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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gabriel de Leon would like to make it very clear that he is NOT a hero.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I’ve noticed while reading the book that this book is divided into small books. Hence why I started writing down my thoughts on every single one of these singular small books.
In the beginning we are introduced to Gabriel who is held prisoner by the vampires, but Jean-Francois has been tasked by the new Empress of the Vampires to write down Gabriels biography, and this is why we get actual insights on Gabriel
The first chapter of the book talks about the boy Gabriel, his childhood all the way to going into San Michon.the monastery. It is quite nice to have Gabriel talking about how he became who he is. It also gives some insights on the following part of the book where we jump from childhood to 17 years later. Nevertheless there is a distinction on when the jump is made.
His childhood is quite sad though, Gabriel loses one of his younger sisters to vampires, and is always getting beaten up by his father. Until the day comes when he is basically starving blood but is also not a monster. It is at that point that he is found by the Ordo Argent and joins them on a journey to the monastery of San Michon. There Gabriel is given everything he needs but also realises that he is one of the weakest of his kind, more precisely a frailblood.
However, at that point the vampire releases some crucial information about the Empress’ plan to eradicate the 4 Blood Houses amongst the vampire, as they hold the most power and they are the ones creating the wretched. Vampires who basically are like rogue vampires. But in order for the Empress to do it, she needs one thing: the Holy Grail.
And that is where we end, however because the vampire needs the whole story to provide his empress with the information of where the Grail is and if it is no legend Gabriel decides to switch from his childhood to the story of how he finds and then loses the Grail, and that is when the second book starts.
Book two retells the story of how Gabriel met his companions in the search for the Holy Grail. We start this book 17 years after the story we got in the first book. Gabriel has been banished but he is still the most feared silversaint of the Ordo Argent. He is so powerful that he could escape the forever king, however one night his horse and most truest friend (Justice his horse) dies due to an attack by wretched. Hence Gabriel arrives in a city where he is reunited with one of the sisters (novices back then). She confesses they found the holy grail but he does not believe her and they part ways.
The following day, the city is attacked by one the Ancien, the son of the Forever King (his youngest to be honest). This son reveals key information to Gabriel: they are looking for the boy (that is travelling with Chloe the silver sister) as he is the only one who knows where to find that grail.
Gabriel defeats the vampire but was not able to kill him before he vanished and travels on a quest to find these companions. Lucky them, he found them at the right time as they were being attacked. At that moment, the realisation draws in and Gabriel will help the companions to find the grail and bring it to San Michon.
However Jean-Francois is not very happy that we missed some information from Gabriel’s past before these events happen. Therefore, they make a deal, however Gabriel is not ready to unlock the ghosts of his past and to face them.
Book three leads us back to San Michon the monastery and to young Gabriel.
It all starts with Gabriel’s first hunt with both his Master Greyhand and Aaron the other initiate.
However this first hunt does not go as planned, as Gabriel disobeys the rules set out by his master and is confronted with a potential truth that he might not be a frailblood but rather the heir to a long lost fifth vampire Blood House.
Going back from the hunt to San Michon, Gabriel is determined to find out the truth about his father and this fifth house. Upon sneaking into the library he is met with Astrid, one of the sister novices who promised to help him and in exchange he would train Chloe, the sisternovice we met in the second book.
However, one night someone frees one of the imprisoned highbloods and Gabriel is attacked and needs to defend himself against one highblood and 2 wretcheds. He remains alive, but the result from the captive of the hunt shows that an Ancien is meddling and so they go on a hunt to find out who the Ancien is with the seraph.
Book 4 is moving forward to the quest of the holy grail. So Gabriel takes us back to the companionship. He decided to join them, but not because he is a fervent believer. Oh no, he is using the boy Dior as a bait to lure one of the children of the forever king. And it works.
However everything does not turn out like he imagined, the totality of the companionship gets killed, with the exception of Gabriel and Dior.
Before this turn however, Gabriel must admit what he saw. Dior can bring people back from death if their soul is still present, and he does it twice. He is not just able to find the Grail, he is the Grail. And Gabriel must do everything in his power to avoid that Dior is in the hands of the Forever King.
