The Sun Died Twenty-Seven Years Ago

In Jay Kristoff's world, the vampires won. The daystar hasn't risen in nearly three decades. The undead empire grows while humanity retreats behind crumbling walls. The Silver Order (a brotherhood of vampire hunters blessed with supernatural abilities through the blood of their divine patron) has been shattered.

Only one silversaint remains. Gabriel de León sits in a vampire prison, and his captor wants a story. What follows is 700 pages of the most ambitious, beautifully brutal dark fantasy published in the last decade.

What It's About

The narrative alternates between two timelines: Gabriel as a young recruit learning the Silver Order's ways, and Gabriel as a broken, cynical man on a desperate quest to find the Holy Grail: the one weapon that might restore the sun. Both timelines are told through Gabriel's unreliable, profane, deeply human voice as he narrates to his vampire jailer.

This is not a romance novel. It's a dark fantasy epic with romantic elements: Gabriel's loves and losses drive the emotional core, but the book is fundamentally about faith, failure, and whether one man's story can matter in an apocalypse.

What Works

Gabriel de León is one of the best narrators in modern fantasy. He's foul-mouthed, self-destructive, haunted, and devastatingly funny. Kristoff gives him a voice that crackles on every page: part confession, part performance, part desperate attempt to make his listener understand what it cost to fight monsters while becoming one himself.

The worldbuilding is dense and rewarding, a fantasy Europe steeped in dark medieval Catholicism, with vampire politics, holy relics, and a magic system rooted in divine blood. The book is illustrated by Bon Orthwick, and the artwork elevates every chapter.

The prose is exceptional. Kristoff writes action like a poet and emotion like a blade. The fight sequences are some of the best in fantasy. The quiet moments are even better.

What Doesn't

At 700+ pages, the book demands commitment. The dual timeline can be disorienting in the first hundred pages. Some readers find Gabriel's bravado exhausting before the cracks in his armor start showing. And the ending is a cliffhanger that will make you immediately need the sequel.

This book is also not for readers who want romance as the primary genre. The romantic elements exist and are powerful, but they serve the larger story of a man trying to save a dying world.

The Velvet Coven Verdict

Empire of the Vampire is not a vampire romance. It's a vampire masterpiece. If Interview with the Vampire made vampires beautiful, Empire of the Vampire makes fighting them sacred. For readers who want their dark fantasy with weight, fury, and a narrator who will break your heart while making you laugh. Gabriel is waiting.

Content note: Extreme graphic violence, explicit sexual content, substance abuse, religious themes, character death, emotional devastation.

Quick Reference

  • Author: Jay Kristoff
  • Published: 2021 (St. Martin's Press)
  • Series: Empire of the Vampire, Book 1 (trilogy, concluded 2025)
  • Pages: 720
  • Setting: Fantasy medieval Europe (Elidaen)
  • Tropes: Last survivor, unreliable narrator, dark quest, vampire hunter, holy warrior, illustrated novel
  • Spice level: 3/5, explicit scenes, not the focus
  • Praise: #1 international bestseller, BookTok "6-star read"