BOOK REVIEW + INTERVIEW / Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry

Matt and Jenny were joined by author Jonathan Maberry to discuss his May 10th, 2022 release of his fantasy Kagen the Damned. Watch our youtube interview to get an inside look at the story, characters and future of the series. Join the conversation in the comments and on social media.

For audio, please check out the 2 Broke Geeks Podcast to listen in.

Kagen The Damned by Jonathan Maberry

Release Date: 05/10/2022

Published by St.Martin’s Press/ Macmillan

By Jenny Robinson

The definition of a fantasy story Is “imaginative fiction dependent for effects on strangeness of setting (such as other worlds or times) and of characters (such as supernatural or unnatural beings). 

In Jonathan Maberry’s Kagen the Damned, all of those boxes have been checked. In his first venture in this genre, Maberry refuses to hold back and brings his dark style of storytelling to a strange magically violent world. 

Kagen the Damned is set some fifty thousand years into the future. The world we know today is no longer and is forgotten. The landscape has changed assumably by natural catastrophes and the people seem more primitive. Our cars have been long replaced back to horses. Instead of guns, they wield swords and daggers. This world does not appear to even have ghosts of our time, or at least anything they can recognize as a period of lost experiences. This erasing of history is a very poignant and repetitive theme in this tale and relates much to the epic fantasy world Kagen belongs to.

It takes no time to jump right into the mayhem when the Silver Empire falls to the Witch King within the first chapter. Kagen Vale is introduced to the horrors of the overthrown empire at the same time as the reader, stumbling to make sense of the wickedness around him. He is an oath-sworn captain of this fallen empire who has to come to terms that his oath had been broken, he has failed. He is damned. 

What I appreciate in Maberry’s writing style is that he doesn’t shy away from having his lead characters embracing tremendous flaws. They are our heroes page-by-page, yet you’ll find some of their actions can be disappointing and not expected for such an idol. Kagen proves that even the damned can entwine themselves in their shame but strive for vengeance and redemption. Kagen’s development from a drunken mess to an aspiring hero felt truly honest as I followed along beside him. There is a real life honesty in many of Maberry’s characters as we are introduced to them. An example I enjoyed was in the side adventure of Miri and Ryssa which created visually beautiful environments and a relatable innocence to the women. We are gifted with humor as well as an unexpected humility in Kagen’s friend Tuke as he teaches Kagen the world of thieves. Adding in Filia’s knack for stubbornness and loyalty, they all feel well rounded and with purpose.  

The big story arch is the reintroduction of the long banished use of magic. For many in this world, magic and monster were things from fairytales. Following the story as the characters have their world views turned upside down and the realization that monsters are real, was an absolute treat. There are mysteries from chapter to chapter. We keep track of who are friends or foe. We fall in love with Kagen’s companions, his allies and loves. We develop mistrust and understanding for some of the villains, the monsters and the main antagonist - The Witch King. 

Saying that I am super excited for this to now be a series would be an understatement. I am very anxious to find out what happens next. Will the characters that I now cherish be able to handle a world with Gods, vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, thieves, assassins and more? A world where magic can burn everything down, or make it beautifully grow?

Kagen The Damned will continue with the second book Son of the Poison Rose that is schedule to be released January 10th, 2023 and I can’t wait!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-seller, five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, anthology editor, comic book writer, executive producer, magazine feature writer, playwright, and writing teacher/lecturer. He is the editor of Weird Tales Magazine and president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. He is the recipient of the Inkpot Award, three Scribe Awards, and was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers. His books have been sold to more than thirty countries. He writes in several genres including thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and mystery; and he writes for adults, middle grade, and young adult.

Book Review / Micky 7 By Edward Ashton

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Release Date: 02/15/22

Published by St.Martin’s Press/ Macmillan

By Jenny Robinson

When a book starts with “This is gonna be my stupidest death ever”, you know you’re in for a ride. When you add in the fact that Bong Joon Ho (director of Oscar-winning Parasite) has signed on for the big screen adaptation with Robert Pattinson in talks to star, it’s an easy decision for a must-read. Page-by-page, I felt as if this was written exactly for that purpose. I normally gravitate towards stories that dive deep into the emotional thoughts of a character, but this felt as if we were to be simply a spectator as Mickey fumbles through the plot. For a story written in first-person perspective, I developed a very unique companionship with Micky 7.

I’ll admit, the protagonist in this book felt oddly real in his average “nothing special” human way. Normally, main characters are written to be abundantly awesome, but not Mickey. We follow Micky 7, who is the seventh iteration of himself. You see, Micky took a job where he’s suppose to die, more than once. He’s not dumb, but also not overly skilled in anything useful. He probably should have spent more time weighing the pros and cons of current troubles versus that of a job where you are expected to die. As we learn more about Micky, it seems he has a habit of replacing one problem with another. On the new struggling colony on the planet Niflheim, Mickey’s job is to be an Expendable. He is to go into dangerous situations or medical experiment and wait to see what happens, which is usually death. Each time he dies, they regrow, reboot and start all over, hence the number after his name. If he remembers to log his conscience, then the next “him” has most of his memories.

