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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
The library reordered the books and combined, sci-fi, mystery, etc. Which is great since it doesn’t restrict what I’m looking for while browsing. I was attracted to the book because of the color and the title. This should be everything I HATE in a book - war, violence, fighting descriptions, religion, politics, … but I ended up liking the book. Kagen is a very flawed character. The author basically tells you what is going to happen. I enjoyed the book up until the ending, which got a little bit strange. I think part of a review describes the book - “This book is violently honest and honestly violent about the horrors of war. Unrelenting action plunges the reader into the world.”
I will read the next in the series.
I will read the next in the series.
I know Kagen is like "The Guy" but, Tuke and Filia have me in a chokehold and I can only say, "Thank you"
I'm very conflicted on this one, while the world build and character development were amazing some of the subjects touched on were hard to read.
I feel like there should be trigger warnings for serial assault and animal cruelty.
That being said this bookbwas amazing, it was written in a way that the world felt real.
The torture Kagen went through loosing "the seedlings" his brothers, his friends, his family and then having his gods turn their back on him, my heart broke for him.
Even through all of that you can see that Kagen still has the heart of a warrior, he still wants to avenge the royal family and kill the Witch-King.
The path that Kagen takes has him on both sides of thr law and as much as I enjoyed the dark side of him the righteous Kagen is my favorite.
More surprised me with her strength and determination, I really misjudged her in the beginning.
I will be honest the cliffhanger at the end made me yell no and had me wanting to throw my kindle across the room, but the more I thought about it the more I understood and loved the ending.
This is a masterful tale of magic and mortality, hope and anguish, love and hate all woven together with such skill that I found myself laughing, crying, and everything in between.
Brilliantly written with characters I grew to care for, lands that I dreamed of and magic I was both awed by and terrified of.
It's not often that a book draws a true emotional response from me, this one did and I can't wait for book two.
Thank-you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I feel like there should be trigger warnings for serial assault and animal cruelty.
That being said this bookbwas amazing, it was written in a way that the world felt real.
The torture Kagen went through loosing "the seedlings" his brothers, his friends, his family and then having his gods turn their back on him, my heart broke for him.
Even through all of that you can see that Kagen still has the heart of a warrior, he still wants to avenge the royal family and kill the Witch-King.
The path that Kagen takes has him on both sides of thr law and as much as I enjoyed the dark side of him the righteous Kagen is my favorite.
More surprised me with her strength and determination, I really misjudged her in the beginning.
I will be honest the cliffhanger at the end made me yell no and had me wanting to throw my kindle across the room, but the more I thought about it the more I understood and loved the ending.
This is a masterful tale of magic and mortality, hope and anguish, love and hate all woven together with such skill that I found myself laughing, crying, and everything in between.
Brilliantly written with characters I grew to care for, lands that I dreamed of and magic I was both awed by and terrified of.
It's not often that a book draws a true emotional response from me, this one did and I can't wait for book two.
Thank-you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an arc copy of Kagen the Damned.
I'm sorry to say that I have to DNF this book at 36%.
The plot was interesting and I was enjoying where the main story was going. Kagen is definitely a flawed character for the first part of the book. He's suffering from so much that I felt for him.
I wanted to find out how the book ends, but I can't get passed all the rape scenes taking place in the book. Yes, I know it happens during war and in real life, but it's there in almost every chapter I read. It made me almost ill with the graphic descriptions.
It's also a gore fest with lots of blood and guts and vivid descriptions of mutilations. I don't mind violence. Hacking and slashing doesn't bother me. I much prefer blood and gore to the constant scenes of defilement and sexual assault.
I wish it was tagged a trigger warning for those who don't like reading rape scenes.
Thank you NetGalley and and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this arc copy.
I'm sorry to say that I have to DNF this book at 36%.
The plot was interesting and I was enjoying where the main story was going. Kagen is definitely a flawed character for the first part of the book. He's suffering from so much that I felt for him.
I wanted to find out how the book ends, but I can't get passed all the rape scenes taking place in the book. Yes, I know it happens during war and in real life, but it's there in almost every chapter I read. It made me almost ill with the graphic descriptions.
It's also a gore fest with lots of blood and guts and vivid descriptions of mutilations. I don't mind violence. Hacking and slashing doesn't bother me. I much prefer blood and gore to the constant scenes of defilement and sexual assault.
I wish it was tagged a trigger warning for those who don't like reading rape scenes.
Thank you NetGalley and and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this arc copy.
I got an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, and I am so glad I did! Maberry has done a fantastic job writing in the epic dark fantasy genre. We got little snippets of what he can do with short stories and certainly he's done a great job with dark fantasy and suspense in his Pine Deep series. I have to admit I have not read everything Maberry has written, as he's a prolific author who dabbles in many shades of speculative fiction and I only have so many hours in the day, but I must admit Kagen the Damned may very well be my favorite thing of his that I've read so far.
We've got a fabled warrior hell-bent on vengeance (that would be our friend Kagen). We've got minglings with the Fae, and vampires, and an autocratic tyrant who wages bloody war against the previous regime.
Overarchingly, as a backdrop to the whole narrative, we've got Cthulhu/ elder gods mythos driving the motives of several main characters and really putting the "dark" in "dark fantasy."
Maberry exercises his usual deftness for moving the plot along with short chapters and shifting points of view, which also serves to heighten the suspense and keep the reader engaged.
I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving out spoilers but I thoroughly enjoyed Kagen the Damned and can't wait to see where he goes with the next book in the series.
We've got a fabled warrior hell-bent on vengeance (that would be our friend Kagen). We've got minglings with the Fae, and vampires, and an autocratic tyrant who wages bloody war against the previous regime.
Overarchingly, as a backdrop to the whole narrative, we've got Cthulhu/ elder gods mythos driving the motives of several main characters and really putting the "dark" in "dark fantasy."
Maberry exercises his usual deftness for moving the plot along with short chapters and shifting points of view, which also serves to heighten the suspense and keep the reader engaged.
I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving out spoilers but I thoroughly enjoyed Kagen the Damned and can't wait to see where he goes with the next book in the series.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
While sometimes a difficult read, this ended up setting an incredible world. Mostly set up and world building, but with an ending that has me floored for a full minute.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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 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".
Kagen is the royal protector of the "Seedlings" the royal children of the empress of The Silver Empire. His mother is the 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".