However, as just told the companionship does not survive and another secret around Dior is revealed.
In book 5 we return back to San Michon and Gabriel’s past.
In this book our fellowship of the brotherhood has been tasked to find Ancien, leading them to Baron De Coste, Aaron’s stepfather nevertheless.
However, things turn sour for this company as the Ancien reveals to be one of the Forever Prince’s and beloved daughter of the Forever King. Our fellowship struggles and was it not for Gabriel they would have died.
However, back at the monastery they unravel the Forever King’s plan to invade the Empire. Therefore Empress Isabella and her army are joining the Silversaints, but Gabriel has been banned from the Hunt.
But Gabriel discovers that the Forever King is planning on invading not through the locations the armies are, but through a different path. In this desperate hour, he sends word to both the armies and locations and decides to march to the location with the remaining people in San Michon.
There Gabriel is again face to face with Laure Voss the beloved daughter of the Forever King, and ten thousand vampires. He faces her and this time is able, thanks to his “power” to defeat her, but not before the Forever King promises him “I have forever boy”
Gabriel is sworn into the brotherhood and as a Chevalier by the empress and will start hunting down vampires as a silversaint and not a novice.
The last and final part of the book is book 6 where we join Dior and Gabriel again in their quest to reach San Michon followed by the Beast of Vellene.
I will not explain this chapter as it is a crucial part of the ending of the book, however this part pained me deeply. And I do sympathise with Gabriel more than I thought I would.
It is a really good book for those who love faith and vampire stories but not the romance kind, where the human falls in love with the vampire.
This is a book about adventure, faith in God and oneself and true friends and family bonds.
In the beginning we are introduced to Gabriel who is held prisoner by the vampires, but Jean-Francois has been tasked by the new Empress of the Vampires to write down Gabriels biography, and this is why we get actual insights on Gabriel
The first chapter of the book talks about the boy Gabriel, his childhood all the way to going into San Michon.the monastery. It is quite nice to have Gabriel talking about how he became who he is. It also gives some insights on the following part of the book where we jump from childhood to 17 years later. Nevertheless there is a distinction on when the jump is made.
His childhood is quite sad though, Gabriel loses one of his younger sisters to vampires, and is always getting beaten up by his father. Until the day comes when he is basically starving blood but is also not a monster. It is at that point that he is found by the Ordo Argent and joins them on a journey to the monastery of San Michon. There Gabriel is given everything he needs but also realises that he is one of the weakest of his kind, more precisely a frailblood.
However, at that point the vampire releases some crucial information about the Empress’ plan to eradicate the 4 Blood Houses amongst the vampire, as they hold the most power and they are the ones creating the wretched. Vampires who basically are like rogue vampires. But in order for the Empress to do it, she needs one thing: the Holy Grail.
And that is where we end, however because the vampire needs the whole story to provide his empress with the information of where the Grail is and if it is no legend Gabriel decides to switch from his childhood to the story of how he finds and then loses the Grail, and that is when the second book starts.
Book two retells the story of how Gabriel met his companions in the search for the Holy Grail. We start this book 17 years after the story we got in the first book. Gabriel has been banished but he is still the most feared silversaint of the Ordo Argent. He is so powerful that he could escape the forever king, however one night his horse and most truest friend (Justice his horse) dies due to an attack by wretched. Hence Gabriel arrives in a city where he is reunited with one of the sisters (novices back then). She confesses they found the holy grail but he does not believe her and they part ways.
The following day, the city is attacked by one the Ancien, the son of the Forever King (his youngest to be honest). This son reveals key information to Gabriel: they are looking for the boy (that is travelling with Chloe the silver sister) as he is the only one who knows where to find that grail.
Gabriel defeats the vampire but was not able to kill him before he vanished and travels on a quest to find these companions. Lucky them, he found them at the right time as they were being attacked. At that moment, the realisation draws in and Gabriel will help the companions to find the grail and bring it to San Michon.
