I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone with this one. A fantasy book with a made up kingdom?! What the heck was I thinking? Actually, it is pretty darn good if you can get past all the drunkeness and well men having a good time at a woman's expense.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this advanced readers copy. This book is schedule for release on May 3, 2022.

In one hellish night, the Silver Empire falls to Hakkia through the use of magic. Magic has been banned in the Silver Empire for centuries, but Hakkia kept it alive. Charged with protecting the children of the empress, Kagan is drugged while off duty and reaches the palace too late to save his charges. He is devastated and proceeds to drink his way through the next months, certain he is damned. He wanders the kingdoms searching for a way to take down the Witch-King, who now rules. He will need all the allies he can muster. This is the beginning of a new series from Maberry, with heroes and heroines and strange gods and deep dark magic. And Kagan must worm his way into the the heart of the realm to rescue the anyone who might have survived the night of mayhem.

Jonathan Maberry’s foray into epic dark fantasy is a fantastic start to a new series. It features Kagen Vale, the captain of the palace guard and protector of the royal children of the Silver Empire. One night when he is off-duty, the entire imperial family is killed and the empire is in ruins throughout all of its nation states. Kagen feels abandoned, heartbroken, and haunted. He turns to alcohol and vows to kill as many of the enemy as he can until he can kill the Witch-king of Hakkia who will soon be crowned emperor. His rage fuels him as he wanders the lands and gathers allies. Kagen is not the only one that wants to kill the Witch-King. The nun Miri and a fifteen year old girl Ryssa manage to escape the capital city. Another nun, Mother Frey, and her cabal of friends have plans as well. But can any of them succeed or is all lost? Who is the Witch-King that came from nowhere and is so enigmatic with a veil covering his face?

*Special thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an early copy of this e-arc.*

First let me start by saying, holy crap I did not see that coming! I mean...I am actually speechless. Wow.

Now to get into it, I want to say that overall, I enjoyed the story and it was well written. The imagery was very vivid and real. It was easy to imagine how everything looked and get the feeling through Maberry's descriptions. Not only did I feel like I could actually see what was going on, I felt the emotions and drive of the characters as well.

The story is definitely one I would recommend to people who enjoy Game of Thrones or any medieval vibe books that have political aspects to it as well as intricate plots and strategies throughout the story. I loved that there were multiple POVs and I wasn't kept in one part of the world but was able to travel through different parts not only through Kagen but through different characters and even though some of Kagen's dreams and memories.

The Witch-King was a mystery and still is somewhat but I was able to understand how scary and intimidating he was just based on the imagery that Maberry gave. Kagen was an extremely relatable character. With all the emotions he felt and the rollercoaster of truths that he learned, it was easy to feel exactly what he felt in the story.

The one thing that I will say is that the book started out very strong and then I slowly started losing my patience with reading and started having a hard time finding the motivation to read because to me it felt like the plot was stalling. I kept on going though and realized that what was going on was important to the plot and building what's to come, it's just slower. The ending though.....holy crap! I'm still shocked by that twist and can honestly say that I did not see it coming!

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.

Fantastic world building and drama. At times the story is a bit slow, but when the action heats up, it boils. I can’t wait for the next book.

Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry moves seamlessly into the epic fantasy genre with a book and character that will delight readers of contemporary fantasy as well as die-hard fans of classic sword and sorcery tales. Creative world-building, fantastic characters, great pacing, and rich storytelling come together to create what's sure to be a new bestselling fantasy series.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

Kagen the Damned follows the eponymous man who believes he is damned and whose gods have turned their backs on him. One night, a brutal coup strips him of his charges, his family, and all he holds dear. Tragically, he does not arrive in time to save the royal children. Surviving against all odds, Kagen swears revenge against the person responsible- the mysterious and terrifying Witch King. The stage is thus set for a grimdark epic fantasy, as magic is brought back to a world that has long forgotten it.

Despite the dire circumstances in which readers initially find him, I didn’t feel a strong sense of interest in Kagen. While his circumstances were indeed grim, I didn’t find the choices he made as a result particularly compelling. It felt like the book struggled to balance the level of gore and assault one might expect during a coup with shock value.

Ultimately, I did not find Kagen a likable or relatable character. He was a character of extremes. This ranged from self-congratulatory over his substandard treatment of women to self-castigating over honest mistakes. The writing felt clunky and unpolished. I particularly disliked the ending for two of the only queer-coded characters, which had an unpleasant twist.

However, this series certainly has a lot of potential and I look forward to learning what is next for Kagen. I know Jonathan Maberry is a beloved author and now that the world-building and circumstances have been established in book one, perhaps book two will be more my cup of tea. Kagen the Damned is available on May 10, 2022. Thank you to Jonathan Maberry, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free ARC 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.

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 was originally excited to read this.. I only made it through 5 chapters. It was rough. It was the most cliche book Ive read in years. Majorly disappointed.

Anyone closely following my reading habits would surely know by now that I absolutely love Jonathan Maberry, and I'll read just about anything he writes. Fans of the author, however, should know this book was a huge divergence from his previous body of work.

As always, I loved Maberry's characters. I feel connected to Kagen and I even feel I know many members of his family, even though we don't really spend any time with them at all in the story. Maberry can weave a story through different perspectives and character's eyes like nobody's business. All that being said, there is just a LOT going on in this book. One thing consistent throughout Maberry's work is the primary narrator of the story, but with interludes or shorter segments from other character's perspectives. In this case, those side stories didn't resonate with me nearly as much as I wish they had. I wish we had gotten some insight into the Witch-King's world, and that the side-plot we spent the most time with had been more connected with the story.

