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kirmelmacchiato 's review for:
Empire of the Vampire
by Jay Kristoff
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.