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A review by tallangryplanet
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
In a world where the sun barely shines anymore, the last Silversaint shares the tale of his life with a vampire.
The vampires in this story are not the sparkly kind, but rather brutal creatures with an incredible hunger for power. I would like to start by saying that this book was way more explicit than I expected, so if you're sensitive to gore and violence I'd advise to go in mentally prepared. However, even though those elements sometimes threw me off, the book was still pretty enjoyable.
There are two timelines here, following two different moments in the protagonist's life. In the beginning it felt a bit info-dumpy because of how complex the world was and all the interruptions to explain some aspects of the lore, but it picked up later, and it wasn't too hard to follow the different stories. The plot itself was interesting, and the different characters made it more dynamic without getting too confusing.
This was, in general, a pleasant reading experience. I don't have a particular reason for my rating, but rather the feeling that it could've been better, and that some parts were just too heavy and dense. However, it was not at all a bad book, and if you don't mind taking some time to read it (this is not the kind of story you're done with in an afternoon), I totally encourage darker fantasy fans to give it a go.
The vampires in this story are not the sparkly kind, but rather brutal creatures with an incredible hunger for power. I would like to start by saying that this book was way more explicit than I expected, so if you're sensitive to gore and violence I'd advise to go in mentally prepared. However, even though those elements sometimes threw me off, the book was still pretty enjoyable.
There are two timelines here, following two different moments in the protagonist's life. In the beginning it felt a bit info-dumpy because of how complex the world was and all the interruptions to explain some aspects of the lore, but it picked up later, and it wasn't too hard to follow the different stories. The plot itself was interesting, and the different characters made it more dynamic without getting too confusing.
This was, in general, a pleasant reading experience. I don't have a particular reason for my rating, but rather the feeling that it could've been better, and that some parts were just too heavy and dense. However, it was not at all a bad book, and if you don't mind taking some time to read it (this is not the kind of story you're done with in an afternoon), I totally encourage darker fantasy fans to give it a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts