Kagen the Damned - by Jonathan Maberry (Paperback)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

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 palace guard, charged with protection of 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 his enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper, the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him magic--long banished from the world--returns in strange and terrifying ways.

Fueled by Rage
To 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

Review Quotes

*Paste Magazine Best New Fantasy*

"Mr. Maberry's first venture into Sword and Sorcery fiction employs powerful imagery to tell a classic tale of revenge and blood which fans of Howard, Moore and Wagner will relish! As his own story grows deeper and more complex, Kagen of Argentium discovers the bizarre answers to more than one mystery. He fights with magnificent skill and fury to restore an empire, unearth the secrets of unimaginably ancient peoples and discover the horrifying truth behind his family's betrayal. Maberry gradually expands his story until it flows beyond the borders of his chosen genre to create something rich and original. If you hunger for more George Martin, this novel will thoroughly satisfy you. And if you love Lovecraft, you're in for something very special!" --Michael Moorcock, World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award-winner

"Jonathan Maberry's sojourn into fantasy with Kagen the Damned is a bawdy, brutal, swashbuckling start to a magnificent epic in the making. It's sword & sorcery the way I like it: violent, bloody, but with beautiful awe-inspiring moments of wonder. So buckle on your own sword and join Kagen on this grand adventure. You won't be disappointed." --James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestseller of The Last Odyssey

"Jonathan Maberry is definitely channeling Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and L. Sprague De Camp--this is a great novel with sharp swords, elder gods, mythical cities, and heroes who will become legends." --Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Dune: House Atreides and Spine of the Dragon.

"Kagen the Damned is the best sword and sorcery book I have read in the last ten years. Fans of Joe Abercrombie, Pat Rothfuss, Mark Lawrence, and Robert E. Howard are going to love this." --Weston Ochse, author of Seal Team 666

"Kagen the Damned is a gloriously nuanced, exceptionally brutal epic fantasy crossed with cosmic horror that manages to mine new material out of a very familiar space. It's thoughtful, beautiful, awful, fresh, and very, very welcome." --Seanan McGuire, author of When Sorrows Come

"This book is violently honest and honestly violent about the horrors of war. Unrelenting action that plunges the reader into the world. The ending is satisfying, but readers will still want more of Kagen. Kagen combines the characters of Conan and Elric into a believable melancholy hero."
-- Robin Hobb, New York Times Bestselling author

"If epic battles, intrigue, quests, heroes & villains, history written by the victorious vs the defeated ones' version, and unanswerable questions pique your interest you won't want to sleep on this one." -- Aimeereads.com

"...fantasy readers will be spellbound by the intricate worldbuilding and the delightful cast. This is a promising start." --Publishers Weekly

"A vibrant, textured, and exciting admixture of subgenres that do not often play together." --Kirkus, starred

"A delightfully bizarre cast of characters populates this dark fantasy." --Paste Magazine

"Set in a creative and imaginative world of old gods and entities from beyond the stars, Kagen the Damned is a novel of tragedy, vengeance and redemption...Maberry lays the foundation for an incredible new series." --Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

About the Author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling, Inkpot winner, five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Relentless, Ink, Patient Zero, Rot & Ruin, Dead of Night, the Pine Deep Trilogy, The Wolfman, Zombie CSU, and They Bite, among others. His V-Wars series has been adapted by Netflix, and his work for Marvel Comics includes The Punisher, Wolverine, DoomWar, Marvel Zombie Return and Black Panther. He is the editor of Weird Tales Magazine and also edits anthologies such as Aliens vs Predator, Nights of the Living Dead (with George A. Romero), Don't Turn out the Lights, and others.