Empire of the Dawn – review

Author: Jay Kristoff

First published: 2025

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: 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 lost his family, his faith, and his last hope of ending the endless night – the Holy Grail, Dior. With no desire left but vengeance, he and a band of loyal brothers journey into the war-torn heart of the Augustin Empire to claim the life of the Forever King.

Unbeknownst to the Last Silversaint, the Grail still lives – speeding towards Augustin’s besieged capital in the frail hope of ending Daysdeath forever. But deadly treachery awaits within the halls of power, and the Forever King’s legions march ever closer. Gabriel and Dior will be drawn into a final battle that will shape the very fate of the Empire, but as the sun sets for what may be the last time, there will be no-one left for them to trust.

Not even each other.

The review: It’s strange, when I came to pull up the reviews of the first two books of this trilogy (this being the third book), I realised that although I reviewed book 1, for some reason the review for book 2 (Empire of the Damned) never happened. Well it is too late now and let it suffice to say that I really enjoyed it and so really anticipated this volume. Firstly, let me cover off that the actual physical hardback is as gorgeous as the others in the series. Illustrated through – with pictures that are meant to have been drawn by vampire historian/inquisitor Jean-Francois Chastain as he draws out the story of how Gabriel de León fought against the Forever King (leader of one of the vampire bloodlines and, we come to discover in this volume, author of Daysdeath – the catastrophe that has almost totally blocked out the sun). We know, from the previous volumes, that Gabe killed the Forever King and that the Holy Grail – actually a living decedent of the Redeemer named Dior Lanchance. Chastain goes between Gabe and his sister Celene, the Last Liathe – a mysterious vampire sect who cannibalise their own kind to save their souls – and there is no love lost between the pair. However between the two the historian hopes to pin down the truth for his Highborn vampire mistress.

Going too deep into the story will be pointless for those who have not read the first two books (like those, this is a mammoth volume) but the world the story is set in is a fantasy one that has a religion similar to, but not actually, Christianity. The characters are drawn in an adult way but beautifully written. One of the concepts I really liked in this was the idea that the capital of the human Empress had furnaces that burned so hot (for smelting and smithing) that they were used to keep the waterways unfrozen and, to attack the invading vampire army they turned up the heat, producing rolling banks of steam that the priests bless – so holy steam rather than water. The story spins from twisted betrayal to twisted betrayal as it speeds towards the end, though the final twist, the final set of falsehoods both work but also feel a tad glib in the execution leading me a little torn over the ending – but that is likely me. A great ending to the series. 9 out of 10.

In Hardback @ Amazon US

In Hardback @ Amazon UK