Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

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This is not a fairytale post - at least not yet*…  

“A life without books is a life not lived, Dior. There’s a magik like no other to be found in them. To open a book is to open a door—to another place, another time, another mind. And usually, mademoiselle, it’s a mind far sharper than your own.”

― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Damned


I just finished Empire of the Damned, book 2 in the Empire of the Vampire series by Jay Kristoff, and I loved it!

Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff; red and black cover with flourishes and two figures highlighted
Empire of the Vampire series by Jay Kristoff

Warning - it's a cliffhanger!  And while I'm not irritated by that, I'm anxious to find out what shenanigans Gabriel de León and his band of misfits will pull off.  I anticipated the ending, but wasn't disappointed in any way.  I loved the dual points-of-view throughout and the dynamic layers within the final scenes.

Kristoff's style is grimdark, gothic and edgy; his use of language profuse and lovely.  His writing reminds me of what baroque might look like as a writing style.  His words are extra, but so well employed.  His characters are cruel, despicable and lovable.  Scenes are detailed, brutal and bloody.

“To hate the thing that is completing you. To love the thing that is destroying you. What perfect suffering. What hell divine.”

― Jay Kristoff, Empire of the Damned


Between this one and Kristoff's Nevernight series, I'm Team Chevalier, and not just because he's a dashing vampire hunter.  Gabriel de León is focused and morally grey.  No character in this series is all "good;" all have hardship, history and bad choices.  Even the characters we're not meant to like were intriguing.  I had to work at it to read this book slowly to relish the flourishing language and character growth.

I'd say, if you:

  • Enjoy vampire tales (not of the Edward Cullen variety),
  • Don't mind a plethora of foul language,
  • Aren't repelled by detailed, bloody fight scenes,
  • Don't blush too much at frisky business,
  • Won't roll your eyes too much at the very dramatic characterizations,
  • Enjoy lovely, written prose,

… I'd recommend Empire of the Vampire to you.  

Bonus, the illustrations by Bon Orthwick are fantastic.  They represent the scenes well and layer in additional nuance to the mythology and world building.  I have hardcopies of these books to appreciate the artwork.

Bon appétit.


*Traditional fairytales are not Disney happily-ever-afters. The main characters go through stuff - lots of unpleasant kinds of stuff - to reach the (usually) happy ending.  Maybe, just maybe, Team Chevalier will have a somewhat happy ending.  We'll wait with bated breath to find out!


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