Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff

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.

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Towards the end of 2024 (how long ago does that seem?!) I read Empire of the Vampire on something of a whim, very quickly followed by the sequel, Empire of the Damned.  You can find my reviews for both here.  I adored them and Doorstoppers in December gave me the perfect excuse to read the final book in the trilogy.  Kristoff has created such a compelling narrative in a world where all hope is lost, narrated by a man all but broken by his circumstances, and I needed to know what happened.  While I will try to avoid spoilers here, this is the final book in a trilogy, and there are things I need to mention that may reveal something of the events of the first two books.  You have been warned.

Empire of the Dawn starts with an introduction to the key players and what’s happened to them so far.  I’m always grateful to authors that do this, particularly so in this case given that it’s a year since I read the first two books and an aide-memoire is always appreciated.  We pick up the story immediately where Empire of the Damned finished.  Gabriel de Leon, the last Silversaint (a monastic order of vampire hunters comprised mostly of the offspring of vampire-human liaisons), awaits his execution, sharing his story with vampire historian Jean-Francois Chastain.  Gabriel’s sister, Celene Castia, is held separately, awaiting the same fate as Gabriel.  The novel continues the format of the second book, alternating between Gabriel and Celene’s summary of the events that led to their imprisonment.

And what stories they have to share!  At the outset, Gabriel believes that the Holy Grail, Dior Lachance, is dead, thwarting any hope they had of ending Daysdeath (an unexplained event that cast the world into perpetual darkness several years earlier) and reclaiming the nation from the vampires that have flourished in the absence of the sun.  Hellbent on vengeance, he leaves, determined to take the fight to the Forever King, Fabian Voss.  It’s a perilous journey with various trials along the way and a seemingly impossible outcome, and yet we know from the very first book (this is not a spoiler) that he does succeed – it’s the crime for which he’s awaiting execution.  I could not wait to see how that fight went down!

One aspect of this novel that I liked was getting more of Celene’s backstory.  We know that she was killed in revenge for one of Gabriel’s acts of heroism, becoming a vampire in the process, but the reader hasn’t yet got the story of the time in between her death and being reunited with Gabriel beyond a few headlines.  Celene’s story of how she became what she is and how she came by her own particular brand of power (Kristoff’s vampires have different capabilities aligning to one of five families) was fascinating and surprisingly poignant. 

I’ve absolutely loved this series.  The illustrations by Gonzalo Mendiverry, even on my Kindle, are stunning and bring the story to life brilliantly.  I love the characters, the humour, and oui, even the occasional lapse into French for no reason whatsoever.  There are so many ups and downs, and the novel builds to a brilliant conclusion.  I don’t want to say too much – I had a suspicion as to where it was going, but only guessed at some of what was coming.  Brilliantly written and utterly engaging, I feel somewhat bereft that I won’t be joining Gabriel, Celene, and Dior on further adventures.