Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Wow! This year’s Alpha Showdown has certainly been epic. We’ve had heated battles from the very beginning, surprise upsets throughout (we’re still surprised Vlad didn’t make it past the first round as he is the original Prince of the Night) and a whole lot of finding new reads. I hope you guys have had fun with this event and found yourselves some new book boyfriends.
That said, it’s time for the final two to battle it out. We’re changing things up a little bit for this final match. The polls will be unlimited. You can vote as many times as you like, and we’re extending the voting period through Monday.
So. Four days. Vote early and vote often.
It’s up to you if the 2013 Alpha Showdown winner will be Ryodan, one of the mysterious Nine, or Reyes, the son of Satan.
Reminder: Every (non-spam) comment on an Alpha Showdown post will enter you to win books featuring the final four alphas. So make sure to join the discussion and cheer on your favorite alphas.
You know him from: The Fever Series and Iced by Karen Marie Moning
First appeared in: Vocally in Bloodfever, physically in Dreamfever
Supernatural status: We’re too scared to ask
Championed by: Krista from Vampire Book Club
Every once in a while a character comes along who terrifies you, while at the same time obsessively intrigues you. You know you shouldn’t be attracted to them, but you just can’t help be dragged under their spell. Ryodan is this and so much more. The words alpha and omega should be defined by the standard he sets. So the final outcome of the Alpha Showdown 2013 is a foregone conclusion. To paraphrase Ryodan’s own words, if they’re stupid enough to show up, they’re stupid enough to die.
Some may argue that Ryodan is a more civilized version of Barron’s or the beta to Barron’s alpha but they would be wrong. This thin veneer only makes him more dangerous.
“She thinks he’s not an animal like Barrons. That he’s more civilized. She’s right, he is more polished. But it only makes him more dangerous. With Barrons you expect to get fucked up royally. With Ryodan you don’t see it coming.”
He’s the “devil in a business suit,” perceiving everything until finally making a decision. Then everyone who “pissed him off or offended him or just breathed wrong dies.” Ryodan isn’t the person who pushes you off the cliff. Instead he “allows” you to come to the conclusion that it was your own idea to jump off the cliff. Not that he couldn’t easily throw you off said cliff. It amuses him to do it this way.
“They don’t call him the master of manipulation for nothing. Barrons breaks heads. Ryodan turns them inside out. Barrons fucks you up. Ryodan makes you fuck yourself up. He pushes buttons and rearranges things to his own private, coolly sociopathic plan.”
He has the lethal magnificence of an ancient predator. He is at the top of the food chain and he revels in it. He has the crafted, impossible beauty of Greek statue, but the scars of a violent life. He doesn’t wear underwear because it chafes (“Too small and confining”). He likes sex for breakfast, “early and often.” He is the only man who can survive a fight with Barrons. The Nine (un-killable creatures like himself) are more loyal to him, than they are to Barrons.
Barrons calls him when he needs back up. He suffers no inner conflict on his choices, his needs or his actions. He is the ocean and everyone else is the earth that he shapes to his whims. He is everything which we should idolize and demonize at the same time.
There is no question in my mind and shouldn’t be in any other sane individual’s—Ryodan is the clear-cut winner of this Alpha Showdown. The rest are just pretenders. They may as well not even show up.
Ryodan says it best, “I’m King, Liege, Lord, and Master.” The rest of you are just cannon fodder.
Reyes FarrowYou know him from: The Charley Davidson Series by Darynda Jones
First appearance is: First Grave on the Right (VBC review)
Supernatural Status: The Son of Satan
Championed by: Jo from Vampire Book Club | @Jo_VBC
I see a lot of vampires, some weres and even a dragon in this year’s Alpha Showdown… but only one son of Satan. That’s right, VBC readers, make way for the one, the only Reyes Farrow.
Born from the heat of supernova, he grew to be the General of Hell, leading thousands of soldiers in countless wars… and he gave it all up for a girl. That’s right, Rey’aziel (he’s name literally means the Beautiful One!) said a big FU to his dad and became Hell’s public enemy No. 1 to spend a mortal lifetime with Charley. He didn’t just turn his back on Hell though, he decided to stand directly in the path of what his father wants most, fighting on the front line to keep Heaven and Earth safe.
Inhumanly fast, bordering on indestructible and with an immeasurable IQ, he can take just about anything on. He can fight in his corporeal and incorporeal forms AT THE SAME TIME (yep, he can be in two places at once). When corporeal he’ll use that lethal body to take you out, but when incorporeal he’ll severe your spine without so much as a mark. He’s literally badass enough to scare the dead.
