Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire (2021) is the first installment in an illustrated dark fantasy trilogy of the same name. An Australian author of fantasy and science fiction, Kristoff is a multiple Aurealis Award winner known for works such as The Nevernight Chronicle trilogy and co-authoring The Illuminae Files. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the sun has dimmed, allowing vampires to dominate humanity, the novel follows Gabriel de León, the last of a holy order of vampire hunters known as the Silversaints. Imprisoned by his enemies, Gabriel is forced to recount his life story to a vampire historian, detailing his tragic past, his rise as a legendary warrior, and his quest for the Holy Grail.

Empire of the Vampire blends the atmospheric introspection of Gothic horror with the brutal realism of modern grimdark fantasy. A New York Times bestseller, the novel explores The Corrupting Power of Hate and Vengeance, The Fallibility of Faith in a Godless World, and The Blurred Line Between Monster and Man. The series continues with Empire of the Damned (2024) and Empire of the Dawn (2025).

This guide refers to the 2023 St. Martin’s Griffin edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence, death, child death, animal death, child abuse, child sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, addiction, substance use, sexual content, sexual violence, death by suicide, gender discrimination, religious discrimination, antigay bias, pregnancy termination, self-harm, and cursing.

Plot Summary

The story is set in the Empire of Elidaen, a union of five formerly independent regions now united under a single ruler and a shared religion: the One Faith. It is the 27th year of “daysdeath,” a time when a dimmed sun allows vampires to walk in daylight. Gabriel de León, the last of the legendary silversaints, an order of vampire hunters, is a prisoner in the vampire fortress of Château Chastain. He is visited by Marquis Jean-François, a vampire historian tasked by Empress Margot Chastain with recording Gabriel’s life story before his execution. Experiencing withdrawal from sanctus, or powdered vampire blood, Gabriel agrees to tell his story in exchange for a supply of the substance.

Gabriel’s story alternates between two timelines. The first begins with his youth in the village of Lorson. He grows up believing himself to have been conceived out of wedlock by a noblewoman and the blacksmith whom she eventually married. At age eight, the sun dims in the event known as “daysdeath.” Five years later, his younger sister Amélie and her friend Julieta disappear, only to return as mindless vampires called “wretched.” They attack the village, and during the fight that ultimately kills the girls, Gabriel discovers that his touch burns Amélie’s flesh.

At 15, Gabriel is overwhelmed by the scent of the blood of a girl he is having sex with and bites her. As the villagers pursue him, two silversaints, Frère Greyhand and his apprentice Aaron de Coste, arrive to recruit Gabriel into the Ordo Argent, the Silver Order. On the journey to the mountain monastery of San Michon, Greyhand explains that Gabriel’s true father was a vampire and that Gabriel, like the silversaints, is a “paleblood”: a human who has inherited some vampiric qualities. Led by “highbloods,” vampires who retain their intelligence and beauty, vampires have been expanding their reach since daysdeath. Among these highbloods is a vampire named Fabién Voss, who styles himself the “Forever King.”

At San Michon, Gabriel receives a silversteel sword and meets two novices, the rebellious Astrid Rennier and the devout Chloe Sauvage. At his induction, Astrid gives him his first silver tattoo—part of the silversaint “aegis” that glows in battle with vampires. He then witnesses the “Red Rite,” the ritual death by suicide of a silversaint succumbing to the bloodlust known as the “sangirè.” During his “Trial of the Blood,” Gabriel fails to manifest the gifts of any of the four vampire bloodlines—Voss, Chastain, Ilon, and Dyvok—and is therefore labeled a “frailblood” (a paleblood whose highblood sire was too young to pass on any gifts).

Gabriel’s first hunt sees him, Greyhand, and Aaron investigating reports of vampire activity in a town called Skyefall. There, the trio hears reports of a beautiful woman who passed through town; they suspect she is an “ancien,” or an old and powerful highblood. While hunting the vampires she turned, Gabriel inadvertently boils a young vampire’s blood with his touch—something Greyhand says he cannot explain. Back at San Michon, however, he overhears Greyhand and another senior silversaint, Seraph Talon, discussing something called “sanguimancy” and a fifth, supposedly extinct vampire bloodline. This discovery leads Gabriel to begin secret research in the library’s forbidden section. There, he becomes closer to Astrid, who is doing covert research of her own; along with Chloe, she hopes to discover a means of ending daysdeath.