I'll read the next book in the series, because I love Maberry's writing and I'm invested enough to see where he takes everything. Especially after a significant reveal at the end of this book. But personally, I prefer Maberry's thriller and zombie universes.

For me, the story started off a bit more slowly than I would have liked it to.
At first, I had some difficulty immersing myself in the setting. 
But that changed around my 40% mark and quickly picked up.
It’s a wonderful story that grows on you as you further into it.
Kagen is a phenomenal character and his grit and determination was pretty remarkable.
The plot is action packed, full of adventure and twists.
The pacing was good the more I kept reading, and there were no lulls in the story.
I adored the writing style the author has, and absolutely cannot wait to see where book two leads us!

St. Martin's Griffin,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

DNFing at 22%.

This book is literally badly written info-dump after info-dump, followed by some gratuitous violence and detailed sex scenes. The info-dumps are bad. Like really bad. Every single character I've met at 22% of the way into the book basically speaks in info-dumps. I've heard there's detailed rape scenes as well, but at 22% into the book I haven't seen one. And to be honest? I don't want to see one. No, thank you.

Now, the violence and the sex scenes by themselves wouldn't bother me, but when you follow one with the other, and include mentions of dead children while your characters are having sex, well, its not for me. Not every book is for me, I know that, but just don't with this one.

My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the chance to read this book as an advanced digital reading copy!

This is my first book by Jonathan Maberry, and I suspect it will not be my last. This was a very easy read, with short chapters and the book itself divided into 4 quarters. Despite my expectations that this would be a intricately detailed high fantasy world, what I found was this world is not as complex as I imagined. There are certainly magic systems, political intrigue, mythology, and religion at play within these pages, however the reader doesn’t need to understand much to be able to follow the story. This book would be a great bridge book between the darker YA fantasy books and adult fantasy, as it reads like a YA fantasy world with many of the tropes of an adult fantasy novel.

I am not sure if I will continue on with this series or not, but this is more because I feel I’ve seen this story played out before than anything. It wasn’t poorly written or poorly plotted, I just felt like I had seen these characters in these tropes before. While I enjoyed the story, I did not find I deeply connected with any of the characters which is something that is important to me personally in my reading.

This is a perfectly good fantasy book, especially for someone who may be looking to get into fantasy or for someone moving from the YA genre into the adult genre.

This is just the beginning of Jonathan Maberry’s foray into epic dark fantasy. It started in the middle of an all-out invasion where things were happening fast. The Silver Empire was being overrun in the most unbelievable of ways. There is viciousness and brutality against pretty much anything that lives. The invasion itself was over in a flash of banefire, then the story slowed to a trickle or a few dozen mugs of wine and ale. Things can slow in epic fantasy because of world-building and character development. The story follows multiple storylines, along with more than a few flashbacks. But then? Then all the snares and webs and traps had been set, and the tale took off.
Kagen is our unlikely hero. Of course, he is the main character and should be the hero, but as the aftermath of the invasion sets in, it looks less and less likely that he has any hero left in him. He is haunted and, because of the circumstances at the beginning of this book, damned with no hope of salvation. I could have done with a little less of Kagen the Drunkard, but it reveals to what depths our hero has sunk. If that bothers you, don’t let it put you off. Stick with the story, it grows and twists and is full of rich characters, male and female alike. The Witch-King of Hakkia and his cronies make for some great villains. And there are the side stories with nuns, the undead, and the minions of Cthulhu. Those threads will keep you guessing right up to the end. This story has it all. Interesting, complicated, and mysterious characters? Epic battles and sharp cutty things? Check. Sorcery, enchantment, and creatures? Check. Thieving? Yup. Blood? Gore? Magic? Political intrigue? Check, check, check, and oh, yes!

From the outset, we were told that Kagen the Damned is "the first installment of an exciting new series of dark epic fantasy," so don’t be disappointed when this tale ends on a maddening cliffhanger. It will leave you wanting more. I cannot wait for book two, Son of the Poison Rose!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**Full review to be posted to NetGalley, Goodreads, and Amazon upon publication!**

Wow, what an epic new fantasy! I hadn't really heard anything about this book when I was asked about reading a copy and I was so pleasantly surprised by what this book had to offer. I really loved how much world-building was present, how well-developed and complex the characters were, and the incredible setting and darker atmosphere. Definitely one for people to look out for in spring!

I'm a big fan of the Ledger series and the "Rot & Ruin" books, but I've never been that into fantasy. I'm glad I gave Kagen a chance though, because this is a well told story. It's a bit slow, not in the beginning, but the first half of the middle third, if that makes any sense to you. That's okay because the characters are interesting and enjoyable. Even if there are a couple that you just want to shake.
I literally laughed out loud several times because these characters take their smart-assery very seriously.
I'm trying very hard to avoid spoilers, so I'll stop my review. But I do recommend this story. I hope there's more to come.

Really enjoyed it! Its the first time I've read this author and I've really liked it. The characters and story are great! I was glued to the book. I hope to read more of his books!

I had to DNF this book. I hate to do that, especially on a review book, but I just could not make it through. Overall, this book felt very...male. The writing, characters, and plot were very brusk and felt heavy in a way that was uncomfortable for me as a reader. I love fantasy and world building, and have read many war-heavy books, but there was something just a little to far in this for me.