Empire of the Vampire
#84.42 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2021–2025 Reading commitment Medium Jay Kristoff Last reviewed 2026-08-24
Overview
A completed grimdark trilogy following Gabriel de Leon, a half-vampire hunter, telling his life story to the very vampire holding him captive. Set in an empire where the sun has not risen in nearly three decades, it follows Gabriel's journey guiding a young silversmith on a desperate quest to restore daylight. Jay Kristoff's trilogy, opening with Empire of the Vampire (2021) and closing with Empire of the Dawn (2025), is framed as an interrogation transcript, alternating between Gabriel's captive present and the decades of his past being drawn out of him. The books blend Gothic horror, Arthurian-tinged quest fantasy, and grimdark violence, and were praised for their illustrated interior artwork and dense, first-person voice. The trilogy built a large following through online fantasy communities before its conclusion and is treated in this canon as a self-contained continuity, separate from Kristoff's earlier Nevernight Chronicle.
Grimdark · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Empire of the Vampire Jay Kristoff
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Empire of the Vampire | 2021 | core | 4.33 (89,580 ratings) |
 | Empire of the Damned | 2023 | core | 4.55 (37,350 ratings) |
 | Empire of the Dawn | 2025 | core | 4.58 (20,885 ratings) |
The complete, finished trilogy; no further volumes planned.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Empire of the Vampire? Empire of the Vampire's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Empire of the Vampire? Publication order, starting with Empire of the Vampire. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Empire of the Vampire finished? Complete (2021–2025).
- How much reading does Empire of the Vampire take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~2,248 pages).
- How is Empire of the Vampire ranked? #8 in this site's official ranking, based on 147,815 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #8?
Ranked #8 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.42 across 3 core books.
- Backed by 148k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #7, The Empyrean (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 3 books · Complete · 148k ratings · Ranks #8 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length grimdark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Empire of the Vampire (2021)
- Empire of the Damned (2023)
- Empire of the Dawn (2025)
Awards (verified)
- No independently corroborated award nominations or wins found for this trilogy.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Empire of the Vampire and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Ash and Sand Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
- The Nevernight Chronicle Dark fantasy / Grimdark · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.29
- The Covenant of Steel Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.27
- A Song of Ice and Fire Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.41
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.42 across 147,815 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Empire of the Vampire (Jay Kristoff) accepted 2026-08-24
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-24
Rule: Core Canon = all 3 completed novels (2021-2025).