reading like fantasy France—that fucks, we were actually in some made up kingdom. He also felt that including homophobia was necessary.... While the gays did end the book thriving, no small feat given the fates of many of the side characters, the inclusion of the homophobia as a plot device central to the third act when so few other facets of Catholic bigotry weren't implement felt a little strange. Other fantasy books have incorporated monotheistic religions, but have done more in my opinion to make it fit the world, this just was Catholicism down to the religious order of nights and the nuns. It was a lot. Not sure all of it worked.

All in all I think this is a solid average story. I don't think I'm the intended market for it and that's okay! I had a lot of fun reading it and, if we're being honest, I'll probably continue the series because I'm invested now. I don't get all the hype.

Just as I expect from Jay Kristoff, this is a masterpiece of dark epic fantasy with a unique sense of humour. Within just a few pages I was certain this would be my favourite book Jay has written so far (which is saying a lot considering every book of his I've read ranks among my all-time favourites). I love the interview format, which allows for clever commentary on the story, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. It's been ages since I've read a good vampire book, and as a vampire horror, this one ticks every box.

WOW! What an epic read and quite possibly my favourite book of 2021.
This is what every vampire novel should aspire to being – gory, romantic, saucy and bloodthirsty. Mr Kristoff has outdone himself with the first in a promised trilogy following the narrated life story of Gabriel de León, the last Silversaint in his hunt to rid the land of Vampires, restore daylight and the search for The Holy Grail. The world-building is unsurpassed, the maps, the stunning illustrations, the attention to detail, but most of all the absolute classic one-liners are a work of art. The only downside – the long wait for book 2 to be published.

Having loved Jay's most recent Nevernight trilogy, with the great characters, gripping plots and irreverent language, I looked forward to reading his next series..

EOTV takes each of these attributes and doubles down..

The main character, who narrates the story, appears as a damaged, despondent character but the stories told in separate timelines, help you to get under his skin and understand what he has lost and what he has fought, and slowly reveals what had led him to this point in his life..

The plot and way Jay writes, has emotions, excitement, intrigue on every page. Although my only gripe is that often mid-story, we are pulled to the present, reminding us that he is narrating the story, unfortunately this can be quite jarring to the reader who is immersed in the story.

Lastly, the irreverent language mixed with the vivid violence and sexual content, may be a turnoff to the more sensitive reader. However, in a land where vampires roam in a gritty, dark world where despair is on everyone's thoughts, violence is a daily occurrence, Jay does well to use each phrase, thought and action to immerse you in the world he has created.

Overall, an impressive start, which reinvigorates and reimagines the vampire mythology back to its violent roots.

Empire of the Vampire is Jay Kristoff's new adult fantasy.

I am a huge fan of the Nevernight Chronicle and so I expected a lot; and Jay definitely delivered.

This was bloody, gory, sexy, heart-racing and just overall goddamn brilliant.

I have been wanting a modern fantasy take on vampires for AGES and this really scratched that itch for me.

The development of the story was interesting in all three timelines, and I'm now highly anticipating the sequel. After waiting two years for this to be released, I'm sure I can handle another year for the next one.

The ending really bumped it up to a 5 star for me, with the classic Jay twists really upping my enjoyment and payoff of the 750 page tome. I enjoyed Gabriel's character, I understood him and the motivations behind what he was doing, and enjoyed his interactions with Chloe in particular. I will admit I was not very attached to the Saoirse and Rafa characters, so they didn't really do much for me in terms of the story; I felt they could have been cut and the story and my feelings would be no different. But Saoirse's axe was cool.

Overall a great book, Jay Kristoff does not disappoint.

As this is only a sampler i can't give a full review.

However what ive read so far has gripped me. I love Jay Kristoffs writing, the characterisation, description, detail but also in parts rhyming.

I can't wait for my copy to arrive so i can continue the journey. But think i will re-read as sadly no graphics in this sampler.