But it isn’t just all about the fighting, oh no. He can be compassionate and kind, he loves with his whole heart and would die in a heartbeat for those he holds close. He’s always willing to make himself look like the bad guy (or in some cases to actually be the bad guy) in order to protect someone else. His Alpha energy may intimidate people on an instinctual level, but for those who truly know him, he inspires unwavering loyalty.
Oh and he does all this looking like tattooed sex on legs, rendering most women speechless when he walks in a room.
Ultimate Alpha = Reyes Farrow. ‘Nough said.
This poll will be open until 11:59 p.m. CST on Monday, June 3. Alpha with the most votes will take the title.
I’m not trying to start a fight it was more fun when it was a close battle they are taking it a little far if you ask me. Its not even a battle right now its just a blow out. I love Reyes but I wouldn’t of wanted to win by a freaking blow out. This is just past the fun part now. *shaking head* I just don’t get some people.
Ryodan blew ahead yesterday when KMM posted the link on her FB and started promoting Ryodan through several posts. It shot up his votes and he has since broken away from Reyes. The same thing happened with JZB and Curran two years ago. They were closer and then KMM promised a JZB POV sex scene on her FB if he won and it was gameover for Curran after a few hours.
I spent the majority of my Sun voting for Ryo, clicking& refreshing over & over again. I was actually waiting to be kicked out, like other times, but I never was. I honestly wouldn’t care if in the end we lost, this poll is just just supposed to be fun. But after KMM posted about Ryo her fans started clicking/voting in mass . We are all very passionate about the books we love, so hurt feeling are likely to happen in some regard (just look at the past posts, very rude prudent defensive from both sides).
Thank you for turning me onto a new book series! I can’t wait to start reading First Grave!
I don’t know why my kindle added prudent…. oh well lol
Btw – you don’t have to hit “refresh”, just click on “Return to Poll” (at the bottom of the poll). Way faster!
Thanks =) much easier lol!
Actually she posted that she would write a JZB POV sex scene if he won! She had actually said all along that she would. So, that helped him win… besides… its Barrons! The fact that she held up her end of the bargain is one of the reason her fans love her! It’s part of the reason we vote for her characters.. the other reason being that we just love them! 😀
Curran won last year though 😉
Lovely….
Gotta give it up for Reyes!
Not sure how it is unlimited voting, when it keeps telling me I need “cool down” period… Frustrating…..
It’s the poll’s way of making sure you’re not a robot. Give it a couple minutes and you’ll be able to vote again.
Will try.
Now I get this “We have detected suspicious activity on this poll. Please try again later.” Yup, nothing to see move along… Ugh…
you were voting too fast, gotta pace yourself. when i get locked out it’s more than “a few minutes” it’s been up to 6 hours of being locked out.
My apologies. They’ve updated the rules. The “cooling off” period, if you vote too quickly from the same IP address, is 4 hours. (Our comments section functions similarly, but the cooling off period is just minutes, not hours.)
You’re right, it is about pacing yourself.
no worries! I just come back every now and then and vote a few times, refresh, vote a few more times, then go do something else for awhile. gives me a reason to stop cleaning every now and then haha
Those of us in cali just getting up
Go Reyes! Go Poland! 🙂
I absolutely worship reyes…but i wonder why they didn’t put Bones on here from Jennie Frost? Thats one Alpha vamp too…but hey reyes all the way!
They only take noms for Alphas that were the main character in a release that year- since there wasn’t a Cat/Bones book released during the qualifying time, he was not eligible. He has been in it in the past though.
thanks for clearing that up for me Kristin!
I am a KMM fan, but I came across Frost and BONES!!! Total alpha vamp. Have reread those as much as the Fever series
Polish fans of Reyes won’t give up! It’s obvious that he should win so… people around the world vote as many times as you can!
I just had to pick up First Grave book with Reyes in it after seeing him on here. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! Now in his corner.
Come on REYES has to win!!
I do have to hand it to the Reyes fans there are doing a fine job of keeping him in the running and even sometimes pushing him ahead despite the fact that Darynda is only mainly promoting on her page for the most part while the KMM fans are promoting on multiple group sites, pages, as well as KMM’s own page, way more exposure to vote. So kudos and may the best Alpha win, though they are both truly awesome. I <3 ReyRey and I <3 Ryo
Obviously Polish fans are in Team Reyes ^_^ Fighting!
I am slightly amazed by how many vote for Ryo considering he is the ” hero” of only one book. I love Ryo even more than Barrons am happy to see the support. Go TEAM! Go!
