Scott's Take: Empire Of The Vampire: Book One by Jay Kristoff

Empire Of The Vampire: Book One by Jay Kristoff is a complicated read. It is told from the perspective of a vampire hunter named Gabriel who has been captured by vampires and is telling his life story to them. The tale is told interrogation style and out of sequence. For example, one chapter may be set in his childhood while the next chapter is two years prior to the current interrogation. The vampire who is interrogating him is attempting to find the Holy Grail and the person who was last known to be in possession of it is Gabriel. The vampire claims to be a historian and just trying to write down the tale of their greatest enemy.

 

Set in a medieval fantasy world that has a quasi-Christian ordination that is a pseudo-Europe, their sun faded out so the vampires were able to overrun the world. Because of the faded sun that means there are periods of night and days that are not as dark as night, plants have died, the world is getting colder, and vampires can walk around during the non-night hours. Basically, what we have under a full moon overhead on a cloudless night.

 

The tale is about how Gabriel went from a devoted and respected member of a religious order named the Silversaints, who fight vampires, to an outcast former member. Due his circumstances beyond his control, he is forced to once again hunt vampires though he does so without backup or support.

 

This is a book for adult readers as the read is full of multiple and graphic sex scenes, graphic violent deaths, and several graphic scenes of child abuse. This read is for mature readers only and could be intense for some readers. There is frequent cussing and numerous sex jokes. If you like dark or graphic jokes you should get a kick out of some of the jokes here as they are very funny.

 

The story the author tells in this dark book is not a happy one despite the humor. While utilizing many clichés, there are original elements as well as work in this complicated read. This is a long book that poses a bit of challenge to keep straight as the tales moves around in time and is not laid out anything close to chronologically. There are also some illustrated scenes that depict key moments in this 700 page plus book. While the book is advertised in the blurb as illustrated, there are fewer than twenty black and while illustrations.

 

Empire Of The Vampire: Book One by Jay Kristoff is the first book of a planned trilogy. It came out earlier this year and I eagerly await the second book in this series which is currently untitled. I highly recommend this read to fans of dark fantasy who are okay with some horror elements as well as graphic elements as noted above in the review.  

 

Empire Of The Vampire: Book One

Jay Kristoff

https://jaykristoff.com/books/empire-of-the-vampire/empire-of-the-vampire/

St. Martin’s Press

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250245298/empire-of-the-vampire

September 2021

ISBN: 978-1250245281

Hardback (also available in audio, eBook, and paperback formats)

752 Pages

 

 

My reading copy came from the Polk Wisdom Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2021