This is Matthew Stogdill with the Sioux City Public Library, and you’re listening to Check it Out
Today I will be recommending Kagen the Damned, by Jonathan Maberry. It is the first book in the series by the same name. Kagen the Damned begins under the guise of your average fantasy book, but quickly veers left into cosmic horror and Lovecraftian mythos. We follow the tale of our hero Kagen Vale, the renowned and feared captain of the royal guard charged with the protection of the imperial family of the Silver Empire, as he suffers the greatest failure imaginable.
One night while on leave, Kagen is drugged, and he awakens to see his city burning as invaders slaughter innocents in the streets. Kagen fights his way to the palace only to find his wards have already been killed. Will-broken and without purpose, Kagen becomes a wandering drunk as the empire he loves crumbles around him, fighting off assassins as he roams the countryside. However, as the empire falls, a power long thought banished rises: magic has returned, and it manifests in strange and terrifying ways.
In a rundown inn in a nameless town, Kagen is found by an old friend, who introduces him to a suicidal plot to destroy the usurper Witch-King sitting on the imperial throne. His purpose renewed, and with nothing to lose but his own worthless life, Kagen throws himself into the cause. Going against his own skepticism, he hunts down fairy tales and legends of magical weapons for whatever might give him the upper hand against the man who destroyed an empire in one night.
Originally, I was drawn to this book simply because I liked the cover art, thinking that it would be a standard Fantasy book, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the sudden diversion into horror fiction and I thought the mix between the two genres was well done
Check out Kagen the Damned at the Sioux City Public Library.
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