Agreed! I like Barrons, but I was never into him like I’m into Ryo. Honestly though I’m not even gonna be slightly upset/disappointed/etc if Reyes wins. Ryo’s only one book in and he’s kinda the obvious winner for next year.
I’ve always been the reader that falls for the secondary characters, so it really didn’t shock me that I fell for Ryodan, especially since I disliked Barrons with an intensity that sometimes bordered on hatred. Ryo appealed to me from the very moment he stepped into the series. The fact that there was so little said about him – tall, dark, mysterious, scarred, and sexy – sucker punched me in my libido. I was thrilled when KMM decided to spin off into Dani’s storyline because I knew I’d get more Ryo. (Now, if I could just get a nod! 😀 )
Team Ryodan all the way!
Wanted to vote for Karen’s character and read synopsis of both characters, wow I have to say, there are no losers here. Talk about sexy characters!
it’s been an extremely close fight and I have to say I’m a loyal Moning Maniac and Ryo gets my vote even though I wished Christian had made it to the finals.
Team Reyes total e irrevocablemente enamorada.
Vamos Reyes
Love this poll every year! I love me some Ryoden so he gets my vote, but I’ve enjoyed voting for all the others as well.
Reyes-Shmeyes. Ryodan gets my votes all day and all night. End of story.
KMM’s fans are called “Moning Maniacs” for a reason. They go to the wall for their favorite characters. Seems that Ms. Jones’ fans are just as devoted. It’s making for an excellent showdown! Regardless of who wins, the battle has been entertaining to watch. May the best unkillable dude win (… a.k.a. RYODAN!! 😛 )
While I certainly have my hopes regarding who wins, and I find it refreshing to see so many as excited as I am, it’s a bit disturbing the way some are reacting. I teach middle school and some of the behavior (not on this thread, but others I’ve see) makes me wonder if my students are posting.
I enjoy the interaction and I appreciate the intros to new characters/series/authors that this tourney has provided!
I feel like the only person who thinks the chronic serial voting on the Alpha’s challenge is defeating the spirit of the contest. Now it is just about who can access the internet and can click the fastest versus who is actually the best alpha. I hope the website changes it’s voting rules for next year, because it is gotten to an insane degree, imo. You can be a fan, I *AM* a fan, but I’m not dedicated hours of my time, or days of my life, to clicking a radio button as many times as possible to out click someone else who is an equally devoted fan. My hat is off to your clicking dedication, just remember that you can be a fan (and a great fan) without obsession.
I completely agree, but I think it was a lose/lose for VBC on this. Prior to the final round you could only vote once, but there was a lot of fighting and accusations being thrown about cheating. So to avoid the mass hysteria on cheating, the rules were changed to unlimited voting- and now it’s a clickfest.
Sad, and unnecessary if fans didn’t let it get out of control. Oh well.
I agree! It got way outta control this year. :/
Totally agree! Again this thing should be fun & there are a ton of people that fans of both series…which is what makes the whole cheating thing so depressing. You can like both characters. Just lots of vitrol this year.
Agreed. This year ruined the Alpha Showdown for me, and I WILL NOT be coming back next year to participate.
This is the first time hearing of this contest. What a great idea! I’m all about Ryodan, but so happy to have a new series to try.
With some of these hot characters, I’m not surprised the poll enforces a “cooling off” period. LOL. I love Reyes so had to vote for him but looking forward to reading about Ryodan. This Showdown has given me a lot of books to put on my “to read” list.
I agree COMPLETELY! I’ve never heard of Jones’ work before but I’m glad I have. Looking forward to reading who is to mighty against Moning’s Ryodan. 😀
Reyes!
Ryodan!!
Fun fact… alpha (Greek first letter) comes from aleph (Hebrew first letter) which has the meaning of power and leader. Granted I’ve only read Ms. Moning’s work, but if I was just reading the little snippets that were written on this page I’d have to say that while Reyes seems to fit the leader (He’s powerful too,) role more so than what I know of Ryodan, Ryodan can also be very loyal, he’s honest, blunt and strong enough to carry the weight of a post apocalyptic Dublin club scene by himself. I am determined to read Jones’ works now because she has such a loyal, strong fanbase to go up to the terrifying and obsessed over Ryodan. So my vote(s) go to Ryodan of course because I’m a Fever Addict but I’ve really enjoyed this challenge between all you other readers and I just wanted to say that no matter who wins we’ve pitted two intelligent, cunning, predator characters who are well versed and depthed on a HUGE blowout. Cheers to the victor!
