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4.53 AVERAGE
4.53 AVERAGE
Empire of the Damned is a non-stop 1-2 punch of kickassery and heartbreak. From the very beginning, Kristoff grabs the reader and shows them how grim this world can be. Throughout the book, you get glimpses at what it means to be a human, of how you can find meaning in the darkest days by holding those you love, and how a big man can swing a big sword. Writing this May 31, and this might be my favorite book of the year.
This book explores two things from the first book in greater detail that I really enjoyed in both: Gabe’s relationships with those around him, and the creatures from Hell that populate this world now.
We start this story right where left off, with Gabe and Dior making their way through the world with Celene kind of following, kind of not. Kristoff expands the father-daughter relationship between Gabe and Dior in a very powerful way. Anyone who looks at this and sees any kind of weird, psuedo-sexual relationship between the two must have had a weird relationship with their own parents. Although, I’ll say all the mentions of periods was kind of a conflicting addition—on one hand, it makes sense that half-vampires would have a sense for when someone is bleeding, but it’s just weird to bring it up multiple times in the book.
Kristoff also continues building the relationship between Celene and Gabriel, and we even get POV chapters from Celene, which is an awesome development to the unique storytelling device he uses in this series. These two take sibling rivalries to a new extreme. They DESPISE each other and I love seeing them go bar for bar with each other, even though it proves their demise at certain points in the book.
The action in this book continues to be S-tier. I can find my eyes glazing over in some action scenes written by certain authors, but Kristoff does a really good job painting a picture of each battle and fight. One negative from the battles is it feels like Gabe takes way too many kill shots and just shakes it off. I get he has superhuman stamina and healing, but it feels like nothing is going to kill him. Granted, that trend started in the first book, so it’s nothing new, but still. I could really see Kristoff killing Gabe off for real at the end of the last book as he completes some heroic sacrifice. As we continue to fight bigger and badder vampires, the stakes continue to rise and the entire world sits and watches as a shredded half-vampire beats the crap out of everyone in his path.
The story is a little episodic/RPGish—go here, do this, oh no someone stopped us, now we have to beat them up, repeat. There are a lot of twists and turns around the way to alleviate the feeling of being trapped in a spinoff of Dungeon Crawler Carl. It sometimes feels like our protagonists are just creating plan after plan and watching as they all fail. Maybe that feeling of desperation is on purpose. Just maybe. Regardless, I have no idea how the final book is going to wrap up the shitshow this book leaves us at.
As the name suggests, we spend time with more of the beasts of this world beyond the vampires, and I really like the development of a certain feline character here. At one point, I was cheering for a certain something to happen, and wished the two characters involved would stop being sissies and just talk about their feelings. God forbid!! Although, funny story, I did have a sex scene pop up while I was reading in my doctor’s lobby, so that was fun to read in public.
Lastly, Kristoff does a great job of describing inner strife and mental health and the internal battle between “I should give up, I’ve taken too many hits” and “I can’t give up, I’ve come too far.” Gabe’s struggle with his past and his failures are extremely relatable—although my wife and child aren’t dead because of me—and really make the reader empathize with him.
Overall, this book rocks. I can’t wait for the conclusion to this series, and the same time I never want to leave this world and these gritty characters. They just feel so real compared to other fantasy protaognists. This was the first book I’ve read in a few months that would call my name from the other room when I had a spare second. I needed this.
This book explores two things from the first book in greater detail that I really enjoyed in both: Gabe’s relationships with those around him, and the creatures from Hell that populate this world now.
We start this story right where left off, with Gabe and Dior making their way through the world with Celene kind of following, kind of not. Kristoff expands the father-daughter relationship between Gabe and Dior in a very powerful way. Anyone who looks at this and sees any kind of weird, psuedo-sexual relationship between the two must have had a weird relationship with their own parents. Although, I’ll say all the mentions of periods was kind of a conflicting addition—on one hand, it makes sense that half-vampires would have a sense for when someone is bleeding, but it’s just weird to bring it up multiple times in the book.
Kristoff also continues building the relationship between Celene and Gabriel, and we even get POV chapters from Celene, which is an awesome development to the unique storytelling device he uses in this series. These two take sibling rivalries to a new extreme. They DESPISE each other and I love seeing them go bar for bar with each other, even though it proves their demise at certain points in the book.
The action in this book continues to be S-tier. I can find my eyes glazing over in some action scenes written by certain authors, but Kristoff does a really good job painting a picture of each battle and fight. One negative from the battles is it feels like Gabe takes way too many kill shots and just shakes it off. I get he has superhuman stamina and healing, but it feels like nothing is going to kill him. Granted, that trend started in the first book, so it’s nothing new, but still. I could really see Kristoff killing Gabe off for real at the end of the last book as he completes some heroic sacrifice. As we continue to fight bigger and badder vampires, the stakes continue to rise and the entire world sits and watches as a shredded half-vampire beats the crap out of everyone in his path.
The story is a little episodic/RPGish—go here, do this, oh no someone stopped us, now we have to beat them up, repeat. There are a lot of twists and turns around the way to alleviate the feeling of being trapped in a spinoff of Dungeon Crawler Carl. It sometimes feels like our protagonists are just creating plan after plan and watching as they all fail. Maybe that feeling of desperation is on purpose. Just maybe. Regardless, I have no idea how the final book is going to wrap up the shitshow this book leaves us at.
