Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
New York, NY : St. Martin's Griffin, [2022]
Description
"Kagen the Damned marks the first installment of an exciting new series of dark epic fantasy novels from bestselling author Jonathan Maberry. Sworn by Oath Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the place guard, charged with protection the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins. Abandoned by the Gods Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of this enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper -the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him magic -look banished from the world-returns in strange and terrifying ways. Fueled by Rage To find the royal children and exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king's empire. Kings and gods will fear him. Kagen the Damned"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mtrumbo
Kagen the Damned is Johnathan Maberry's new dark fantasy series that has hints of the GOT, LOTR, and WOT series. This book was action packed, entertaining, and funny, and with a strong cast of characters. Warning though, the violence/pillaging scenes, particularly in the first half of the book,
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were very over the top and extremely repetitive. Half of those description could easily be cut out and the reader would still get a sense of the horror that took place. I was surprised by the twist at the end and will absolutely be checking out the next book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley and St, Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jadedog13
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.*
The Silver Empire lasted for one thousand years.
- first line
A beautifully written epic dark fantasy by one of my favorite authors.
This book is fantastic, but it is not my usual fare. It starts off with
The Silver Empire lasted for one thousand years.
- first line
A beautifully written epic dark fantasy by one of my favorite authors.
This book is fantastic, but it is not my usual fare. It starts off with
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violence and never really lets up. The world-building is superb and the characters are all beautifully detailed. There are several different arcs occurring at the same time but you never really lose the thread. Maberry writes with his usual flair using detailed imagery to tell a tale of bloody violence, ancient gods, powerful evil, and the people who try to stand against it. If you like epic dark fantasies, then this book will not disappoint you. There is even an unexpected twist at the end that will leave you wanting more. Show Less
LibraryThing member Verkruissen
Kagen the Damned is an exciting first book in a new series by Jonathan Maberry. I've been a longtime fan of his zombie series and the premise of this book sounded amazing.
Kagen is the royal protector of the "Seedlings" the royal children of the empress of The Silver Empire. His mother is the
I truly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
If you enjoy a fast past mix of fantasy, action, mythology and romance with lots of violence then this book is for you. It does start a bit slow and Kagen was seriously getting on my nerves with his self pitying drunkenness' in the beginning but just persevere! I also really enjoyed the chapters that had nothing to do with Kagen that described how random citizens stumbled across magic that they were able to use themselves. I wished there were more of those little side quests of stories.
Anyways, the banter is hilarious in parts and the world building is absolutely fascinating. Cthulhu even makes an appearance!
I'm highly recommending this to readers of George RR Martin, but want something faster paced and Jay Kristoff's "Empire of the Vampire."
Kagen is the royal protector of the "Seedlings" the royal children of the empress of The Silver Empire. His mother is the
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infamous "Poison Rose", a deadly soldier of world renown. When he wakes up in an inn on his off duty night to the sounds of battle outside his window, he finds that his city has been invaded overnight by the almost forgotten enemy of the Hakkians led by the Witch-King, whom was overthrown by The Silver Empire and forbidden to use magic thousands of years ago. With this overnight defeat magic has also been re-released into the world. He then finds that the royal family has been slaughtered and after barely escaping with his life he makes his way down a dark well of self pity and self damning for failing in his duty.I truly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
If you enjoy a fast past mix of fantasy, action, mythology and romance with lots of violence then this book is for you. It does start a bit slow and Kagen was seriously getting on my nerves with his self pitying drunkenness' in the beginning but just persevere! I also really enjoyed the chapters that had nothing to do with Kagen that described how random citizens stumbled across magic that they were able to use themselves. I wished there were more of those little side quests of stories.
Anyways, the banter is hilarious in parts and the world building is absolutely fascinating. Cthulhu even makes an appearance!
I'm highly recommending this to readers of George RR Martin, but want something faster paced and Jay Kristoff's "Empire of the Vampire."
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LibraryThing member SimplyKelina
I am not one to usually grab for Fantasy, but I had this one on my shelf and decided to give it a try. When this started I thought it would be an instant DNF. However; I was done with Part 1 pretty quickly and was wanting to keep going.
This does have several triggers for death and murder of
I really enjoyed part 1, but then this started to slow down for me. I was not loving part 2 or 3 as it was very repetitive with nothing new really happening. However; I also could not put it down. I ended up skimming some of these sections though to move along.
Overall, I did enjoy this more than I thought. It is more a 2 star overall, but since I am not a fantasy person and it kept me wanting to read I am bumping it up a star.
This does have several triggers for death and murder of
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innocent people, women, and children. It also deals with rape and other horrible things to these same groups.I really enjoyed part 1, but then this started to slow down for me. I was not loving part 2 or 3 as it was very repetitive with nothing new really happening. However; I also could not put it down. I ended up skimming some of these sections though to move along.
Overall, I did enjoy this more than I thought. It is more a 2 star overall, but since I am not a fantasy person and it kept me wanting to read I am bumping it up a star.
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Language
Physical description
560 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
1250783976 / 9781250783974