Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Das Reich der Vampire

It's been 27 years since humanity has seen the sun. Ever since eternal gloom known as daysdeath settled over the Empire of Elidea, mankind has found itself beset by legions of vampires and their powerful lords. The dhampir warrior monks known as the Silversaints were responsible for hunting the creatures of the night but are now nearly extinct. The last of their order, Gabriel de Leon, is now a prisoner of the monsters he spent his adult life killing. The narrative framing of the story should be familiar to anyone who read "Name of the Wind", although as someone who hasn't read Rothfuss, having Gabriel be a prisoner reminded me more of Anthony Ryan's "Blood Song". Besides the present-day framing device, the story takes place in two timelines: one follows a teenage Gabriel as he learns his parentage and begins training. The other follows a twenty-something Gabriel (set a couple years before the present) as he and a motley band of adventures hunt a holy relic that promises to see the end of daysdeath.

Empire of the Vampire is a dark, pulpy, good time. The book's strongest point for me was its atmosphere. There's a powerful sense of dread and hopelessness that made this a fun Halloween read for me. The atmosphere was great, with dilapidated cities and scary-as-fuck forests filled with bizarre mushroom monsters. The vampires themselves work well as over-the-top cartoon villains whose level of atrocities start out as scary but quickly become kind of silly. If you want a complex take on vampires, à la M.L. Brennan's "Generation V" or Barbara Hambly's "Those Who Hunt the Night", look elsewhere. These vampires are here to kill bloodily and die painfully.

The most divisive element for most readers will likely be the narrator. Gabriel is a whiny, arrogant, and unabashedly edgy little shit. His character development is somewhat hampered by the dual timelines, as teenage-Gabriel displays considerably more faith and respect than his jaded, moody twenty-something self, and the book obviously needs to provide some reason for this. The eventual explanation is some of the most blatant fridging I've seen in a while (and it happens twice!), combined with a general attitude of misogyny from Gabriel that I found unpleasant. In general, the teenage sections are rough going, filled with cliche training montages, stock characters, and repetitive info-dumps. Gabriel narrates his story to a vampire captor, so why does he need to fill in the details that a vampire should know about his own kind? The narration does mention the absurdity of this but also provides no explanation and continually repeats information.

Thankfully the future timeline is considerably more enjoyable with characters who feel like real people and play off Gabriel well. His interactions and gradual friendship with the character of Dior, in particular, are handled very well. It gives the book a much-needed character who pushes back against Gabriel challenging his cynicism, providing some of the book's most emotionally satisfying moments. Their relationship reminded me of Joel and Ellie from "The Last of Us" and is the element I'm most looking forward to in the eventual sequel.

It's also worth noting that the book has just surprisingly good pacing. Despite its 700+(!) page count, it flew by with tons of action and quippy dialogue. The last 150 pages, in particular, have some of the most exciting showdowns (and one of the best final villain kills) that I've read in a long time.
Despite some issues, I greatly enjoyed the tone and action of Empire of the Vampire. If you want a read filled with bloody and intense monster-hunts and a fun sense of pulp and melodrama, I'd recommend checking it out.

3.5/5

CWs: Homophobia, Misogyny, Child Death, Animal Death, Extreme Violence and Gore

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clairew97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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shadeyc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not quite what I expected, but also a lot of what I expected...I know, that makes no sense.
I enjoyed it mostly. There is always that moment when I read Kristoff books (actually not just Kristoff books, there are a couple that do it) where I sigh and roll my eyes and think 'here we go again, some more torture for your MC that doesn't actually give much to the story'. It's not bad, it's just a little tiring. Sometimes I think his books could be much shorter and properly breathtaking all the way to the end.
Anyway. I like Gabe. He's a bastard as intended. But he's also a dumbarse, but I guess that's the point.
I LOVE the illustrations, that was a cool touch. I have a special spot in my heart for Baptiste. And all the good good dogs, and good good horses, and good good giant kitties.

(But can we PLEASE stop fucking killing them off?!?! We all know I cannot handle that shit)

. And Ash, ah Ash, you're the best of them all.
In general the story is pretty solid, and the format it unfolds in works really well to keep intrigue going (aside from that aforementioned horrid momentum dragging bit).
Oh also, I hate it when a reveal or reveals happen and you see them coming for miles, I cannot be the only one who saw all that foreshadowing, it was pretty heavy handed, there was A LOT.
Maybe I'm just tired and cynical, and want to get all my jolly's faster than I can read these bricks.
Will be interesting to see what actually gets put into the next book.

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karapillar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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gardenofroses's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was such a journey… I started reading this book in February and only just finished this month but it was such an amazing story. I had been searching for a fantasy book with great world-building and a morally grey MC and this delivered that and so much more.

His writing definitely brought life to the world and the characters. The world-building was done so beautifully I could imagine everything Kristoff was describing and every time I sat down to read I felt immersed in the world; It felt alive and I think that also came down to having art within the pages to go along with the story as you’re reading. It felt like a reward.

The platonic relationships depicted in the story were everything to me. Reading Gabriel’s friendship with Baptiste, and especially Aaron, grow throughout the story was so heartwarming. You could just feel the brotherhood spilling from the pages. And Gabriel’s relationship with Dior omg. It’s heartbreaking but so warm and full of love and I want to protect them both from everything that they’ll probably experience as the series goes on. Their relationship definitely gives off Ellie and Joel vibes from The Last of Us if you’ve ever played that game!

There were, however, some areas of the book that could be considered problematic. There is an age gap relationship represented which did make me slightly uncomfortable at the beginning of the story. And I also found it hard to feel the all-consuming love that Gabriel and Astrid were supposed to have for each other. I’m not sure if Kristoff intended to write very little of their interactions in the first book because he’s planning on expanding on it in the sequel but it made it hard for me to believe that they loved each other as much as Gabriel said he did. I did feel the love Gabriel has for his brothers, his daughter, and Dior but I couldn’t connect that love with Astrid which made it seems sort of dry at times.

Overall, it was a really great story with amazing writing and characters I want to protect and make sure nothing bad ever happens to them ever again. I’ll definitely be checking out more of his other books and I can’t wait for the sequel. If you've been wanting to read it I highly suggest you do! DON'T LET THE SIZE INTIMIDATE YOU!

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