This is the part of the story I enjoyed the most due to the may variables that could happen. If he backs his brain up before the mission but dies after, how does he remember not to make the same mistake again? What happens if everyone thinks you’re dead, abandons you and just makes another Mickey? Of course, this is the strong plot point where he must secretly coexist with himself. We continue to follow him, learning about how he ended up in this mess, why people dislike him and the relationships a simple man makes along the way. He’s so average, except for his Expendable role, that it’s easy to take him for granted, but nice to be surprised when he does something interesting.

Taking the back seat in the plot, the native alien creatures known as the “Critters” have awesome possibilities of being both allies and villains. I have high hopes that they will have a larger and more interesting role in future books. I am assuming this is the start of a growing series. Ashton tickles your interest with these aliens early on. Dialogue revolving around these creatures allow you to start building a curiosity. The coolest part is how they are written in a way that explains them pretty well yet still leaves you with a ton of questions. I appreciate the restraint of not allowing the reader all the information but also giving just enough to formulate ideas as we read along.

With that said, this ends on a note that there may be more to come. At first, I was a bit bummed as I wasn’t prepared to commit myself to a new series. In hindsight, I think the book is written perfectly for a quick continuous read, sparking a desire to continue and accompany the characters through this new world. With a 304 page count, it flows fast but leaves a lot left to be discovered in the story. I am extremely intrigued on how this will play out in both future potential books and in movie format. I am preparing my popcorn now to be ready.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edward Ashton (Photo Credit: JustTeeJay (JustTeeJay.com)

Edward Ashton (he/him) is the author of the novels Three Days in April, The End of Ordinary, and Mickey7, as well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in upstate New York in a cabin in the woods (not that cabin in the woods) with his wife, a variable number of daughters, and an adorably mopey dog named Max. In his free time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.

Book Review / Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

ROAD OF BONES by Christopher Golden

Release Date: 01/25/2022

Published by St.Martin’s Press/ Macmillan

By Jenny Robinson

Every once in a while, a story comes along where the environment acts more like a personality rather than a location. Road of Bones by Christopher Golden is that sort of tale. Set in Russia on the historic Kolyma Highway (aka The Road of Bones), the history, myth and atmosphere provides a solid nightmarish backdrop. Like most nightmares, things start off unfamiliar and continue to become more and more grim. Basing a ghost/horror story around an existing location like the Road of Bones also helps the fictitious part of this plot feel more plausible. Add in a small cast of characters who struggle with the supernatural in the coldest inhabitable place on earth, this recipe makes for a riveting read. 

I loved how fast I flew through this book. It solidifies the term “page turner” in my mind. I went in knowing just a touch about the accurate accounts of the highway’s tragic death toll and extreme conditions. Despite that, I could still relate some of the plot to the actual relationship of those historical headlines without them feeling like a recap. Confirmed stories of lost motorists freezing to death in stalled cars on abandoned stretches play out as plausible hurdles our protagonists have to consider. Imagine the simple act of turning off your car or having a flat tire could kill you due to how fast things freeze (including you). With a rough estimate, over a million people have died on this approximately 1200 mile long road in the far east of Russia.  Golden is successful at making you fear (and metaphorically feel) that cold. 

Although Tieg (or Felix Teigland) is our principle character on this journey, he is accompanied by a strong crew. Tieg is a television producer trying to make the next hit reality show. A show about the ghosts stories of the small town of Akhsut on the Road of Bones that will hopefully keep his business a float. He and his partner Prentiss set out with their guide Kaskil. It doesn’t take long for this journey to turn very very wrong when they arrive to town to find everyone but Kaskil’s small niece missing. Not only were the town folk gone, they looked to have left in quite a hurry, leaving their homes forgotten to the elements. Prentiss added the much needed levity to the story which I felt kept the interest in the characters grounded.  The additional characters that Tieg and Prentiss pick up along the way help reinforce the personality of the country and strength of those who call this frozen tundra home.

It was joyfully difficult to determine if the characters were being stalked by supernatural beings or just simply wild animals. The idea that a wolf may be more than just a wolf is left to the reader to determine. Now bare with me,  I am not sure if this would be considered a spoiler so use caution… people being possessed after death and growing antlers from their heads just isn’t the normal haunting experience I am use to. 

