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asipofcozy 's review for:
Empire of the Vampire
by Jay Kristoff
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
'What kind of hero are you?' Gabriel laughed, shaking his head. 'Who the fuck told you I was a hero?'
I have barely finished this epic book mere minutes ago and all I can say is, Jay Kristoff I applaud you for a fucking masterpiece.
In the words of Jay Kristoff, this is not a book for children so here are all the lovely content warnings for the innocent souls out there: graphic scenes, nudity, sex, period sex, swearing, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, abusive parental figures, animal death, gore/brutality, self-flagellation (devotional practice of self-inflicting pain, usually with flogging, for spiritual discipline), off scene child torture, and off scene rape mention.
What I think is so brilliant with this book is that it makes you question everything you know when it comes to the supernatural and religion. Kristoff has taken the vampire's and created creatures of nightmares. These vampires don't sparkle or vomit rainbows. No these vampires are the one's your momma's warn you about in the dead of night. The one's that will suck you dry and leave your bones for the dogs. The one's that will tear you apart limb from limb just to see how humanity is built. These are the vampires I have wanted to see back in literature for quite some time, and Kristoff delivered.
In terms of the religion, Kristoff crosses lines that other authors fear to cross and gives the view of a man who has lost all faith and makes you, as a reader, question faith as well. This book asks the questions that humanity these days has been asking for some time - why?.
I asked myself if goodness could come of sin, and if so, what sin was at all. I asked myself if God loved us, how it was he could hate that we found love ourselves. How he could allow such suffering to go unanswered. How he could have deemed it wise to create a world that cradled horrors such as these.
It's these aspects of the book, these problematic dynamics, that had me turning the pages. I felt such a deep connection to the pain and darkness of Gabriel de Leon. His pain was so real, was so alive, that you couldn't help but let the tears fall. How could one man have so much awfulness befall him and yet he still stands. Damaged, broken but still standing.
Besides Kristoff's approach to the theme's within the book, it's how he told the story that was the most unique. You aren't seeing this in the eye's of Gabriel as he was doing the action. No, you are seeing this through the eyes of a story being told in a cell by a man who has nothing else to lose. A story that you want to hear the end to but at the same time you want it stop because you know there is no happy ending. Empire of the Vampire was written so well that at times you forget that the entire time the scenes are playing out, that the real scene is just Gabriel in a chair (drinking) telling his story to a Vampire historian.
Gabriel de Leon is a brilliant character. He give's two shits to the wind on good days and on bad days...well you just want to stay out of his way. How he is able to bring in this dark humor and whit, knowing he is waiting to be executed speaks volumes to Kristoff's mastery of character development. What speaks more volume is how easily he is able to change a character's personality based on the age that character is. Gabriel tells his story in a very back assed way. At the beginning Gabriel is well developed but the chapters with young Gabriel shows a character that still needs development as an individual - just brilliant.
Put a man in a room for a hundred years with a thousand books, and he'll know a million truths. Put him in a room for a year with silence, and he'll know himself."
Besides Gabriel, we are given a wide variety of characters that capture our attention. The Forever King's children take quite a few spotlights and they are monstrous creatures that have you enraptured. There is the multiple silver saints that either capture your heart or you just want to murder. There is Gabriel's slightly insane sword "Ashdrinker" that start's to make you think you are insane. Dior a mysterious boy with a potential secret. The Forever King who seems to be hidden behind his great army. All these characters we are introduced to and you can't help but want to know the backstory to each and everyone of them.
Empire of the Vampire sucks you in and you start to feel like you are part of the story yourself. You feel anger and frustration for a religion and a god that seems to care little for its followers. You feel the steam of the romance that flows between multiple characters. You feel the sadness for the tragedy that falls upon a reluctant hero. It's a masterpiece.
There is so much to Empire of the Vampire - vampires, gore, an epic adventure, religious beliefs, a romance that will move you. Most of the time when I look at a massive tome of a book, I turn away. However, EOTV called to me and dear god it was glorious in every way. There are so many phrases, scenes, characters that will stand out to you. You will find a piece of yourself in these pages, I can guarantee that. I know I did.
