Jonathan Maberry Sword & Sorcery: Complete Kagen the Damned
Known for writing zombies, outer space epics, thrillers, and more, the award-winning author now turns his attention to Sword & Sorcery…
Maberry talks how it was fun making Kagen a different kind of hero: “He’s a civilized man pushed out of every aspect of his comfort zone.”
As we here at Monster Complex® continue exploring Sword & Sorcery fiction, now we’re talking Jonathan Maberry’s dark epic fantasies in his Kagen the Damned series. The Witcher meets Game of Thrones in three novels and at least a couple of stories (so far). Below, you’ll find details (and links) for the three novels, plus where you can find newer short stories.
Michael Moorcock (Elric of Melnibone) calls Kagen the Damned “rich and original.” He also claimed, “Fans of Howard, Moore and Wagner will relish! If you hunger for more George R. R. Martin, this novel will thoroughly satisfy you.”
James Rollins (The Last Odyssey) calls the first Kagen book “A bawdy, brutal, swashbuckling start to a magnificent epic in the making.”
“This is a great novel,” Kevin J. Anderson (Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., and the Dune series) says of the first book in the series. “Maberry is definitely channeling L. Sprague De Camp.”
Jonathan Maberry actually writes lots of stuff—in a number of different genre categories. A New York Times bestselling author, comic book writer, and winner of multiple Bram Stoker Awards, Maberry writes horror, science fiction, fantasy, adventure, suspense, and thrillers.
As an editor, Maberry has edited a number of anthologies. This includes books like Aliens: Bug Hunt and The Big Bad Book of Kaiju. His own short fiction has shown in up in anthologies like Classic Monsters Unleashed and SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror.
For Marvel Comics, Maberry has written for characters like Black Panther, Wolverine, Doctor Doom, and The Punisher.
On top of which—this is a big deal—Maberry is currently the editor of the legendary fiction magazine Weird Tales. Which, if you didn’t already know, is the magazine where the whole category of Sword & Sorcery was invented.
In an interview about working at Weird Tales, Maberry actually discussed just one of a number of kinds of “weird” fiction.
“Swords and sorcery fiction, for example, was mostly born in the pages of Weird Tales with the adventures of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian and CL Moore’s Jirel of Joiry. Those stories were not quite epic or high fantasy, and presaged the dark complexities of, say, Game of Thrones.” (You can read more of that discussion here.)
Related link: More of our articles about Weird Tales
Maberry talks about the Kagen the Damned series
The swashbuckling series Kagen the Damned has been described as The Witcher meets Game of Thrones. Jonathan Maberry says that Kagen’s world is our world—but 50,000 years from now, after some unimaginable catastrophe has destroyed civilization as we know it.
“Our culture isn’t even a distant memory,” the author told Paul Semel, “though strange artifacts from our version of Earth become key elements on both sides of the magical conflict that unfolds around Kagen and the Witch-King.”
Maberry also had fun making Kagen a different kind of hero.
“He’s a civilized man pushed out of every aspect of his comfort zone. Kagen is a skilled warrior who fights with matched daggers inherited from his mother, The Poison Rose, who was the deadliest knife-fighter of her era.”
The author drew on his own background of 60 years in the martial arts to craft fight scenes that are dynamic, unusual, brutal, sophisticated, and absolutely accurate.
“We also get to see Kagen evolve from the somewhat coddled city dweller he was on page one of the first book,” Maberry says, “and into a seasoned, wise, cynical, yet optimistic warrior and general that the world needs to fight this kind of war.”
It’s worth noting that he has been a fan of Sword & Sorcery since he was a kid.
“The very first book I ever bought was Conan The Wanderer, one of the Lancer Books series published in the 1960s. I devoured all of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, and other landmark writers of that genre.”
Maberry has also kept up with the changes in the genre—as Sword & Sorcery has expanded outward into similar categories Epic Fantasy and High Fantasy.
The books in the Kagen the Damned Series
Kagen the Damned (Kagen the Damned #1)
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…
Find Kagen the Damned #1 online
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which also supports your local bookstore!)
Son of the Poison Rose (Kagen the Damned #2)
The Silver Empire is in ruins. War is in the wind. Kagen and his allies are on the run from the Witch-king. Wild magic is running rampant everywhere. Spies and secret cabals plot from the shadows of golden thrones.
Kagen Vale is the most wanted man in the world, with a death sentence on his head and a reward for him—dead or alive—that would tempt a saint.
Son of the Poison Rose weaves politics and espionage, sorcery and swordplay, treachery and heroism as the damned outcast Kagen fights against the forces of ultimate darkness.
Find Son of the Poison Rose online:
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which also supports your local bookstore!)
The Dragon in Winter (Kagen the Damned #3)
War is coming! War is here! The Witch-king of Hakkia, aided by terrifying dark forces, sits uneasy on his stolen throne. His enemies, led by Kagen the Damned and the Bloody Bastards have found the secrets of ancient magic they hope will defeat him.
Strange forces gather on both sides—vast armies of both the living and the dead, devious trickster spirits, strange gods, warrior ghosts, undying vampires, blood plagues that drive people to murderous rage, immortal faeries, and Earth’s last dragon.
Kagen knows that he faces the impossible task of toppling a usurper whose dark magic conquered an empire in a single night. But the Damned fear nothing and there are no limits to what Kagen will do to destroy the Witch-king…
Find The Dragon in Winter online:
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which also supports your local bookstore!)
“I love the character and the world and see no reason at all to stop revisiting it,” says Jonathan Maberry. “My head is full of stories wanting to be told.” (Paul Semel)
I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights: A Story of Kagen the Damned
Kagen Vale—disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins—discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king.
“Fantasy readers will be spellbound by the intricate worldbuilding and the delightful cast.”—Publishers Weekly
Find I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights online:
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which also supports your local bookstore!)
Swords in the Shadows (anthology)
“Mythical creatures take prominent roles throughout, including goblins in ‘The Prince of Dust and Shadows’ by Jonathan Maberry, which is set in the same universe as his Kagen the Damned series.” (Publishers Weekly)
Cursed beasts. Undead. The short story collection Swords in the Shadows unleashes horrific monsters and the even more frightening men and women who battle them with swords and sorcery. The book includes 21 stories with “a bloody stake driven into the heart of both the horror and fantasy camps.”
In addition to Maberry, other contributors include Haily Piper, Rena Mason, Stephen Graham Jones, Brian Keene, Joe R. Landsdale, and more.
Find Swords in the Shadows online:
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Tales of Steel and Sorcery (anthology)
The collection Tales of Steel and Sorcery includes more than 20 stories “set in wondrous realms of magic and heroism from some of the best writers putting quill to scroll in the world.”
One of those stories is an original tale from Jonathan Maberry of Kagen the Damned.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to include one of our all-time favorite writers in this anthology. We’ve been riveted by his books and his foray into fantasy has been no less exciting.”
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