Kristoff, Jay - Empire of the Vampire - informal buddy read starts 15th June 2022

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This thread is open to discuss Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff.




Synopsis:

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hand sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

reserved

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

reserved

[Eldarwen]

Totally in for this one - as I kind of manoeuvred Sonia into buddy reading it with me. ;-)

[Sammy]

Most likely a yes from me too. :)

[Tone]

I might be joining too! I read the first part, but put it down because life. But I reeally want to read it!!

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

My library has it so I'm in.

[Alison]

I'm hoping to join too. Been meaning to read this book for ages

[Eni]

i may be joining.. but it depends on what i feel like reading in June x_x

[Eldarwen]

Tone wrote: "I might be joining too! I read the first part, but put it down because life. But I reeally want to read it!!"

I had the same thing happen. It was only the prologue for me, but daaaaamn!
Really, really want to finally dive in!

[Eldarwen]

Eni wrote: "i may be joining.. but it depends on what i feel like reading in June x_x"

I'll put Sonia onto you ;-)

[Eldarwen]

So cool to see so many people joining in :-D

[Eni]

Eldarwen wrote: "Eni wrote: "i may be joining.. but it depends on what i feel like reading in June x_x"

I'll put Sonia onto you ;-)"

rofl xD sure =D she'll remind me

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Started this a tad early because it's a long book.

Can I just say I'm enjoying it a lot more than The Master and Margarita, LOL.

[Sonia]

Epic and a Chunkster book. What was I thinking?!.

Oh right. I listened to the audible sample. And yes, I got both editions, because I might need to switch between the two.

[Eldarwen]

The Prologue is... :-D
Makes me want to continue right away!

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

I'm half way through. It's pretty good, but not the sort of book you can skip through. And it does jump between time frames so you've got to pay attention. Liking the main character... at lot.

[Eldarwen]

Oh wow! Nice going, Lisa!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far :-)

I'll see how far I can get today. I wanted to do a little something productive, like chores today, but I may just leave those until tomorrow.. or next week haha.

[Eldarwen]

I'm almost done with Book 1 and thoroughly enjoying this. Cannot wait to see where this is going.

One thing is for absolutely certain so far at least: Aaron is an ass :-p

(view spoiler)[And I cannot help but wonder when Gabriel is finally going to start telling people to fuck off because they keep calling him peasant. He may have grown like one but he is a noble by birth nevertheless. It should be interesting when he finally starts making some people - probably Aaron first and foremost - understand this little tidbit. Or he is going to completely ignore it because those people aren't worth his time. I'd almost believe that last part, if it weren't for Astrid... (hide spoiler)]

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Eldarwen wrote: "I'm almost done with Book 1 and thoroughly enjoying this. Cannot wait to see where this is going.

One thing is for absolutely certain so far at least: Aaron is an ass :-p

[spoilers removed]"

I'm getting towards the end of the book... and still no (view spoiler)[comuppence for Aaron! (hide spoiler)]

And I'm really intrigued about the relationship between Gabriel and Astrid. A lot of teasing and I've got a bit of a feeling they are not going to have a lasting HEA.. 😒

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Eldarwen wrote: "Oh wow! Nice going, Lisa!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far :-)

I'll see how far I can get today. I wanted to do a little something productive, like chores today, but I may just leave those ..."

Never let a little thing like chores get in the way of a good book. He endeth the lesson!

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Eldarwen wrote: "I'm almost done with Book 1 and thoroughly enjoying this. Cannot wait to see where this is going.

One thing is for absolutely certain so far at least: Aaron is an ass :-p

[spoilers removed]"

Finally some redemption...

[Eldarwen]

I finished Book 1 "The Death of Days" and am intrigued by the Order Argent. The Silversaints seem to have some odd rituals..

From what we have learnt in the prologue, Book 1 and the first couple of chapters in Book 2, (view spoiler)[Gabriel is severely addicted to smoking, and I cannot help but wonder if the order hadn't done better to train themselves hard without sanctus before getting a 15 year old already addicted to a drug that he needs several times a day at some point. At that age, Gabriel was still somewhat able to withstand the song of the blood as long as there wasn't too immediate a temptation, so it would've made sense to train without drugs. In my head anyway. Sword work would still be the same, with or without drug enhancement. It comes down to muscle memory in the end to know how to swing a blade, sanctus just gives some added benefits in battle etc. But as I said, it makes sense that way in my head and is my opinion. There may be another reason why they do it so soon - and not just to figure out which line a new initiate is descended from. (hide spoiler)]

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Eldarwen wrote: "I finished Book 1 "The Death of Days" and am intrigued by the Order Argent. The Silversaints seem to have some odd rituals..

