Reading the Empire of the Vampire Series: Book One

★★★★★

I eventually want to do a longer, more in-depth review of the Empire of the Vampire series as a whole, but considering the absolute size of these books, I thought it would be fun to keep track of my thoughts as I make my way through them. So, for now, here are my thoughts after finishing book one.

Overall Thoughts on Book One

Holy Redeemer, this book was fucking dark. I feel like the entire time I was being hope-edged. Do not go into this thinking there is going to be a happy ending. Don’t get attached to any characters!

But if you’re in for some action and adventure, though, this book has plenty. It’s got vampires, blood, violence, and a world that seems to have been abandoned by God. But underneath all of that, it also questions the very existence of God and what it means to have faith in one.

I was recommended this book last October, and it took forever for me to finally get my hands on it. I listened to the audiobook version, but I think for the next one I might want to read it on my Kindle. It’s definitely a bit intimidating and a serious time commitment, with about a 27-hour runtime. And I think the next book in the series is over 30 hours.

I don’t read much vampire fiction, but I went in knowing this was going to be dark. I thought there would be more of a focus on romance, but I got sooo much more than that.

The dark, medieval storytelling is immaculate. I was hooked from the beginning. What I loved most about this book was the amount of thought and creativity that went into its storytelling and world-building. It’s essentially a story within a story. The best way I can describe it is: imagine if Geralt from The Witcher had to sit down and tell someone his entire life story. Except the narrator and the people listening to the story are also characters with their own parts to play. It’s such a creative way to tell a story and set the stage for such a complex world.

And the world-building was GOOD. Despite how much was happening, I never found myself completely lost or wondering who someone was or what was going on. There is a lot to keep track of, but the author does an amazing job of giving you the information you need without making the world feel impossible to understand.

But the religion was probably the most interesting part of the world to me. There are obvious parallels to Christianity, but instead of Christ, they have the Redeemer, who died upon a wheel. And I think creating this fictional religion that resembles Christianity so closely gives the author this fascinating sandbox to explore faith without actually having to answer questions about Christianity itself.

He can put these characters through absolutely terrible things and ask: Does this person still have faith? Can they still be devout? What actually makes someone a believer? What is faith when there is seemingly no reason left to have it? What is hope? And what are the systems that create the narratives we believe in?

That’s what I kept coming back to while reading. Because faith in Empire of the Vampire isn’t static. It changes depending on what these characters experience. Someone can believe wholeheartedly and then experience something that makes them question everything they thought they knew. And someone else can look at that same horrible world and still find a reason to believe.

So despite all the vampires, blood, violence, and death, one of the biggest questions I took away from this book was surprisingly simple: What makes us believe? Gives us hope? Why do we continue even if we have nothing?

I’m glad to have found another series that I’m genuinely looking forward to continuing. Hopefully, I’ll have an update soon once I make my way through the next book. Until then, stay tuned!