Empire of the Damned was one of my most anticipated sequels but unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to Empire of the Vampire. So, let’s talk about it.
Synopsis
THE VAMPIRE.
From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.
Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. Drawn into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious vampire Liathe, Gabriel must now deliver the Grail to ancients of the Blood Esani and learn the truth of how Daysdeath might be finally undone. But the Last Silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by terrors of the Blood Voss, drawn into warfare between the Blood Dyvok and duskdancers of the frozen Highlands, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the Grail learn her truth. And that truth may be too awful for any to imagine.
My Thoughts on Empire of the Damned
The fact that it took so long to finish this should be all I need to say about Empire of the Damned. I wanted to love this, but it had a serious case of second book syndrome. It didn’t really accomplish much, and it could have been a whole lot shorter. I’m not saying there wasn’t a lot of action, there was, but a lot of it felt like filler. There just wasn’t much substance to it.
The only reason I finished this was because of Gabriel. I love his character and wit. There would be times that his storyline would hook me, and I would think that it was finally getting somewhere, but then a dead spot would hit again. And don’t even get me started on the cringey romance. There just wasn’t any chemistry there.
Overall, I wish the plot would have stayed consistent because this could have been a favorite, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out that way. I’m not sure if I will continue this series but I will say that the ending made me consider it. It was the most exciting thing to happen in the entire book despite my feelings on cliffhangers.
My Rating: 3/5
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I’m sorry that this one didn’t quite work for you. I loved it although there was such a lot of blood!!