​ At some point I failed to include this here on the site, but I know I posted the review in the social and retail spaces that would most benefit the release. Nonetheless, for continuity it must be added here.
--------- "To hate the thing that is completing you. To love the thing that is destroying you. What perfect suffering. What hell divine." It's safe to say that Empire of the Damned did such a number on me.. it was a couple of weeks before I felt like I could sit down and parse through my feelings. Certainly.. the last novel I read that was this robust.. this well fleshed-out.. was its predecessor.. Empire of the Vampire. After a year and a half, not another title was released that could even approach the weight and emotion of Gabriel de Leon's story. Book two in the series continues to pull no punches.. and looking forward to the final part of the tale to come.. I find myself eagerly dreading what awaits me as a reader. Something really interesting happened with Kristoff as this series began. He was already a great writer, but the massive undertaking of weaving so many plotlines and characters together is more than enough to break many other seasoned authors with larger series under their belts. Those of you who know me, also know who I mean. But in this case, the author simply rose to the challenge like a mortal set upon some gods designed path of myth. For me, Kristoff has joined the ranks of a small select few. Writers so deft of word that their stories can be elegance and destruction on a vast scale that never loses sight of the individual. Storytellers the likes of Neil Gaiman, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin.. that can lay siege to the world as a whole.. and still find ways to crush you on a deeply emotional level.. one-to-one. As an author known for killing off the characters he makes us love, I'm almost more afraid of what lies ahead when some of them survive. What horrible fate will befall them now if they've been given a reprieve? All of these things continue to be present in book two. I've wept for the Golden One.. softened to the skinwitch.. and been emboldened by the actions of one taking back their power. I've been relieved and crushed again a moment later.. or vice versa.. at revelation after revelation. I've also seen some things made clear.. finally.. that I've been suspecting for some time, but the final outcome eludes. I don't know what will happen.. only that it will continue to hurt along the way.. and that I cannot wait to experience that.
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