An intoxicating song of blood and smut and tragedy.

Empire of the Dawn, marking the conclusion of Jay Kristoff’s epic Empire of the Vampire series, is a thrilling, violent, heartbreaking, and manipulative entry, cementing the series as a modern epic and dark classic. I am thankful to my friends at the Fantasy Hive, Jay Kristoff and Angelica Jones from Harper Collins UK, for my advanced review copy of this book (and also for having to put up with my numerous entreaties to get this copy over) 

“The Last Silversaint and the Last Liathe are serpents, filled with the same rank venom. Their fondness for deceit is equaled only by their hatred for each other”.

The weight of expectations heading into this book has been sky-high, given the two phenomenally stellar entries previously. Expectations that were burnished ever brighter, given how Empire of the Damned (EoTD) ended with a sense of the endgame being teased. Hewing to the tradition of the previous books, Empire of the Dawn starts off with the same tableau of Gabriel De Leon in captivity, prowling around in his cell waiting for the chronicler’s questions on the Grail. Given the extreme lows of the previous book, Gabe’s story dives into his quest for revenge (yet again), but it ultimately leads him down a path and a place that he has avoided all his life. Meanwhile, the other PoV introduced in the previous book has her own story to tell given the mission that she has rediscovered at the end of the previous book.

“If all the leeches I’ve pissed off over the years are about to start queuing outside your Empress’s door for the pleasure of ending me, her hourglass has run out”

Jay Kristoff burnishes his writing talent bright by combining the non-linear storytelling of Book 1 with the unreliability of multiple PoVs of Book 2 to craft a fascinating narrative that unfolds across different parts of the geography. While the storylines run in parallel, incidents and inciting events start to bleed over, impacting both storylines and causing a fair amount of heartbreak and tension in the process. This also allows Kristoff to expand the world considerably in multiple ways.

“It took a lot of love to hate her the way I do”

The book does the heavy lifting on the world expansion by having characters travel. This allows for significant tensions to erupt, especially when there are no clear decisions in sight. The tortured nature of the characters, coupled with hidden agendas, leads to many compelling threads being yanked while dirty laundry is often aired loudly and vehemently with more than a hint of violence. The expansion of the world also sheds light on the ruling dynasty as well as the other vampire rulers – each teased about previously but now fully fleshed. There is also the role that religion and prophecy play, which again is an extension of the previous book’s strengths and adds luster to the fantastic storytelling, adding to the conundrums and complexities that our characters have to wade through.

“It helps to hate the things you fight. But it’s far better to love the things you defend”

Empire of the Dawn is a triumph of the narrative as the book never goes dull despite far-flung storylines and newer threads that emerge. Violence, often from Gabe, keeps things moving while politicking adds to the thrill on the other end and is often as exciting as the action and bloodletting. At the end of the day, this is a book about tragedy and heartbreak repeatedly, especially when you have rousing heroic moments of hope. You know that these moments will inevitably be followed by a moment of extreme low and despair for Gabriel.

“If one may judge a man by the cut of his enemies, you are a man of quality indeed”

Despite everything that has transpired and “faithfully” recounted to the chronicler, Jean-Francois, Kristoff still manages to pack in a massive twist at around 50% of the book that you will be kicking yourself for not noticing despite the numerous hints and mentions through Gabe’s telling of the tale. That changes the nature and trajectory of this final book and pushes the envelope on the unreliability of the narrators as well as that of prophecy to a new level.