As the name suggests, we spend time with more of the beasts of this world beyond the vampires, and I really like the development of a certain feline character here. At one point, I was cheering for a certain something to happen, and wished the two characters involved would stop being sissies and just talk about their feelings. God forbid!! Although, funny story, I did have a sex scene pop up while I was reading in my doctor’s lobby, so that was fun to read in public.
Lastly, Kristoff does a great job of describing inner strife and mental health and the internal battle between “I should give up, I’ve taken too many hits” and “I can’t give up, I’ve come too far.” Gabe’s struggle with his past and his failures are extremely relatable—although my wife and child aren’t dead because of me—and really make the reader empathize with him.
Overall, this book rocks. I can’t wait for the conclusion to this series, and the same time I never want to leave this world and these gritty characters. They just feel so real compared to other fantasy protaognists. This was the first book I’ve read in a few months that would call my name from the other room when I had a spare second. I needed this.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I barely wrote any notes on Empire of the Damned because I was so absorbed in the story.
This series has been thrilling, dark, twisting, and unexpected. Vampires and world-building and gore. Loving it.
"To hate the thing that is completing you. To love the thing that is destroying you. What perfect suffering. What hell divine."
I received this book in a giveaway this spring, but I’ve been too intimidated by the page count and *uber-small* font to start the series until this fall. Now, I wonder why I waited so long. Both books were sooooo good!
❤️ Very high stakes
❤️ Strong female characters galore
❤️ Red Wedding-style massacre
❤️ Unpredictable plot twists
❤️ Character chemistry
❤️ Culmination of storylines
❌ Too thickkkk
❌ Some confusing parts
❌ Lots of plotlines from book 1 not really addressed
❌ The villain is named “Nikita” (despite being a dude—like, why?)
Trigger warnings: whatever trigger you can think of, it’s probably somewhere in this book. Some that come to mind: child death, cannibalism, adult/minor relationship, slavery, torture, sexual abuse, etc.
This book suffered from a bit of the “middle book syndrome,” however, with some loose ends from book 1 *still* not addressed and some new enemies that seemed to be there only to delay the final face off. But there are so many things I loved, loved, loved that I still can’t give it less than 5⭐. It was entertaining, captivating, well written, and filled with AMAZING female characters (Phoebe, Dior, and Worm have my whole heart) action, angst, heartache, and unpredictable plot twists.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump ever since I finished this one. The cliffhanger ending left me reeling (I was SOBBING at the end and then couldn’t sleep until 2 a.m. because I was too devastated and stressed). I wish I could pick up the final book (no release date yet) and know what happens next *right now*. Uurggh!
Tropes to expect: endless night, the chosen one, mind/body control, hate-to-lust (love?) romance, blood smut, crazy talking sword, vampires and shifters.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes
I received this book in a giveaway this spring, but I’ve been too intimidated by the page count and *uber-small* font to start the series until this fall. Now, I wonder why I waited so long. Both books were sooooo good!
Read if you like: ...to suffer, anti-heroes, epic worldbuilding, Gothic aesthetic, dark humour, lots of action and bloodbaths, non-linear timelines, skillful foreshadowing, on-page art (lots of it!)
❤️ Very high stakes
❤️ Strong female characters galore
❤️ Red Wedding-style massacre
❤️ Unpredictable plot twists
❤️ Character chemistry
❤️ Culmination of storylines
❌ Too thickkkk
❌ Some confusing parts
❌ Lots of plotlines from book 1 not really addressed
❌ The villain is named “Nikita” (despite being a dude—like, why?)
Trigger warnings: whatever trigger you can think of, it’s probably somewhere in this book. Some that come to mind: child death, cannibalism, adult/minor relationship, slavery, torture, sexual abuse, etc.
This book suffered from a bit of the “middle book syndrome,” however, with some loose ends from book 1 *still* not addressed and some new enemies that seemed to be there only to delay the final face off. But there are so many things I loved, loved, loved that I still can’t give it less than 5⭐. It was entertaining, captivating, well written, and filled with AMAZING female characters (Phoebe, Dior, and Worm have my whole heart) action, angst, heartache, and unpredictable plot twists.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump ever since I finished this one. The cliffhanger ending left me reeling (I was SOBBING at the end and then couldn’t sleep until 2 a.m. because I was too devastated and stressed). I wish I could pick up the final book (no release date yet) and know what happens next *right now*. Uurggh!
Tropes to expect: endless night, the chosen one, mind/body control, hate-to-lust (love?) romance, blood smut, crazy talking sword, vampires and shifters.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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:
Complicated
This is the sequel to Empire of the Vampire and picks up with Gabriel in an alliance with Liathe on a quest to deliver the Grail to acients of the Blood Esani.
There is so much going on in this story. Each of the characters seems to become further developed throughout the story, and the POV switches to multiple characters throughout. There is more back story explained, along with some gore and romance sprinkled in.
I wish I had waited to read this so I could read all the books one after the other since there is so much going on in this trilogy. At times, I felt like this dragged on. It was so very long, but it was a great story to continue this series, and I'm looking forward to when the third book arrives!
There is so much going on in this story. Each of the characters seems to become further developed throughout the story, and the POV switches to multiple characters throughout. There is more back story explained, along with some gore and romance sprinkled in.
I wish I had waited to read this so I could read all the books one after the other since there is so much going on in this trilogy. At times, I felt like this dragged on. It was so very long, but it was a great story to continue this series, and I'm looking forward to when the third book arrives!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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