Another hunt takes Gabriel, Aaron, Greyhand, and Talon on a journey through various towns in pursuit of the ancien from Skyefall. They eventually track her to Coste, Aaron’s hometown, where they catch her releasing several messages by raven and realize that she is Laure, a daughter of Fabién. In the ensuing fight, Greyhand is badly wounded, and Laure escapes. The silversaints do manage to intercept one of the messages Laure was sending, which reveals plans for an invasion. However, Greyhand blames Gabriel for his injuries and Laure’s escape, as Gabriel defied his orders when they initially found the vampire; he tells Gabriel that he is no longer his apprentice.

When the silversaints return to San Michon, Gabriel learns that Astrid and Chloe have discovered the fifth vampire bloodline, the Esani, when they spilled blood on an ancient text, revealing hidden writing. Soon after, Empress Isabella arrives at San Michon for a war council. Greyhand interrupts, suspecting that the Forever King’s planned attack on the fortress of Avinbourg is a feint. He suspects the true target is Charinfel, and the silversaints agree to send the initiates there as a backup plan. Gabriel, however, is left behind as punishment for his disobedience, as is Aaron, whose illicit relationship with the blacksmith Baptiste was discovered on the eve of his full ordination. As Gabriel broods, he accidentally drips blood on the map and reveals a hidden message that Astrid and Chloe help decipher: The vampires’ true target is a mountain pass called “The Twins.” Gabriel leads a small force of men, including Aaron and Baptiste, and sisters from the monastery to defend the pass. As the battle begins, they are ambushed by Laure, who reveals that she has massacred everyone in Lorson. Enraged, Gabriel kills Laure with his sanguimancy and triggers an avalanche that buries the vampire army. On his way back to San Michon, he returns to Lorson to find his mother, stepfather, and sister Celene slain. Meanwhile, Aaron and Baptiste part ways with the silversaints, who consider their relationship sinful.

Gabriel is knighted by the Empress and made a full silversaint. In secret, however, he pursues a relationship with Astrid. Over the next few years, he accomplished great feats as a silversaint, but he and Astrid were later excommunicated when she became pregnant with their daughter, Patience.

The second timeline takes place 17 years after the main events of the first and three years before Gabriel’s imprisonment. Gabriel, now 32, wields a broken, sentient sword named Ashdrinker that speaks to him. Pursued by wretched, he escapes to the town of Dhahaeth. There, he runs into Chloe, who is traveling with several companions, including a boy named Dior Lachance. The group is being hunted by Danton Voss, a son of the Forever King, because Dior knows the location of the Holy Grail, which is prophesied to end daysdeath. Gabriel fights and wounds Danton, forcing him to retreat.

He agrees to join Chloe’s company, though only until they reach the Volta River. During a skirmish with vampires, Gabriel is shocked to learn that Dior’s blood has healing properties: Chloe reveals that Dior himself is the Holy Grail, a direct descendant of the Redeemer. The group seeks refuge at the monastery of San Guillaume, only to find that due to its connection to Dior’s company, its inhabitants have been massacred by the Inquisition, which considers the idea of a living Grail heretical. Danton Voss attacks them there, and in the ensuing battle, all of Chloe’s companions are killed. Chloe sacrifices herself to allow Gabriel and Dior to escape by jumping from a cliff into a river. After they wash ashore, Gabriel discovers that Dior is a girl who has been binding her chest for safety.

Gabriel and Dior continue their journey alone. After struggling to resupply Gabriel with sanctus, being briefly captured by the Inquisition, and struggling through forests where a supernatural “blight” has created monsters, they finally seek refuge at Château Aveléne, a fortress Aaron and Baptiste established after their expulsion from San Michon. Gabriel reveals that this is where he and Astrid married, and as Danton threatens to attack, he finally reveals the truth to Dior: When Patience was 11, Fabién Voss found the family, killed Patience, and turned Astrid into a vampire whom Gabriel himself was forced to kill. He has since pursued Fabién and his entire family, seeking revenge.

Unwilling to jeopardize the fortress, Dior flees. Gabriel follows as Danton and his forces close in on her. In the ensuing battle, Dior applies her blood to the broken Ashdrinker, enabling her to kill him, as her blood sets vampires on fire. A mysterious highblood named Liathe, who has been shadowing Chloe’s company, helps dispatch several other vampires but flees as a group of sivlersaints, including Greyhand, arrive. With them is Chloe, who survived. The entire group returns to the monastery, where Gabriel learns that the Order plans to sacrifice Dior in a ritual to end daysdeath. He himself is nearly killed in his attempts to save her, but Liathe intervenes, revealing herself to be Celene. She seeks Dior for her own purposes and encourages Gabriel to save her. As the rite begins, he fights and kills Greyhand and Chloe, escaping with Dior.

As Jean-François sets his work aside for the day, Gabriel attacks him with his sanguimancy. The vampire transforms into rats and escapes, though wounded. The book ends with Gabriel watching the dawn and awaiting his fate.