’Even without the Voss dogging our heels, we were entering the world of the Esani now, vampire. The lies at the heart of it all. The Aavsenct Heresy. The Red Crusades. The Wars of Blood.

None of us would ever be safe again.’

This series is going to be the death of me! Once I can fully process all of my emotions I’ll come back and write a more coherent review, but for now I’ll confidently state Empire of the Damned is not only my current favorite book of 2024 it is also the best book Jay has written to date. Explosive, action packed, and dripping with quotable one liners in just about every chapter this book is ICONIC! The modern vampire masterpiece and an absolute must read for anyone with the functional capacity to read a book.

First just to set the mood, here is a small offering of humorous quips that sent me reeling when I read them:

’Count the fucks I give about what you would rather on no hands.’

‘If I were to fall, I’d rather fall fighting than queued up like sailors outside your mother’s house when the fleet is in town.’

‘They told me ye stole up on him like a thief in the night. Like a coward. Like a cur. / They told you I fucked your father from behind, in other words?’


Probably the single element that elevates this story even beyond Empire of the Vampire is the strong emotional dynamics of the characters. In every exchange the connection between these characters feels genuine- whether an expression of love, frustration, anger, lust, resentment, disappointment or grief- as if this was a true recollection of events rather than pulled from the imagination of one man. To truly understand relationships the way this author does and convey the highs and lows of each in such decisive and nuanced detail goes beyond a great story and raises the investment of the reader where I’ll be feeling the anguish, despair, and joy right along with Gabe and his cohort.

This is far more emotionally challenging than EotV as well. Now that Jay has a whole book essentially building the world and the lore (almost just a functional scene setting) EotD builds on those foundations and tests readers in a way reminiscent of the kings of grim dark fantasy. I haven’t had such visceral reactions regarding the imminent fate of fictional characters since I first read First Law. The danger is always present and Jay takes almost a childish delight in inciting fresh horrors with every breath he takes. Try / fail cycles can either be endlessly frustrating or immensely rewarding depending on their execution and no surprise this is a glowing example of the later. Every small victory is met with a seismic setback. Each failure is met with a moment of resilience that leads to a reprieve in the suffering only for the cycle to start anew. This creates an immensely fast paced read with each section ending on such a momentous cliffhanger that you can’t help but turn the next page.

‘I tell you, the scream my brother let out was like no sound I have ever heard. It was not fury. It was not fear. It was… heartbreak. Perfect and awful and complete. It was the scream of a man who had dragged himself back from the very edge of despair, now plummeting into darkness. It was the scream of a man who had wagered everything - his heart, his soul, his sanity- on never failing someone who had loved him again.

It was the scream of the damned.’

Riveting stuff.

I honestly believe the writing style hasn’t changed much from book one, with similar prose and speaking mannerisms (thee, thou, etc), but I can still tell Jay gave a lot of effort into improving the readability of the book. Some of the minor things that annoyed me in EotV revolved around the framing device and how the banter- while rife with quips about one’s mother and such- didn’t really add anything to the story and quite frankly pulled me out of the moment quite a number of times. In this instance, more detail is added to the setting, establishing world building of the immediate present timeline with a political staging of a convocation of the prioris for the major bloodlines and likely a key plot point for the final installment. Not only that, but the story is told along a single timeline of events starting immediately following the events of book one. There is also the addition of a secondary POV that added a whole other layer of discrimination in which I will need to pick apart the story thus far. I’m trying to remain spoiler free, but Jay has offered up a hint that Gabriel may not be a trustworthy narrator and this other individual casts a fresh perspective on events. His flaws become a more prominent and crucial aspect of the story, dragged to the foreground by a counterpart who doesn’t hold him to the esteem that we the readers have seen to this point. And this is told to us over and over again how we are not to put faith in the narrative:

’Pon those pages is the tale of a man whose cup overflows with rage. And grief. But above all, pride. Protest he may, but doubt it not- Gabriel de Leon hath desire for the world to know his story. Such is the profound depth of his vanity. And the key to his undoing.’

‘For all your hubris and fury, this is not about you. But they were always the Black Lion’s favorite sins, no? You are damned by pride, Gabriel. You are ruled by wrath.’

‘You speak as though you hate him. And yet, at the heart of your rage lies a crime he cannot be faulted for. To lament ill fortune is understandable, but to place the blame for the whim of heaven at a mortal’s feet…’

For me, there is yet another layer of question regarding this assessment of Gabriel’s character and while we have never understood him to be a saint among men, his virtues are in his relationships and it’s up to the readers to decipher how these changes impact the story. I fully expect this to be a highly debated and dissected aspect once the book has reached a wider audience.

’I’m a villain when I need to be.’

Despite all his questionable traits aside, Gabriel’s devotion to Dior and his friends is the understated golden thread of this entire series. It was more stated than shown in the first book, but the overwhelming examples in ink this time around cannot be overlooked. Not since I stumbled upon Geralt and Ciri from the Witcher have I found such an immensely satisfying and heartfelt found father/ daughter and protector/ ward relationship than the one between Gabe and Dior. Truly the moments where I thought I would expire of emotional overload were a demonstration of the bond between these two. Again the character work is profoundly rewarding and just enjoyable to see the growing dynamic.

’But watching her from the corner of my eye, running my thumb over the name of my daughter inked across my fingers, I was beginning to realize how much this girl truly meant.

Not to this empire. But to me.’

At this point I think I have word vomitted enough of what I loved about this book to achieve the overkill status I was shooting for. Please for the love of god GO READ THIS FREAKING BOOK! It’s definitely 5 stabby bleeding hearts