From what we have learnt in the prologue, Book 1 and the first couple ..."

Don't they smoke the sanctis.. (view spoiler)[ As halfbloods, to stop them from going over the edge and becoming fully fledged vampires? It enhances their vampire abilities but they remain human. They reason that being addicted to the smoke is better than losing their humanity and ripping people to pieces in blood lust? (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoy the illustrations, it definitely adds to the reading experience.

[Eldarwen]

Yes, but (view spoiler)[I feel like there could have been a slower process to the addiction if they hadn't been thrown straight into drug-land and had learnt to keep a bit of a tighter rein on their urges instead of putting them immediately to the pipe. (hide spoiler)] But there may be something else coming down the line that I don't know of yet since I'm only in the middle of Book 2 at the moment :-)

[Eldarwen]

The illustrations are amazing! I'm really happy that they're in the book.

And the map is awesome, too. I remember Kristoff doing a video about how extremely annoying it was to create that map because sooo much had to be considered geography-wise etc etc so it would actually make sense and not just be a random drawing of a little forest here and there, some mountains and rivers sprinkled all over.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

I finished last night. By the end I was really into it. Great world building, part Interview with the Vampire, part The Da Vinci Code, part Game of Thrones, Jay Kristoff mixed it all together to come up with a pretty good read.

Mixing the time lines/stories together made it a bit choppy to follow sometimes but it all came together at the end.

4.5 stars

[Eldarwen]

Hmm, it is sometimes a little difficult to follow with the timelines, but it works really well, too.
It does remind a little of Interview haha.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! Do you have a favourite character?

I finished Book 2 and since today will be a very hot day, I'm not going to venture outside (I really do not do well with the ozone this year) so I'm hoping to get a nice chunk read today - maaaaaybe even the entire Book 3 :-)

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Favourite character. How can I go past Gabriel... How did Dior describe him. "Tall, dark and damaged"... What's not to love, LOL. And he was loyal and lived to his own moral code. Swoon.

But I really liked Dior as well. (view spoiler)[ It's going to be interesting following their relationship moving forward. He's like a father figure to her and she's gay, so unless there is a huge shift they are not going to be a couple. The romance reader in me is wondering if Gabriel will remain true to his one true love Astrid, or whether another love interest will pop up sometime? (hide spoiler)]

[Sammy]

Just hit play :D

Narrator talks pretty fast, so have to slow it a little. Oh well...

[Sammy]

Oh yes, there's absolutely no doubt which vampire books Kristoff grew up with! lol.

I just finished book 2, and am definitely enjoying it so far. The closing line of book 2 made me chuckle, as it was very 'Hulk in The Avengers' :D

[Eldarwen]

Hahaha, true. A bit of Hulk and a bit of.. I cannot put my finger on it but it reminded me of something else.

[Eldarwen]

And you've already caught up with me, wow.

Guess by the time I've finished half the book, the lot of you will have been done for days :-p

[Sammy]

I'm listening on audio, so can go at a reasonable clip. although having said that, daughter dearest is coming home for a few days tomorrow, and hubby's birthday on Monday, so may take me a little longer than usual to finish. :)

[Eldarwen]

Lots of happy occasions! :-)
And perfectly reasonable ones to take a break from reading hehe.

[Eldarwen]

I've finished Book 3 "Blood and Silver" and am intrigued!
(view spoiler)[I knew I'd remembered something about a fifth blood-line from teasers/spoilers before the book was published! I cannot wait for them to figure out all the details. Hopefully quickly because I really want to know haha. (hide spoiler)]

Astrid is a bit of a special cookie. I find I like her. I may not trust her completely, nor Chloe for that matter, but there is something about her.

And I stand by my opinion that Aaron is an utter ass.
Eta: I can't help but wonder if the two of them will truly have each others back when push comes to shove. I have my doubts. There is too much bad blood between Aaron and Gabriel, despite the fact they're brothers in arms and part of the same order, serving under the same master.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Eldarwen wrote: "I've finished Book 3 "Blood and Silver" and am intrigued!
[spoilers removed]

Astrid is a bit of a special cookie. I find I like her. I may not trust her completely, nor Chloe for that matter, but ..."

Re Aaron.. keep reading. I'll be interested in your thoughts by the end.

[Eldarwen]

Haha no worries, Lisa, I will! After all, I am not about to abandon the book half-way through when I'm enjoying it so much :-)
(Aaron should be coming up again aaaany second now since we're back to that storyline in Book 5.)

[Eldarwen]

I have now finished Book 4 "Light of a Black Sun" and boy there was a lot going on in this one!

(view spoiler)[I wonder if Liathe is of that same bloodline Gabriel is descendant of. The supposedly extinct one who can dabble in sanguimancy. And if it isn't all just a ploy to get into his good graces, she has a vested interest in keeping Dior safe, and maybe not just Dior. (hide spoiler)]

Also! The end of book 4... (view spoiler)[Fuck, but I could have made that connection as well haha. But I am so not surprised in the end. With Kristoff, there is usually always some kind of lgbtq character in the mix and so far, we haven't had one. (hide spoiler)]

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

This was my first Kristoff book. I might go back and check out his earlier series but are they YA? Getting a bit old for some of them, LOL. Teen/twenty something angst just annoys me. 🤣 I was surprised to learn he is an Aussie living in Melbourne.

[Eldarwen]

The ones he writes together with Amy Kaufman are YA - Aurora Rising (really enjoying this trilogy) and Illuminae (which I may read as well) - but the rest of his aren't exactly YA friendly even if tagged thus. Nevernight is a dark fantasy with a young woman as main character but she's a somewhat bloodthirsty assassin. I haven't read the entire book yet, only took a sneak when I bought it so I don't know all too much more other than that it is graphic and a bit violent, as you'd expect with the MC being an assassin.

[Eldarwen]

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: " Getting a bit old for some of them, LOL. Teen/twenty something angst just annoys me. 🤣 "

I understand hehehe.

[Sammy]

I'm almost at the end of book 4. the whole (view spoiler)[Jesus having offspring thing (hide spoiler)] amused me. Guess he wasn't a catholic :D :D :D

[Sammy]

I'm not really one for YA either, but the Illuminae books weren't bad!
Probably better in print format than audio though.

[Eldarwen]

Sammy wrote: "I'm not really one for YA either, but the Illuminae books weren't bad!
Probably better in print format than audio though."

If the written set-up is in any way close to Aurora, then it's definitely better to at least have a print edition at hand while listening.

[Eldarwen]

Sammy wrote: "I'm almost at the end of book 4. the whole [spoilers removed] amused me. Guess he wasn't a catholic :D :D :D"

Hahahah, right? (view spoiler)[Then again, it's the Catholic priests who are celibate. He wasn't a priest, more like a prophet, so the rules may be different? (hide spoiler)]

Ever seen Dogma? (Not quite as off topic as it might seem.)

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

That's a great movie. Haven't watched it for eons. I'll have to have another look.

This book patched together a lot of ideas that weren't really original, but all put together were a pretty good storyline.

Eldarwen, did you approve of the redemption of Aaron?

[Sammy]

Yes true, but if I recall correctly (view spoiler)[he wasn't married to the lady in question. To the catholics any hanky panky outside of marriage is a sin, so he'd be going to hell. and as he hadn't died to wipe away human sin yet, the confession and absolution thing wasn't around yet, so he'd be doubly doomed, lol! (hide spoiler)]

I was talking about Dogma with my family today! I'd quoted the "guys like us don't just fall out of the sky, you know" scene, and told my son he really had to watch the movie because it would probably become his favourite :D

[Sammy]

Just finished, and enjoyed it very much. Enjoyed the dark atmosphere, and though the character "twists" were a little obvious for my tastes, I appreciated that he tried, lol.

Good ending too. I'll definitely be up for book 2, but I suspect that if he takes a while, I will want to re-read this one beforehand, as there's sooooo much to remember!

[Eldarwen]

There is A LOT to remember, yes.

And I'm still somewhere at the beginning of book 5 at the de Coste place, so can't answer you yet, Lisa! :-)

I might pick it up for a few chapters tomorrow, depending on how interesting my current monster book is.