Book Review: Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent

Carissa Broadbent and I have a running conversation at this point. I keep showing up to her books — the prose is polished and the premises are irresistible — and I keep leaving the same note in the margins: feel it more. Slaying the Vampire Conqueror is a fast, well-built read that kept the armor on when I wanted it cracked open.

The spoiler-free setup: Sylina is an assassin-priestess of the Arachessen, a sisterhood sworn to the goddess of fate — she gave up her eyes for the order and gained other ways of seeing. Her mission: infiltrate the army of Atrius, the vampire conqueror carving through her homeland, become his seer, earn his trust, and put a blade through his heart. It’s a standalone set in the Crowns of Nyaxia universe, so you can read it cold — though if you loved The Serpent and the Wings of Night, this is the same world in a darker corner of the map.

What I Loved About Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent

The pace and the world. This is a fast read that never drags, and the worldbuilding is genuinely good — the Arachessen alone are a great invention, the conquest politics feel thought through, and Broadbent keeps taking her universe seriously in a way I respect. There are interesting story elements here that a lesser writer would have fumbled.

What I Didn’t Love About Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

The emotional ceiling. The book keeps its feelings on a leash — the characters read a little one-note to me, and the big turns needed one more twist of the knife to land the way they were designed to. I’ve had versions of this note before with Broadbent’s books (my Daughter of No Worlds review goes deep on it): the craft is all there, and I want it to risk more, hurt more, surprise me more.

Final Thoughts on Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

Worth a read if you enjoy this genre — truly, the hours fly by — and a good pick if you want the Nyaxia world without committing to a full series. My heart still belongs to the tournament brutality of The Serpent and the Wings of Night, but Broadbent remains an auto-read for me, restrained or not.

My final score: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 👍 Yes — for Crowns of Nyaxia fans and standalone lovers.

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