Scan barcode
A review by mikkareads
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is ridiculous.
No, no, don't rage at me yet, please hear me out! No? Ok, ok, let's start with something positive, then.
The world-building has a lot of promise. It's been three decades since the last true sunrise, and vampires are using the eternal night to build their own Empire on the ashes of the human reign. The last hope for humanity's salvation are the Silversaints, an order of half-vampire warriors who have inherited some of their vampiric sires' abilities. To quell their own unholy thirst, they smoke dried vampire blood, a potent drug that amplifies their powers.
And this is actually a pretty good setup! Cue a dark, gritty story that embraces a variety of tropes from horror, fantasy and dystopian fiction alike. And by 'embraces', I mean that Kristoff unapologetically overdoes… Well, everything. Everything is dramatic, big, and overblown, and the characters are like bit-players overdoing their lines. Especially the male characters, who strut around like testosterone on two legs.
Yes, the protagonist starts out as the underdog, without status, without powers of his own. But make no mistake, this is very much a cringe-worthy alpha-male fantasy.
Gabriel is determined, he is fast, he can fight, he can get the girls. And he swears – a lot. As in, he hardly ever utters a sentence that does not include some variation of… Err, how to get this around the profanity filter? Ah, some variation of 'duck'. The hundreds of ducks given (or not given) clash so badly with Kristoff trying for that lofty air of French vampire aristocracy. At times, I refused to believe that this is not intentional. That Kristoff did not write this tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the genre tropes.
You still with me? Ok, breathe. It's like Anne Rice goes YA and back again, borrowing ideas left, right and center. Our half-vampire hero getting turned on by menstrual blood, for example? See "Memnoch the Devil" by Anne Rice. It's pseudo-gothic, it's ridiculous – and it's so much fun.
There, I said it. It's fun. I enjoyed it. I loved the good bits, and I loved to hate the bad bits.
No, no, don't rage at me yet, please hear me out! No? Ok, ok, let's start with something positive, then.
The world-building has a lot of promise. It's been three decades since the last true sunrise, and vampires are using the eternal night to build their own Empire on the ashes of the human reign. The last hope for humanity's salvation are the Silversaints, an order of half-vampire warriors who have inherited some of their vampiric sires' abilities. To quell their own unholy thirst, they smoke dried vampire blood, a potent drug that amplifies their powers.
And this is actually a pretty good setup! Cue a dark, gritty story that embraces a variety of tropes from horror, fantasy and dystopian fiction alike. And by 'embraces', I mean that Kristoff unapologetically overdoes… Well, everything. Everything is dramatic, big, and overblown, and the characters are like bit-players overdoing their lines. Especially the male characters, who strut around like testosterone on two legs.
Yes, the protagonist starts out as the underdog, without status, without powers of his own. But make no mistake, this is very much a cringe-worthy alpha-male fantasy.
Gabriel is determined, he is fast, he can fight, he can get the girls. And he swears – a lot. As in, he hardly ever utters a sentence that does not include some variation of… Err, how to get this around the profanity filter? Ah, some variation of 'duck'. The hundreds of ducks given (or not given) clash so badly with Kristoff trying for that lofty air of French vampire aristocracy. At times, I refused to believe that this is not intentional. That Kristoff did not write this tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the genre tropes.
You still with me? Ok, breathe. It's like Anne Rice goes YA and back again, borrowing ideas left, right and center. Our half-vampire hero getting turned on by menstrual blood, for example? See "Memnoch the Devil" by Anne Rice. It's pseudo-gothic, it's ridiculous – and it's so much fun.
There, I said it. It's fun. I enjoyed it. I loved the good bits, and I loved to hate the bad bits.