Book Review: Empire of the Vampire - Jay Kristoff

Title: Empire of the Vampire

Author: Jay Kristoff
Genre: Dark Fantasy - Horror
Publisher: St. Martin's Press - Copyright September 2021
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
Read: August 19-27, 2021
Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy as in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: 

From holy cup comes holy light; 

The faithful hand sets world aright. 

And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight, 

Mere man shall end this endless night. 

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 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: Let me start by saying that Jay Kristoff is an absolute bastard. Don't misunderstand me. I love Jay's work with my entire little black heart. He's a masterful storyteller who has an uncanny ability to build a world wholly believable fantasy world, populate it with complex characters, make you fall in love with them, and then kill them in the most horribly gruesome ways while simultaneously destroying this carefully crafted world to the point you want to scream in frustration and throw the book across the room but you don't because you have...to...keep...reading until your eyes bleed. Seriously, the man can completely delight and yet piss off a reader at the same time. However, these are the reasons I love Jay's writing. The reason I say he's a bastard is because I have to wait at least a year for book two!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! *sighs* ...enhancing my
calm...

Now, as for the book, I loved it. If Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, and George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones were to have some kind of sick ménage à trois and have a seriously messed up love child, it would be Empire of the Vampire.

To say the main character, Gabriel de León (aka Gabe the Babe), is a complicated character is an understatement. He's complex. Tortured. Foul-mouthed. Snarky. Deadly. Covered in awesome tattoos. And I adore him. As he recounts his story, the world in which he lives comes to life...and dies...only to be resurrected as some weird, bloody phoenix. Gabe's world has been without full sunlight for nearly three decades, and vampires and other creatures have come out of the shadows to play and prey on humanity. Throw in shady religious orders and corrupt politics and you've got a party. 

Empire of the Vampire is an epic adventure spanning a lifetime. I wish I could say more about Gabriel and his story, but to do so would be to spoil too much of that story. If you have a soft spot for complex, tortured antiheroes like Marvel's Deadpool, I guarantee you'll love Gabriel de León. I know there's been a lot of hype around EOTV's release, and I have to say it's all true. Jay Kristoff has solidified his place as one of the best dark fantasy/horror authors working today.