However Jean-Francois is not very happy that we missed some information from Gabriel’s past before these events happen. Therefore, they make a deal, however Gabriel is not ready to unlock the ghosts of his past and to face them.
Book three leads us back to San Michon the monastery and to young Gabriel.
It all starts with Gabriel’s first hunt with both his Master Greyhand and Aaron the other initiate.
However this first hunt does not go as planned, as Gabriel disobeys the rules set out by his master and is confronted with a potential truth that he might not be a frailblood but rather the heir to a long lost fifth vampire Blood House.
Going back from the hunt to San Michon, Gabriel is determined to find out the truth about his father and this fifth house. Upon sneaking into the library he is met with Astrid, one of the sister novices who promised to help him and in exchange he would train Chloe, the sisternovice we met in the second book.
However, one night someone frees one of the imprisoned highbloods and Gabriel is attacked and needs to defend himself against one highblood and 2 wretcheds. He remains alive, but the result from the captive of the hunt shows that an Ancien is meddling and so they go on a hunt to find out who the Ancien is with the seraph.
Book 4 is moving forward to the quest of the holy grail. So Gabriel takes us back to the companionship. He decided to join them, but not because he is a fervent believer. Oh no, he is using the boy Dior as a bait to lure one of the children of the forever king. And it works.
However everything does not turn out like he imagined, the totality of the companionship gets killed, with the exception of Gabriel and Dior.
Before this turn however, Gabriel must admit what he saw. Dior can bring people back from death if their soul is still present, and he does it twice. He is not just able to find the Grail, he is the Grail. And Gabriel must do everything in his power to avoid that Dior is in the hands of the Forever King.
However, as just told the companionship does not survive and another secret around Dior is revealed.
In book 5 we return back to San Michon and Gabriel’s past.
In this book our fellowship of the brotherhood has been tasked to find Ancien, leading them to Baron De Coste, Aaron’s stepfather nevertheless.
However, things turn sour for this company as the Ancien reveals to be one of the Forever Prince’s and beloved daughter of the Forever King. Our fellowship struggles and was it not for Gabriel they would have died.
However, back at the monastery they unravel the Forever King’s plan to invade the Empire. Therefore Empress Isabella and her army are joining the Silversaints, but Gabriel has been banned from the Hunt.
But Gabriel discovers that the Forever King is planning on invading not through the locations the armies are, but through a different path. In this desperate hour, he sends word to both the armies and locations and decides to march to the location with the remaining people in San Michon.
There Gabriel is again face to face with Laure Voss the beloved daughter of the Forever King, and ten thousand vampires. He faces her and this time is able, thanks to his “power” to defeat her, but not before the Forever King promises him “I have forever boy”
Gabriel is sworn into the brotherhood and as a Chevalier by the empress and will start hunting down vampires as a silversaint and not a novice.
The last and final part of the book is book 6 where we join Dior and Gabriel again in their quest to reach San Michon followed by the Beast of Vellene.
I will not explain this chapter as it is a crucial part of the ending of the book, however this part pained me deeply. And I do sympathise with Gabriel more than I thought I would.
It is a really good book for those who love faith and vampire stories but not the romance kind, where the human falls in love with the vampire.
This is a book about adventure, faith in God and oneself and true friends and family bonds.
This book offered a refreshingly different point of view and I was here for it. You almost don't want to like to main character, he is not your stereotypical hero, but a man full of rough edges and flaws. But as thr story progresses and you learn his why behind everything he is, you learn to love him. The character development was fantastic. This story has epic battles but without any of the romanticized aspects of a normal fantasy tale. Instead it is gory, raw and bloody in every way. It is probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I'll definitely be continuing with the second book of the series.
Honestly? 1.5 Stars ⭐️
I wanted to like this more than I did- so this was a tough rating for me-
The pros of this book were:
-The vampire lore was interesting, I found the Bloodlines and different powers gifted to be more unique than your run of the mill vampire book.
-The “pale blood” half vampire idea was intriguing
-This was clearly adult high fantasy and not average YA stuff, we definitely got a little more world building and the makings of something more interesting than just a romance storyline. Always good.
