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Alpha Showdown 2015 Round 1: Mad Rogan vs. Celaena Sardothien

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VBC: Home of Alpha ShowdownToday 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.

MAD ROGAN

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

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews // VBC ReviewYou 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?

Celaena Sardothien

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

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas // VBCNo 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.”

 VOTE!

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.

 

 WIN!

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

61 Responses to “Alpha Showdown 2015 Round 1: Mad Rogan vs. Celaena Sardothien”

  1. Timitra says:

    Love me some Mad Rogan!

  2. Arianna says:

    Mad Rogan!

  3. Nikki says:

    Hard choice first up – love them both!

  4. susan emans says:

    Mad Rogan!

  5. Katie says:

    I have a lot of reading to do!

  6. Sheena T says:

    I am not familiar with Celaena but from that description I am about to go do some more research. With that being said I am going with who I know and what they are def capabale of. Mad Rogan.
    But will be adding Throne of Glass to be TBR list.

  7. Shannon says:

    I admit that I have not read Throne of Glass. As such, I’m not familiar enough with Celaena to vote for her. She may be added to my ‘to buy’ list. Of course, my ‘to read’ list is already waaaaay too long. I voted for Mad Rogan. I’m so excited that the Showdown has begun!

  8. BookAttict says:

    I voted for Mad Rogan!

  9. Laura says:

    I had to base my vote on the champions alone – great job by both! I don’t want to say who I voted for because it was a hard choice. Good luck everyone!

  10. Alison says:

    Love them both but Mad Rogan has series badass skills

  11. Cool love this contest

  12. Irene says:

    MAD ROGAN – didn’t like Celaena all that much 🙂

  13. Jackie Evans says:

    Exciting start to another showdown.

  14. Kelsey C. says:

    Mad Rogan for sure!

  15. Mariana Ogawa says:

    ouww!!!
    the alpha showdown has start /
    i pick Celaena, i love badass girls =D

  16. snapdragon says:

    I like both but Rogan won it for me.

  17. jen says:

    You know what I love most about this contest? Not just the chance to obsess and drool over our favorite book crushes, but to find out what series we missed! Throne of Glass is next up on the TBR list.

  18. ssloo13 says:

    Come on! Let’s hear it for badass women! Go Calaena!

  19. Yvonne A says:

    Mad Rogan

  20. Mad Rogan!!!!! He was on my nomination list. 🙂

  21. Natasha Borg says:

    Celaena. And feeling very ashamed that I don’t know who Mad Rogan is how could I have missed that series.

  22. Maryse says:

    Mad Rogan really is a top alpha and unfortunately I still haven’t read the throne of glass so I voted for the one I know.

  23. I love seeing a chick on the bracket today but since I’ve not read her I voted for Mad Rogan.

  24. Christine says:

    Mad Rogan for the win!

  25. Maggie says:

    Mad Rogan!

  26. Brittany says:

    Mad Rogan definitely

  27. Kamelia says:

    Mad Rogan!

  28. Lola says:

    Whoever wrote Mad Rogan’s pitch could have done a lot better to showcase his greatness. He’s not just a Mage, he’s a telekinetic Prime with off-the-charts level of power.

    Ilona’s short descripton of Rogan was better than Rogan’s whole pitch on here “He possesses an almost unbelievable magic power…he was instrumental in several decisive victories of Mexico, a magic powerhouse, which earned him such nicknames as Huracan, Butcher, and Mad. Rogan is an enigma. He is ruthless, intelligent, and stubborn…”

  29. Emalie says:

    Definitely Mad Rogan

  30. Anya says:

    Mad Rogan. Never liked Celaena, like at all.

  31. Vanessa says:

    Mad Rogan

  32. christina says:

    Mad rogan

  33. Felicia Sidoma says:

    Mad for the win!!!.

  34. erinf1 says:

    Mad Rooooogan 🙂 thanks for such a fun event!

  35. Arnie says:

    I’m new here but soe of these are favorites of mine, so i would like to vote. How do you go about casting a ballot?

  36. Lais says:

    QUEEN CELAENA / AELIN!!!

  37. Jessie F says:

    OMG! Mad Rogen is the best new character I have come across!!!!!!!!!!!!

  38. Susan says:

    May the best alpha win!

  39. Joani S says:

    I guess I’m in the minority but I voted for Celaena!! 🙂

  40. Soraya Jennifer says:

    Celaena is awesome but Mad Rogan FTW!

  41. Sarah says:

    First time participating in Alpha Showdown! So excited! May the best alpha win!!! #Mad Rogan

  42. joe says:

    I am a huge fan of Ilona Andrews, so it’s Mad for me.

  43. Liz S says:

    Mad Rogan for the win!

  44. Brad says:

    Well I hated to vote against Ilona Andrews Mad Rogan, but he is no Kate Daniels. I had to go with Celaena since she is what I would want in an Alpha like Kate Daniels. Celaena as said in the write up has experienced things in her short 19 year life then most in a lifetime. Celaena wins this round in my book. It will be hard to overcome all the faithful Ilona Andrews readers.

  45. Mad Rogan! I just read Burn for Me and it was awesome! 🙂

  46. Berenice says:

    Oooohh, I so love, love Mad Rogan!

  47. Elizabeth says:

    I’ve never read the other book before, so…Celaena!

  48. Aliyah says:

    Mad Rogan is awesome! I can’t wait for the next book.

  49. cindy vinzant says:

    Mad Rogan is awesome!

  50. Tori says:

    I enjoy both series but Mad Rogan isn’t an alpha yet. He’s just powerful and a bit of a bully. Cel has earned her spot.

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