All i will say is if you are slightly offended by swearing this is not a book for you. And this is most definitely an adult book.

I got my hardback copy, so I ended up reading the whole thing.
I don't think I will ever find the words to express how much I have enjoyed this book. It's absolutely brilliant and I am obsessed with this story and every single character. I really can't wait to read the second book.

I couldn't wait until my limited edition of EOTV arrived and I had everything crossed that I'd be accepted to read and review this exclusive sampler! This is my kind of book but instantly, the writing, characterisation and setting is unlike any other vampire-themed novel I've ever read. I'm pleased to say that my copy has now arrived and I can't wait to share my thoughts with everyone!

So so good! As its only a small part of the book I cannot give a full review but what I have read so far has me gripped ! This world and the details are so detailed im fully immersed! I cannot wait for more!

Oh why do I torture myself!? I had definitely decided NOT to request the book sampler that would leave me hanging just under halfway (?) through this epic vampire saga. But alas, I couldn't resist and now I shall have to wait till September to find out what happens next...

As soon as I was approved for this I jumped straight in and I did not want to put it down. However, I somehow made the sampler last until just before my physical copy arrived so I could continue straight on with Gabe's story.

Jay has such a way with words that you just want to read and know what happens to his characters. Although I did find it a bit tricky at times with Gabe and Jean Francois having a conversation for the entire book, every now and again I had to pause and find the correct head space to continue, but when I was in the zone I could not stop.

Highly recommend this book and I cannot wait to continue with this trilogy!

Powerful, evocative. Fierce in writing. So colourful yet shaded in black and grey.

Its as if Name of the Wind had lots of horrific, powerful vampires.

A dark song for the hopeless and the damned, the hopeful and the believers.

If there ever was a character that would split more hairs, divide more opinions and ruffle feathers, it will be Gabriel de Lione; the last of the Silversaints, the Ordo Argent, the order order San Michon, the last light before the final dark. He is lime a diamond, a very black and bloodied one, in which throughout the book we see the same person throughout different periods of his life. We see the young village boy tirned apprentice who is bound for legend. We see the warrior of legend, a man of Prophecy and story, and we see the drunkard, the Beggar, the ruined. He is both your typical hero and not a hero at all ... there's the tropes we love classic to all epic fantasy but woven into a baroque, gothic and hopeless story of Vampires told by the sharp tongue and potty mouth of Gabe. A character I've come to love and hate. A character both epic and badass, and useless and terrible. We cover several of his journeys but all reach frayed ends.

The plot is a journey of two parts ... I will say not a word about it. I will keep the secrets of the Empire, but I have to say there was moments when goosebumps crawled across my skin, where I was so enamoured by the badassery on show. There were other moments where my heart grew cold, my breaths short as I could only watch the worse of all possible outcomes unravel. This is a beauty of a book, the writing is pure talent, but the content is epic fantasy at its finest and miserable. There must be dark before the dawn ... and oh boy do we sink into the dark.

It's  very short review because there's not a lot I can say without leading to spoilers. There's not many characters I can mention without taking away that forst meeting from you, dear reader, there no event I can unpic without doing the same. I'm not one for spoilers. But I do believe this book will join cement itself in my top three all time favourite reads. It had a moment of pure epic swordsmanship, a moment of pure horror and a 'Red Wedding' moment,hitting my holy trinity rating ... okay, so I don't really have a rating system like that but it is a book I can't stop thinking about, a book that'll make whatever I read for the rest of the year seem wanting. Perhaps, not, but it is a story to rival all other stories told.

OK, so first of I just realised having finished the book that it was just an exclusive sampler. OMG. WHY??

All I can say is yes please can I have some more.

I need the full book to give a complete review but from what I have read I really want to read the full novel.

Enjoy!

Absolutely loved this bloodbath!
I only read this sample but my copy is on the way! i can't wait to continue. Vampires needed this rebirth in literature - it is everything i needed!