The Cons though: (the cons FAR outweighed the pros for me on this one, and while I didn’t wholly dislike the book I wouldn’t recommend it)
-The book switches back and forth, in a first person narration, between two different storylines the main character has lived, at this point both in the past.
One storyline is essentially his origin story in his teens, and one is later on in his mid-thirties. The problem is, the pacing of the two storylines are very different and I had a really hard time caring about the later storyline (which is mostly just a grouchy alcoholic swashbuckling along with a band of misfits, violently dispatching vampires and proclaiming he “ain’t no hero”) when I felt like I needed to know how he had gotten to be so jaded. I needed the origin story FIRST and all the way through.
-The book is HEAVY HANDED on the anti-religious, specifically anti-Christian/ Catholic commentary. The themes are so blatant that even thinly veiled in a fantasy version of what is clearly Catholicism, the commentary and bias are hard to ignore and honestly unpleasant.
While I don’t mind the Catholic inspired language and setting, especially in a dark medieval high fantasy- paired with what is clearly the authors bitter and empty pseudo-intellectual criticism of faith and religion it’s hard to stomach in its transparency. Especially since this is the only theme that is consistent throughout the entire book.
-Multiple LGBT storylines, just always going to be completely not to my taste. Again and especially when used as a talking point against God and religion when reading, again- a fictional high fantasy about vampires.
-The whole book is told as a first person narrative to a vampire chronicler while the main character is in prison. We are given little to no information as to how he got there. I am way more interested in the vampires and the vampire kingdom than the drunk, bitter, disorganized rantings of the MC.
The ending seemed rushed and forced but at that point I was just ready to be done with it. When I can’t bring myself to care you know it’s over.
-This book was just trying so hard but ultimately fell short, the writing wasn’t terrible but I found this to be ultimately distasteful. A pity, since there was definitely some potential here.
I wanted to like this more than I did- so this was a tough rating for me-
The pros of this book were:
-The vampire lore was interesting, I found the Bloodlines and different powers gifted to be more unique than your run of the mill vampire book.
-The “pale blood” half vampire idea was intriguing
-This was clearly adult high fantasy and not average YA stuff, we definitely got a little more world building and the makings of something more interesting than just a romance storyline. Always good.
The Cons though: (the cons FAR outweighed the pros for me on this one, and while I didn’t wholly dislike the book I wouldn’t recommend it)
-The book switches back and forth, in a first person narration, between two different storylines the main character has lived, at this point both in the past.
One storyline is essentially his origin story in his teens, and one is later on in his mid-thirties. The problem is, the pacing of the two storylines are very different and I had a really hard time caring about the later storyline (which is mostly just a grouchy alcoholic swashbuckling along with a band of misfits, violently dispatching vampires and proclaiming he “ain’t no hero”) when I felt like I needed to know how he had gotten to be so jaded. I needed the origin story FIRST and all the way through.
-The book is HEAVY HANDED on the anti-religious, specifically anti-Christian/ Catholic commentary. The themes are so blatant that even thinly veiled in a fantasy version of what is clearly Catholicism, the commentary and bias are hard to ignore and honestly unpleasant.
While I don’t mind the Catholic inspired language and setting, especially in a dark medieval high fantasy- paired with what is clearly the authors bitter and empty pseudo-intellectual criticism of faith and religion it’s hard to stomach in its transparency. Especially since this is the only theme that is consistent throughout the entire book.
-Multiple LGBT storylines, just always going to be completely not to my taste. Again and especially when used as a talking point against God and religion when reading, again- a fictional high fantasy about vampires.
-The whole book is told as a first person narrative to a vampire chronicler while the main character is in prison. We are given little to no information as to how he got there. I am way more interested in the vampires and the vampire kingdom than the drunk, bitter, disorganized rantings of the MC.
The ending seemed rushed and forced but at that point I was just ready to be done with it. When I can’t bring myself to care you know it’s over.
-This book was just trying so hard but ultimately fell short, the writing wasn’t terrible but I found this to be ultimately distasteful. A pity, since there was definitely some potential here.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes