Empire of the Vampire

Book One

By: Jay Kristoff

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

"Narrator Damian Lynch’s depiction of the sword is especially creepy and compelling. Lynch has a great sense of dialogue and pitch overall, and keeps this dramatic tale moving." -Locus

From New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff comes Empire of the Vampire, the first volume of an astonishing new dark fantasy saga.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

©2021 Jay Kristoff (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Robin Hobb said it best

I paraphrase, "I don't read many vampire books, damn this one is fire and a must read!"

Absolutely amazing 👏 😍

loved this story.. It was amazing could not stop once I started. I can't wait to see how this story continues..

For the love of vampires!

If you are a fan of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles you will love this book.One man telling his story like in Interview with a Vampire. Mystery, love, fantasy, gore and revenge all in one! I highly recommend this one.

complex. 4.5 stars, sort of spoilery

This was a book that was very complex.

The beginning was not so good, just depressing. As I suppose it was meant to be. The depressing tone persisted nearly through the whole book, but it was offset by the deep layering and incredible world building. I think if I had not my own personal animus against the early hyper persecuting church I would have liked this enough to actually give 5 stars. But sitting through the retelling of the rigid, evil belief system that governed this world, conflicted by the tunnel vision that would let the people believe enough to survive to some degree only because they believed that they could fight through because God Willed It...and yet see what that blind faith made people do in terms of evil acts... I felt hard pressed to give it 4.5 stars.

I suppose it has great value in showing the listener the folly of blind-believers using what they believe as an excuse to do evil deeds. There were a few plot holes and some serious character flaws that made me slap my forehead, asking when the character in question would learn... but it didn't make much difference in the end. An end that did feel oddly rushed to some degree. Like there should have been a great speech, some pontification to seal the closing. But, it was a looooong book, and yet it felt like the end was open, not finished. (thank you for not splitting it into a trilogy).

I did listen to every word. So there is that. The author is impressive. I can recommend the book, especially for those who don't have my anger and prejudices against religions of persecution.

Amazing

I can see this book becoming a movie hit. I honestly cannot wait for the scrubs book. Needs to come sooner than later.

great

bye far the best book on audible the reader has the perfect voice for the character I was in it the whole time couldn't wait to get stuck in traffic to listen more

Best Vampire Story!!!

up until this point, Anne Rice's vampire chronicles were my favorite, but Kristoff's storyline, dialog and descriptive action completely blew me away! Never have I listened to a book, finished it, only to immediately start at the beginning. Loved it!

Amazing

It had me on the edge of my seat damn near the whole time, I listened to it at work all week and got lost the entire time, this story had me in tears, smiling like a little kid and angry as hell, this is my favorite book I've listened to, period.

I was skeptical…

But this book blew my mind. LOVED the world building and the writing. The banter got a bit tedious but still giving it fives all around.

Sexy, gothic fantastic character development

Great world building, fantastic main character(s) left me wanting more. Can’t wait to start book 2