While reading, I kept thinking back to movies with similar isolation and terrifying creatures. Movies like John Carpenter’s The Thing and David Slade’s 30 Days of Night came to mind. When you’re in the middle of nowhere, what do you do if your friend get’s eaten or starts to grow horns? The angry ghosts of this story seem to have a slew of similarities with the Slavic creature called the Leshy as well as the Native American’s Wendigo. I really appreciate the related influences, whether intentional or not. The comparisons to the folklore did not distract but added to the intensity of the events that played out.

I read crazy, scary, fiery books to enjoy the anticipation of what may happen next. Road of Bones hit all the marks that I personally can rate with a thumbs up!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker award-winning author of Ararat, Snowblind, Dead Ringers, and Of Saints and Shadows, among many other novels. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of two cult favorite comic book series, Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective. Golden is also the editor of such anthologies as Seize the Night, The New Dead, and Dark Cities, and the co-host of the popular podcast "Three Guys with Beards." He lives in Massachusetts.

Audio Book Review / Devolution by Max Brooks

DEVOLUTION: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

Book Release Date: 05/20/21

Audio Release Date: 06/16/20

CAST: Judy Greer, Max Brooks, Jeff Daniels, Nathan Fillion, Mira Furlan, Terry Gross, Kimberly Guerrero, Kate Mulgrew, Kai Ryssdal, Steven Weber

By Jenny Robinson

You had me at Big Foot. 

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we would hear the stories of the Sasquatch. Some stories had a lone friendly beast, and others had aggressive shrewdness monsters. I personally always want the Progressive Insurance type of Big Foot, friend of man (or at least if man ever saw them). In true character, Max Brooks dives into the latter monster version. 

I usually do Max Brooks books as audiobooks. His tales fit well with a full cast due to his journalistic approach in storytelling. Listening to World War Z or Devolution feels like watching a documentary or reading a private journal first hand. Devolution fit that mold perfectly. 

Devolution revolves around my biggest fear while growing up near Seattle. What would happen if Mt. Rainer erupted? Many of the suburban towns around the city sit in the valleys that were formed last time it went BOOM! The environmental crusaders around the area makes remote living a desired life choice with a contradiction towards a lot of tech dependency. When you add all those elements together, you can see how it would be a picture perfect world, or a disaster waiting to happen. The town of Greenloop sets a perfect backdrop to this thriller for that exact reason.

The story is mostly told through the journal pages of Kate Holland (read by Judy Greer). It’s the first hand account of what happened in Greenloop once Rainer blew. Her account is told from her journal and reads more like a conversation directly with her character. Greer emotes the fear and uncertainty of Kate in a way that had me both annoyed and empathetic to her Souther Californian based character. As the story develops though, Brooks gives hints at some hidden strengths I didn’t initially see. Listening to this character evolve through the mayhem was an entertaining journey that allows a lot of revelations in hind-sight. 

The story begins simply with an article sent to a journalist (read by Max Brooks) titled “Bigfoot Destroys Town”. Nathan Fillion dives into the articles author Frank McCray’s character who is in search of his missing sister Kate. Chapter by chapter, the narration alternates from Kate’s viewpoint to those of Frank, Senior Ranger Josephine Schell (played by Kimberly Guerrero) and other researcher’s survivalist theories. Kate’s story becomes more of a flashback as it progresses. The narrator and supporting cast lead the story as more educational and instructional than fiction normally shows. This writing style works so well as a listener. I felt as if I was deep in Kate’s story, yet breaking away every chapter’s end for knowledgeable insight.

Majority of this story rotates around the idea of survivalism. If you had no way to Google how to grow food, could you? What if you couldn’t access maps online, or use a compass not connected to wi-fi? If you knew nothing of an animal’s behavior, are you protecting yourself in the best way or endangering yourself? Do you have an escape route? Do you have supplies to survive a few days or months if stranded? We are told all the time to have a plan organized incase of a disaster, yet very few people do.

So now we have a story of city folk without internet, limited survival skills, and living in a secluded area overran by the hardships of nature because they didn’t think about what could happen. That idea is scary enough. How do you extend the small amount of food each home has when the drones and Amazon vans can no longer deliver more? How do you keep the power grid on? All of these (and more) are vary valid and crucial questions posed in this story. Now, let’s throw in gigantic smart ape-like creatures that think you are dinner. 

Listening to each actor of this considerable cast adjust their characters through the horrific events makes for a truly chilling listen. There is a theme where the weak find strength and those who appeared strong become the weakest. Whether you read or listen, I encourage the horror fan in everyone to dive into this one. I really enjoyed the migration of modern man meets ancient Sasquatch.

Excerpt from the book:

At present, I have no physical evidence to validate the story you are about to read. Maybe I’ve been duped by Frank McCray, or maybe we’ve both been duped by Josephine Schell. I will let you, the reader, judge for yourself if the following pages seem reasonably plausible, and like me, if they reawaken a terror long buried under the bed of youth.

