Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff starting on October 28, 2023.


Happy Reading!

Looking forward to reading this one.

Spot. Thank you.

Book waiting here :)

Audiobook ready

Just to let people know, there is another ready scheduled in January for before the release of book 2 (if you guys were planning on reading then).

I requested this one for October because I'm a slow poke :D

But obviously feel free to join then if you want!! :)

I might join!

Its on my list but for next year.

Im excited for my first buddy read!

Glad to have you join, Oscar!

I might move up and join this one. Vampires and Halloween and such.

I'm really looking forward to this. I started it when it came out but I was pregnant at the time and unable to focus on words on a page so I set it aside about a quarter of the way through. I hope I love it this time!

I loved it!

starting tonight!

Chapters 1-3

(view spoiler)[

Omg what a start! I'm so gutted for Gabriel!

He lost his sister, in a horrific way and now he thinks he's a monster :(.

Obviously, the villagers are trash, they deserve to be eaten honestly! (hide spoiler)]

Charlie wrote: "Chapters 1-3

..."

Re chapter 3

Well hang on a minute! He (view spoiler)[ did just bite and almost drain the blood of the alderman's daughter! So maybe fair them thinking he's a monster! I'm assuming his dad was a vampire?!

I love that this is Interview with the Vampire in reverse by the way! Vampire doing the interviewing this time. Nice tribute to Anne Rice though.

And god, Gabriel is sexy af. (hide spoiler)]

@Siobhan it's not his fault! (view spoiler)[ he clearly didn't mean to bite her, it was an accident! Poor Gabriel is very misunderstood :D. (hide spoiler)]

Charlie wrote: "@Siobhan it's not his fault! [spoilers removed]"

Yeah yeah XD (view spoiler)[ accidently inserted his teeth into her thighs after already drinking her period blood. God I hope no-one reads this spoiler hahahah! (hide spoiler)]

lol!!

Think I'm going to be slow and steady with this one, few chapters a day. I'm reading too many books at once as usual!

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[ It's a bit clichéd isn't it, but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it. Pick your horse, you'll know which one! Ooh a friend for life. Haha.
I think we'll see more of Astrid, do you?

And his sword that was all meant to be sounded beautiful. (hide spoiler)]

it is clichéd but I like it lol. 8 chapters in (view spoiler)[ I hope we see more of Astrid, I like her!

I'm eager to learn more about the vampires, what they can do and the priests and what they can do too.

I think that nun woman was evil, I hope she gets what she deserves! (hide spoiler)]

Charlie wrote: "it is clichéd but I like it lol.

I..."

Me too!!

Haven't read your spoiler yet but will tonight.

This is making me want to watch Castlevania again too because it's giving me all the vibes. Trevor Belmont = Gabe. Kristoff is clearly a fan!!

Ooh I've never seen that!

chapter 10

(view spoiler)[ so Gabriel is a Frailblood? I always thought, from the way he's been described, that he was some uber powerful priest, the best of the best. apparently not! (hide spoiler)]

Right. Finally started to read it :) in Polish. Up to chapter 7. Good one :)

Didn't realised story is divided into 'books' :) Finished book 1, Gabriel's childhood was more then troublesome... Hmmm and what is this 'rabbit hole' he's talking about? I think I'll find out soon enough ;)

I'm up to chapter 5. It took me a day or so to get past the prologue, but now I'm in. (view spoiler)[So what is Gabriel? Some Vampire hybrid - guessing the whole order he is joining is like him or mostly like him? Who is his real dad? It'll be fun to find out. (hide spoiler)] Glad I read the Nevernight Chronicles earlier this year so I have a sense of Kristoff's style now. I'm also enjoying the reverse Interview with a Vampire style too.

Rob wrote: "I'm up to chapter 5. It took me a day or so to get past the prologue, but now I'm in. [spoilers removed] Glad I read the Nevernight Chronicles earlier this year so I have a sense of Kristoff's styl..."

Yes fun to find out! You saw my theory I guess.

I like the style for sure. Though it is a bit clichéd at times. I'm taking it as paying tribute to all the tried and tested vampire tropes.

