Today marks the beginning of the fifth annual Alpha Showdown here at Vampire Book Club, and we’ve brought out the big guns. The bracket is stacked with the most badass, lethal, charismatic alphas we could find including plenty of first timers.
The opening match exemplifies this as we pit the dangerous mage Mad Rogan from Ilona Andrews’s Hidden Legacy books against the young assassin princess Celaena Sardothien from Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. These first-time Alpha Showdown combatants are primed to cut down their opponents, and their fans are equally fervent. Who will advance in the Showdown, though?
We’ve lined up excellent bloggers to fill you in on why each alpha deserves to advance. Read the pitches, and then make the call.
You know him/her from: Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews
First appeared in: Burn For Me (VBC Review | Under the Covers Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: Mage
Championed by: Suzanne @ Under the Covers Book Blog
You want someone mad, bad and dangerous to know? Then you need to look no further, Mad Rogan ticks all those box and then some. And what makes him even more bad ass? He doesn’t even care. You have someone you think is more Alpha than Mad Rogan? Well you are taking your life, and your city in your own hands. Piss him off too much and he may turn your little part of the world into a pill of rubble. Why? Because he is. Just. That. Powerful…and how exactly are you going to stop him?
And, as for the ladies, he doesn’t need to have any magical powers to have you falling for him, intense, powerful and gorgeous, he just needs to swing those peepers your way. You will be begging to worship at his feet. He may not turn your city to gravel, but he will definitely rock your world.
Powerful and wealthy Mad Rogan is a force to be reckoned with, he may give the impression of indifference but ‘ware stirring the dragon, least he devours you:
“How about you don’t kill anybody for a little bit?”
“I can’t make that promise.”
Small talk with the dragon. How are you? Eaten any adventurers lately? Sure, just had one this morning. Look, I still got his femur stuck in my teeth. Is that upsetting to you?
You know her from: Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas
First appeared in: Throne of Glass (VBC Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: Fae Assassin Princess
Championed by: Krista from VBC
No matter what you call Celaena Sardothien—Aelin, Lillian, Elentiya, Fireheart or even that bitch—she is not to be trifled with. She is a living weapon, crafted and honed in the most brutal fashion. Absolute confidence, absolute arrogance are her best shields and most beloved masks. She is a woman who has never once said sorry for being talented and determined and utterly in love with herself. She is the woman we all wish we could be.
Most of her Alpha Showdown competitors have been kicking ass and taking names for decades and centuries in some cases. So how can a girl of 19 compete? At eight she survived the slaughter of her family and kingdom. At nine she made her first kill as an assassin. She rose to be the most infamous and deadly assassin before she was 16. At 17 she went to a death camp where the life expectancy was month and survived. She then competed in a deadly competition to become the King’s Champion. Even against stacked odds she flourished and survived. She has been to the deepest abyss of despair and grief, and come out stronger and deadlier. She wears her scars like the finest jewelry. So going up against any of the champions in this year’s Alpha Showdown is pretty much redundant. She has been there, killed that, and got the t-shirt.
So let this be my only warning to all the other champions in this year’s Alpha Showdown: Do not hesitate; do not underestimate the pretty young blond girl who stands before you. Because she will not give you the same benefit. She will not be afraid, she will not hesitate, she will not break and she will not hold back. She will rage, she will survive, she will rattle the stars and she will remake the world. To paraphrase Celaena, “They have no idea what sort of darkness lurks inside her, or what sort of monster she was willing to become.”
Who are you putting your money on: the mage or the assassin?
At the request of last year’s voters, we’re going back to traditional polls for the voting, but keep reading for your chance to win awesome books. Your to-be-read pile could always use more. Trust us.
Participating in the Alpha Showdown is all about fun, and free books totally lead to fun, right? We hope you’ll find lots of great new reads during the Showdown, and to help that along, we’re giving away some stellar reads.
With Round 1 we will be giving three readers copies of Beth Cato’s steampunk debut The Clockwork Dagger. It’s the first book in her awesome steampunk series, kind of murder-on-the-orient express gone steampunk, with gremlins and healers and a sexy spy. VBC’s Margaret loved it, and you can expect we’re going to reviewing the sequel The Clockwork Crown, which releases on June 9. Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.
Every year their are Alphas up against each other that I love!
While I absolutely love Celaena, I don’t feel she’s an Alpha yet. She’s definitely a badass, but she’s still a baby alpha. She might win this thing in a year or two as her story arc progresses, but not yet. Rogan on the other hand… Yeah, he’s already there.
Mad Rogan, all the way!
Mad Rogan is the best “new” alpha out there!
Definatly Mad Rogan!
Mad Rogan
Mad Rogan – all the way!
Mad Rogan is the best!
Mad Rogan all the way!!
Mad Rogan. He can level cities!