“I know what you see when you look at me. Some sweet darkness not deep enough to drown in. A fire to be danced near, but not burned by. Some monster yet governed by the slender and trembling will of a man. I am nothing like the songs they sing for me, mademoiselle. I am death to all who love me. Doom to all who touch me”

Even as this recounting unfolds, through the eyes of the chronicler, you can see the kind of desperate addict that Gabriel has become and how this recounting has led him to an extreme low in life. While a lot of the previous books spent time on the flashbacks, Dawn has a lot of the present sequences going on as well. A “sexy” moment telegraphed from the first book occurs in this, and it’s worth every bit of the build-up. In a move that can only be described as diabolical, Kristoff uses that moment to deliver another moment of cold-blooded payback that we have been looking forward to

“It’s a fine gift to have others believe in you, sinner. It is a different boon entire to believe in yourself”

Make no mistake, Empire of the Dawn, as a trilogy capper, is a book of payoffs. Given the story within story construct, the previous two books are all setups (even if they are fine books in their own right) – all leading to this entry, and there are plenty of immense moments of payoff within this book, even before leading to the endgame. Some are quick payoffs, while others have been built across the previous books and are immensely satisfying. Gabe is absolutely put through the wringer, as are his allies and supporting characters. Aaron and Baptiste go through their own personal hell, in terms of each other and their relationship, and just when you think nothing can test them further, Kristoff throws in another wrench gleefully.

“When the fall is all that’s left, the fall is all that matters”

The ultimate payoff for the series such as this has to be in its ending, and this is where the sly, manipulative, clever, and unreliable nature of the protagonists and Kristoff’s writing leads to interesting decisions. I would go so far as to say this can turn out to be a pretty controversial ending, in the sense that Kristoff doesn’t spoon-feed you anything. He has been dropping hints throughout the book, and it is up to the reader to unravel some of the threads and hints he has dropped. I suspect this will be a major discussion item for fans of the series and could well be a deal-breaker in some cases. My initial reaction was that of a person who got cheated by Gabe and by Jay Kristoff. But almost immediately, my mind started to pick out the threads that led to this ending, and I have to admit, this is possibly the best way the story could possibly end. Anything more would be a spoiler, but I expect the reaction to the book’s ending to be fairly divisive – I am just happy I landed on the right side of this.

“I have told you about the weight of two words, Historian. How much power can reside on such tiny things. How many hearts have been made complete by words so small as I do? How many shattered with a breath as tiny as It’s over? How many lives undone, how many souls filled, how many empires crumbled with the power and peril of just two little words?”

No matter the reaction to the ending, what’s undeniable is the sheer skill that Jay Kristoff wields in creating this story and a remarkable character in Gabriel De Leon. This is a book that promises heartbreak all the way, and it delivers heartbreak often in violent gushes of blood-letting and limb-losing. Kristoff has wrought a bleak series that still encompasses supremely hopeful phases and heroic rousing moments. There is a sense of melodrama in the way things play, especially with respect to Gabriel, but there are also doses of sly humor packed in all the way through. Kristoff is a proper tease who knows how to build anticipation, and as a reader, you learn to savor the juicy bits (all pun intended). You’d better savor those, as you know the shit is going to hit the fan soon. As always, Patience is the endgame for this series, and there is tremendous ebb and flow to each act of the book.

“This has never been a story of whether I won or lost, Historian. It’s about the price I paid for the lie of victory”

Empire of the Vampire has been a series that I never knew I wanted until I read the first book, and then I desperately craved the rest of the series the way a vampire under Thirst would be. Empire of the Dawn is a fantastic series capper to this remarkable series – a book that wildly oscillates between “Oh, Shit!!!!” to “Well, Shit!!!” with a “No Shit” thrown in as well. It is fantastically written, has a lead character worth absolutely rooting for, warts and all, is tremendously clever and sly, and is unapologetic about its dependence on shock value to move the story and close the narrative. Empire of the Dawn ensures that the series peaks right at the end and is easily in the running for the book of the year. Empire of the Vampire series is easily in the running for the best series of the decade and is firmly among my top modern fantasy trilogies.

Empire of the Dawn – 5 Bloodlines on 5

Empire of the Vampire Series – 4.5 Vampires on 5

PS: There is just so much to cover that I skipped – but elements of the journey of the other PoV, some of the pawns of prophecy elements, the resolution of the other conflict that comes up, the deal with Ashdrinker – I would need to write a book to discuss this book 

Empire of the Dawn is due for publication on 6th of November – you can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org