I love Ryodan but this whole thing has been compelling and entertaining (if you ignore the lunatics who take it all waayyyy too seriously). I can’t wait to check out Reyes and Charlie. They must be great if their fans are as dedicated as the “Maniacs”!
Go Ryodan!!!!!
Big fan of KMM but reyes ios the major alpha for me on this. There is one word for this man and that is SEXY!!!!! RARRR!;)
Looking forward to checking out a a new series…but since I’m a Fever addict like many others Ryodan gets my vote this round 🙂
Yeah. I”m definitely gonna be checking out the other books from the characters featured, b/c there were some I was interested in. For Charley Davidson, I might have to try again. I had started it but couldn’t get into it. But definitely will be looking into all the series featured. But this year the Alpha Showdown was a little crazy with some people. Taking it way too seriously and being rude. Hopefully it can be all friendly competition next time.
Come on Reyes!
Who ever wins this, both of these guys are giant ALPHAS to their fans.
I don’t supposed I could sway any voters who may be on the fence to vote Reyes? I’d love to read the Reyes POV story Darynda promised if he won. 😉
Did she promise a new story in his POV? I think she released one last year in his POV.
She did, if he won the Alpha Showdown.
Go Reyes !!!!!
I think the real winners have been the readers given so many new possible alphas to read about. But, as they say in Highlander ‘there can be only one’ – so Go RYO!!! How would Ryo go against Barrons??
BARRONS!!!! LOL!
I think Barrons would win in that one….lol…..Love Barrons!!!!
200, 000 here we come wow we thats alot
Come on guys, everyone will get Reyes a POV story if he wins! Plus KMM has already won this in the past… Vote Reyes! 🙂
I am looking forward to reading The Charley Davidson series. It sounds interesting after reading the short bio on Reyes. I love the “Fever” series and voted for Ryodan for that reason.
Ryodan all the way!
I just want to say, after seeing all the comments on here, good and bad, that I have read both series and honestly love both authors and their amazing works. Just by how avidly both characters are being defended you can see how well they have managed to draw us into their world’s and how we have fallen in love with their books. Win or lose I will still love Reyes and win or lose I will still love Ryoden. Individually not everyone will love every character that an author writes, and we all have our favorites 🙂 but both authors are truly amazing and we as readers should remember that they have put their heart and souls into their stories and we should show them respect. In the end this is just a fun poll that has put the spotlight on some of our favorite series and on new series that we may not have read yet, I know I have added a few books to my wishlist.
No winner for the 2013 showdown for me the unlimited voting has totally destroyed the fun of this. I have no idea if people like a character or if there are 20 people out there clicking like crazy. I hope this doesn’t happen next year. I love both these guys but some people and or authors are nutty about what should be a fun thing.
This is the last year that I am voting. Don’t like this multiple votings and voting bots stuff.
I vote for Reyes and from the looks of it he will not win but that’s ok I’ll love him all the same! With the other vote looks like I’ll be reading a new book with a new book BF! I have never read ICED and it looks like I won’t be disappointed! Thanks for the contest and for the great new book to read!
I’m going to be giving the Charley books another shot. I read the first one a while back but couldn’t get my hands on the second so the series fell through the cracks for me. Seeing the devotion of the fans has made me put it back on my priority list, though.
Just a friendly suggestion about KMM’s books… If you want a proper introduction to the characters who are feature in ICED, read the Fever series first (starts with Darkfever). And you might also want to check out the Highlander series for some crossover characters (and more book BFs 😉 ). It isn’t necessary to read the Highlander books for the Fever world to make sense, but the Keltars are a fun bunch to read about. Enjoy!
We love Reyes and We Love Ryodan, this has been SO much fun! Love the authors that give us these amazing men!
I want to thank VBC for hosting this contest. I’ve learned about some new to me authors, and enjoyed pitting our man Reyes against the mighty Moning Machine. Thanks again.
Grimy Grimlet.
Thank you VBC for being awesome and hosting this for us die-hards! I can wait for next year! Grimlet Power
Lets go Ryodan!
I would REALLY like to thank The Vampire book club for hosting this great event…and all the wonderful people who have participated in the fun poll….I especially want to put a SHOUT out to all my fellow GRIMLETS!!!! Ladies you totally rock and it’s been a pleasure serving with you….My FAV will ALWAYS be REYES!!!! But we Grimlets are small in number we made our presence known and there is ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!!!! PEACE OUT!!! STORMY GRIMLET!!!!!