I have barely finished this epic book mere minutes ago and all I can say is, Jay Kristoff I applaud you for a fucking masterpiece.
In the words of Jay Kristoff, this is not a book for children so here are all the lovely content warnings for the innocent souls out there: graphic scenes, nudity, sex, period sex, swearing, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, abusive parental figures, animal death, gore/brutality, self-flagellation (devotional practice of self-inflicting pain, usually with flogging, for spiritual discipline), off scene child torture, and off scene rape mention.
What I think is so brilliant with this book is that it makes you question everything you know when it comes to the supernatural and religion. Kristoff has taken the vampire's and created creatures of nightmares. These vampires don't sparkle or vomit rainbows. No these vampires are the one's your momma's warn you about in the dead of night. The one's that will suck you dry and leave your bones for the dogs. The one's that will tear you apart limb from limb just to see how humanity is built. These are the vampires I have wanted to see back in literature for quite some time, and Kristoff delivered.
In terms of the religion, Kristoff crosses lines that other authors fear to cross and gives the view of a man who has lost all faith and makes you, as a reader, question faith as well. This book asks the questions that humanity these days has been asking for some time - why?.
I asked myself if goodness could come of sin, and if so, what sin was at all. I asked myself if God loved us, how it was he could hate that we found love ourselves. How he could allow such suffering to go unanswered. How he could have deemed it wise to create a world that cradled horrors such as these.
It's these aspects of the book, these problematic dynamics, that had me turning the pages. I felt such a deep connection to the pain and darkness of Gabriel de Leon. His pain was so real, was so alive, that you couldn't help but let the tears fall. How could one man have so much awfulness befall him and yet he still stands. Damaged, broken but still standing.
Besides Kristoff's approach to the theme's within the book, it's how he told the story that was the most unique. You aren't seeing this in the eye's of Gabriel as he was doing the action. No, you are seeing this through the eyes of a story being told in a cell by a man who has nothing else to lose. A story that you want to hear the end to but at the same time you want it stop because you know there is no happy ending. Empire of the Vampire was written so well that at times you forget that the entire time the scenes are playing out, that the real scene is just Gabriel in a chair (drinking) telling his story to a Vampire historian.
Gabriel de Leon is a brilliant character. He give's two shits to the wind on good days and on bad days...well you just want to stay out of his way. How he is able to bring in this dark humor and whit, knowing he is waiting to be executed speaks volumes to Kristoff's mastery of character development. What speaks more volume is how easily he is able to change a character's personality based on the age that character is. Gabriel tells his story in a very back assed way. At the beginning Gabriel is well developed but the chapters with young Gabriel shows a character that still needs development as an individual - just brilliant.
Put a man in a room for a hundred years with a thousand books, and he'll know a million truths. Put him in a room for a year with silence, and he'll know himself."
Besides Gabriel, we are given a wide variety of characters that capture our attention. The Forever King's children take quite a few spotlights and they are monstrous creatures that have you enraptured. There is the multiple silver saints that either capture your heart or you just want to murder. There is Gabriel's slightly insane sword "Ashdrinker" that start's to make you think you are insane. Dior a mysterious boy with a potential secret. The Forever King who seems to be hidden behind his great army. All these characters we are introduced to and you can't help but want to know the backstory to each and everyone of them.
Empire of the Vampire sucks you in and you start to feel like you are part of the story yourself. You feel anger and frustration for a religion and a god that seems to care little for its followers. You feel the steam of the romance that flows between multiple characters. You feel the sadness for the tragedy that falls upon a reluctant hero. It's a masterpiece.
There is so much to Empire of the Vampire - vampires, gore, an epic adventure, religious beliefs, a romance that will move you. Most of the time when I look at a massive tome of a book, I turn away. However, EOTV called to me and dear god it was glorious in every way. There are so many phrases, scenes, characters that will stand out to you. You will find a piece of yourself in these pages, I can guarantee that. I know I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail