Series: Empire of the Vampire #1
Release Date: September 7 2021
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Pages: 718
Find it: Goodreads Waterstones
Source: I bought a copy of this from my local Waterstones
Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands 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 couldn’t 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.

Review

Empire of the Vampire is the epic story of Gabriel de León, the last silversaint. Imprisoned by the vampires he has dedicated his life to eradicating, he is forced to relive his life story – how he came to be a silversaint, his triumphs, and his woes, how he became known as the infamous Black Lion, and how he ended up on a quest to find the holy grail and end daysdeath once and for all.

Empire of the Vampire is one of those books I wasn’t sure would live up to the hype. I absolutely loved Nevernight, but I wasn’t sure Empire of the Vampire would be as good. I’m so glad to say I was wrong and this is without a doubt, one of my favourite books of all time. This book is a masterpiece and I have been in a reading hangover ever since I put it down.

There are so many things about this book that blew me away. The story is so engrossing, and so compelling, that I was glued to this book and could not put it down. There were moments I never saw coming and it is so far one of only two books that have made me cry in 2023. The writing is incredible, it oscillates between beautiful, poetic writing to quick, witty banter and crazy insults. I loved every second of this book and I cannot wait to read Empire of the Damned.

Empire of the Vampire is definitely a book that stays with you, it’s full of atmosphere and there are plenty of dark, eerie, edge of your seat moments. The characters are fantastic, I typically find I like a few characters and there’s always some I’m not so fond of, but each and every one – Gabriel, Astrid, Dior they were all so well crafted and I couldn’t help but grow attached to them all. Empire of the Vampire is without a doubt one of my favourite books of the year and if you’ve been thinking about picking this one up, autumn is the absolute perfect time to get lost in this terrific story.