Book Review / Relentless by Jonathan Maberry

RELENTLESS

Release Date: 07/13/21

By Jenny Robinson

** This article will have minor spoilers to previous books **

Over the past 12 years, we have followed Joe Ledger’s mission in preventing one possible apocalypse after another. From keeping a lid on Sief Al Din all the way through to RAGE, Ledger and Echo/Rogue teams have stopped the world from becoming ashes. Strangely in those years and books, I find it easy to forget how Joe has always been rooted in tragedy, redemption and revenge. What has drawn me to this written evolution of Joe is that his redemption is based within honor and promise. His revenge is ultimately granted but at a price. His tragedy is forever on going, yet in spite of it all we can win. He can still see the light. 

Relentless felt different. Relentless is exactly that…relentless.

Let’s start this by saying that I believe this book is completely about Joe, and not so much about Ledger. Not Cowboy or Outlaw. No matter which direction, Book 2 of Rogue Team International focuses more on Joe’s internal war and the effects it has on his relationships. To date there are well over 25 stories that involve Joe. Even though each story has been co-piloted by his Modern Man, the Cop and the Killer (depending on who is telling the story - The Warrior), Joe has always been behind the wheel. Relentless flips that concept on its head.

We have walked “through the valley of the shadow” so many times before with Joe. Each step showing more and more cracks in his patched up veneer. An example I keep thinking about is the events at the end of The Dragon Factory where Joe was left riddled in pain after the loss of Grace, only to be followed by the short story Dog Days with the introduction of Ghost. Ghost’s and Ledger’s story both start rooted in revenge, inadvertently leading to a journey of healing and vindication. The events leading up to Relentless were larger and way more damaging. As readers, we feel we know Joe Ledger. When he is knocked down, he will get back up. We’ve seen it over and over again. This book was the first time I feared how, and if he would actually get back on his feet? What state of mind would/could we find him in? In some cases, dramatic foreshadowing to the events can be found in those previous books. In The King of Plagues, Mr. Church tells Joe “We are of a kind, Captain, and neither of us is holding a candle against the darkness. Like the unknown and unseen enemy we fight, people like you and me, we are the darkness.”

This fourth passenger now in Joe’s head “The Darkness” is fueled and fed by the mutual loathing between Ledger and Santoro. Rafael Santoro has been a constant since his introduction with the Seven Kings. The proven confidence of the Spaniard has always played out in a sort of background sense. RAGE/Relentless brings that to the foreground. The absolute hatred Santoro and Ledger have for each other became paramount. Santoro has always been a force but somewhat shadowed by the larger names like Hugo Vox and Kuga. With Rafael directly murdering Joe’s family, he struck the most disruptive personal blow Joe has ever taken. Personally speaking, Kuga took a back seat in this story. Kuga's self-confident attitude in comparison to Santoro’s self-assertiveness cannot compete. Santoro is and always has been a monster. 

I enjoyed how Joe’s story is told largely by others in Relentless. It has that “outside looking in” sensibility. The supporting cast show more of who Joe Ledger truly is than he ever could. It refreshes the importance of family and simple togetherness. There are so many examples of sacrifice within this story which drives in the importance of that fact. In my unexpected surprise, some of my favorite parts was in Toy’s development in Relentless. I believe it is some of the most enlightening and captivating character growth. Toys possesses a lot of parallels with Ledger. Both men’s love toward Junie Flynn being a big reason for both’s salvation. I wonder how Toys would have landed if he grew up with a support system like Joe, or how Joe would have turned out vice versa. Those conversations between those who love or hate Joe felt to me like closing the circle of the tragic events at the end of RAGE. Those secondary character’s role in that support circle being the deciding point on how and if Joe can overcome his obstacles, and see the light again.

The surprising twist is the inclusion of Mr. Sunday within the terrifying evil and science that exists in this world. The supernatural throwbacks and wicked wrongfulness Mr. Sunday brings only add to the terror. This has me excited and mortified for what happens next. Concerning (you know who), I feel our beloved characters are waiting for the other shoe to drop. The idea of his return is almost unbearable. 

This unabated story started early with the tech of Dog’s of War, and ultimately joined with the bio-terrorism in Rage. That convergence will take time to recover from.  My only question is… will they all be able to? Will the stakes of the war continue to grow, and become impossible? The past always finds it’s way back.

In conclusion, let’s continue the previous quote above from Mr. Church to Joe Ledger,

“In some ways we are more like the things we're fighting than the people we're protecting. Granted our motives are better--from our perspective--but we wait in the shadows for our unseen enemy to make a move against those innocents with candles. And by that light we take aim.”

For more coverage, please check out Matt’s (Two Broke Geeks) review Fourteenth Interlude: Matt Reviews Jonathan Maberry's "Relentless"

Find more about Jonathan Maberry at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Macmillan Publishers / Relentless - A Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International Novel (Rogue Team International Series Volume 2).