Chapter 9 (view spoiler)[ I like Talon's way with words haha, some excellent insults.

Poor Gabriel though, drug him up on blood then let a vampire at him with no warning! (hide spoiler)]

In 'book' 3... Book 2 push us forward a bit in Gabriel's life, book 3 back to San Michon and training and first hunt...

Book 4 chapter 6. Again things which happened in Gabriel's later part of life. Still not much about who was his true father. Very interesting....

Half of the book reached. Wow! Flipping heck! Not bad story twist here! No spoilers peeps! Read by yourself :)

Starting book 5. Back to San Michon... And last hunt with Gabriel's master...

Wow Monika you're flying through!

@Siobhan (view spoiler)[ That was such a terrible thing to do to Gabriel! He could have died! No health and safety at this weird ass church school. (hide spoiler)]

Book 6 chapter 14. OMG!!! Just wow! About 100 pages with a little bit left. Why I never read Jay Kristoff books before?! Love his style! No spoilers peeps!

Finished! Absolutely fantastic! Love it! No spoilers from me LOL! Read it! Just read it!

Book 2 chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ ohhhh my heart 😭😭

Poor Justice, poor Gabe. I hate animals dying in books 😭 (hide spoiler)]

@Monika I'm so glad you loved it!! I'm excited to keep reading this, loving it so far, even if it's super depressing lol.

@Siobhan (view spoiler)[ Nooooo, Justice was such a good horse. I was getting The Walking Dead vibes from this part :'(.

I think Gabe probably loved that horse more than most people love actual humans. Animal death is so not okay, I can't read it! (hide spoiler)]

This horse was with him many years girls. Justice was Gabe's friend, brother... So many things happened to Gabe and this book is only a start. Is next book published? I think I'll try to find other books by Kristoff.

Kristoff has plenty books! I've only read Illuminae Files so far. Nevernight is high up my tbr.

Empire of the Damned comes out February I believe :)

I just started, up to Book 1 Chapter 7.

I don't have too much to comment on yet, so no spoilers :)

I agree with you @Rob, I'm loving the idea of a reversed version of Interview With the Vampire. Though I'm not really a Rice fan (or a fan of vampire fiction in general), it's such a great nod to a pioneer of the genre, and I think Kristoff's style is well-suited for it.

Added Kristoff to my tbr list :) we'll see what will land in my hands first :)

I'm up to book 3, chapter 1. (view spoiler)[At a quarter in, I feel I'm still in the boots of the Vampire - being left with intentional puzzles to be figured out over time. I was surprised by the choice to make Gabriel a "frailblood" which makes me wonder if it is a "future reveal" trope, but I think that would be anti-Kristoff. Is Chloe a liar? Married to Astrid with a kid that explains a tattoo. (hide spoiler)]

I havn't read much more of this yet but I will say, the vampires in this, the cannon fodder ones, not the fancy ones, are terrifying and give world war z- type zombie vibes. Absolutely horrifying time to be alive in this world.

I'm slowly progressing - really enjoying it!

I'm finding myself reading/listening in bits and pieces, but I am about 65% in now (Book 5 chapter 10). Not much to spoil as not much has been revealed other than (view spoiler)[The name of what bloodline Gabriel might be, and gender of Dior and de Coste's preferences, the latter both being far from shocking. (hide spoiler)]

Just wondering up till this point
(view spoiler)[For a bit I wondered if Gabriel were now himself a vampire but no he's just lost faith. Wondering if Astrid is a vampire though based on the floating person who keeps showing up in his "dreams?" Is Patience even alive (or did she ever exist?) There is a part of me that wants to think Gabriel allowed himself to be captured and we might get an interesting surprise towards the end. Of course, mostly wondering if this will go from flashbacks to present day for the latter books. (hide spoiler)]

Book 6 reveal some more Rob. Gabbe went through a lot and his story is not easy to tell. Specially for him.

Monika wrote: "Book 6 reveal some more Rob. Gabbe went through a lot and his story is not easy to tell. Specially for him."

Based on the amount of wine he is drinking, I get that :)

That still not enough wine for him (his own opinion)...

I'm reading this super slowly so I can't open any of your spoilers Rob!