Jay Kristoff’s bloody sequel to Empire of the Vampire exceeded my expectations on every level. Despite its length, Empire of the Damned is a true page turner. It was impossible to even guess at what was going to happen next as the main characters were thrown curveball after curveball. This read was more action packed and gruesome that its predecessor.
Empire of the Damned is seriously dark, yet Kristoff somehow makes even the most horrific scenes humorous. The writing is ingenious, and I love the ‘interview’ style of the narrative. Kristoff makes the style completely his own in this novel by pushing boundaries and creating entirely unique action sequences. This book is in no way weighed down by the way that it is told and in fact, I would say it is one of the book’s greatest strengths.
But the true highlight of this book for me was its characters. Sure, I liked them all in Empire of the Vampire. But in Empire of the Damned, I love them all. The development, the banter between characters and even the newly introduced characters were perfect. I am well and truly invested in this story and these characters now and I am very excited to see how everything progresses in the next book.