King of Ashes: Book One of The Firemane Saga

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Enter King of Ashes, the newest book from Raymond E. Feist, the start to an entirely new series of books following the end to his magnum-opus, ‘ The Riftwar Cycle’, which started with one of the most popular fantasy books of the last few decades, Magician.

King of Ashes marked the beginning of a brand new series and I knew I wanted to give it a shot. Needless to say, I wanted nothing more than to see Feist return to form and produce the sort of ripping yarn on which his fame and success were based. Something awesome akin to titles such as Prince of the Blood, The King's Buccaneer, or Shards of a Broken Crown. Alas, I'm sad to report that this new novel is pretty much a failure to launch. Based on my last experiences with the author, my expectations were relatively low. And still, the first installment of the Firemane Saga was a major disappointment. Had this been written by anyone else, I would have quit after a few chapters. This being a Feist book, I persevered till the very end, only to discover that there was no payoff and nothing that made me want to read the next volume. The characters were depressingly two-dimensional and the overarching story the epitome of convenient contrivance. By the end of the book I’m fairly certain everyone was related to everyone else or had at least arrived at the same location “by happenstance”– the author’s pen strokes blatantly obvious. While Declan’s story was at times intriguing, it was marred by overbearing contrivance and laziness, while Hatu’s story and his character development were simply abysmal. At some point towards the end of the book the narrator explains that Hatu was not prone to introspection – which made me laugh aloud, considering that the majority of his chapters were overburdened with his weirdly ignorant obsession with life around him and the author’s preternatural need to “tell” us everything instead of “showing” us anything. Few authors have had the effect that Raymond Feist has had on the fantasy genre. He is as synonymous with grand fantasy novels as Stephen King is with horror. As of right now, Feist has written 30+ books, most notably the Riftwar Cycle. A collection of fantasy stories that revolve around the world of Midkemia and Kelewan. However, Feist's newest series, The Firemane Saga, has the potential to be as widespread and loved as the Riftwar Cycle. As a Free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no king. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon’s pavilion, he realizes that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren. The boy is valuable—and vulnerable. A cunning and patient man, Daylon decides to keep the baby’s existence secret, and sends him to be raised on the Island of Coaltachin, home of the so-called Kingdom of Night, where the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the “Hidden Warriors,” legendary assassins and spies, are trained.

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Soon, the two young men—an unknowing rightful heir to a throne and a brilliantly talented young swordsmith—will discover that their fates, and that of Garn, are entwined. The legendary, long-ago War of Betrayal has never truly ended . . . and they must discover the secret of who truly threatens their world.

Having read the far majority of all of Feist's works before now, and even doing so recently, I was pretty astounded to learn that he had a NEW fantasy series. One that requires no previous knowledge or the need to rely on vast previous worldbuilding.The other main character, Declan, was a young and talent While I would have preferred the story to be faster paced, by the conclusion of this first instalment in the Firemane series, the slow burn allowed so many facets to be explored without skimping on the details. While not full of plot twists and murdery moments, the action within carried the story to a finale which was both fitting and confirmed the readers suspicions. Towards the end, our main characters meet, albeit briefly, and then head their separate ways, a point that may lead to frustration in some and elation in others. A word of warning though – the epilogue turns everything on its head and leads to a revelation the reviewer could never have envisioned. Ithrace's ruling family were the legendary Firemanes, and represented a great danger to the other kings. Now four great kingdoms remain, on the brink of war. But rumour has it that the newborn son of the last king of Ithrace survived, carried off during battle and sequestered by the Quelli Nacosti, a secret society whose members are trained to infiltrate and spy upon the rich and powerful throughout Garn. Terrified that this may be true, and that the child will grow to maturity with bloody revenge in his heart, the four kings have placed a huge bounty on the child's head. The world-building of King of Ashes is thoughtful, expansive, and detailed. A well thought out world is Feist's wheelhouse. Although his stories tend to be character-based, Feist gives a perfect amount of detail to his worlds so that the reader can get a clear picture in their head. Any missing information can be filled in by imagination. The characters are highly detailed, and the dialog does not ever have a forced or static feel to it—the bane of many fantasy books. Feist's characters tend to speak like humans and have human reactions. Honestly, Raymond Feist is a master at this kind of fantasy. You would think that a lost child destined to save the world, might be a little tropey. In any other hands, it probably would be. But this is Feist, and he could write a phone book and have it be engaging. This is a new series of books not related to the Riftwar Cycle. This series will be known as King of Ashes. The first two books have now been named.

King of Ashes details the fall of the Ithrace kingdom through great treachery. For more than a century, the five nations worked in partnership with each other to build a world of great prosperity. This is especially true of the Ithrace kingdom. They are known for the beauty of the land and a love of the arts and wealth that far exceeds the other four kingdoms. It indeed was a magnificent kingdom of milk and honey. The King of Ashes begins with a prologue after the great betrayal, and Ithrace is burning to the ground. The King of Ithrace, Steveren Langene, and his entire family are brought onto a stage and unceremoniously have their throats cut. The aim was to destroy every Firemane member and eradicate the family line. Declan must escape, to take his priceless knowledge to Baron Daylon Dumarch, ruler of Marquensas, perhaps the only man who can defeat Lodavico of Sandura, who has now allied himself with the fanatical Church of the One, which is marching across the continent, imposing its extreme form of religion upon the population and burning unbelievers as they go.This is my first read from the critically acclaimed Raymond E. Feist so I was very excited to read this. So he had betrayed a man he loved like a brother to spare his people future ravages. As the priests of the One God would say, Daylon had made his pact with the Dark One; he had sold his soul.” I received an advance reader copy of King of Ashes in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Raymond E. Feist and Harper Voyager. Realizing that the boy must be the remaining heir of the slain King Steveren, Daylon sends him away to be raised on the island of Coaltachin, known as the Kingdom of Night. He bids the lethal force of legendary assassins and spies to raise the boy as their own. The boy, known as Hatu, learns all the skills of an assassin and spy, but when a mission goes terribly wrong, the life he thought he would be living is thrown into chaos. Five kingdoms used to co-exist in Garn, spread across the two continents of North and South Tembria. The Kingdom of Flames was destroyed by an act of betrayal and the ruling line of Firemanes completely wiped out, or so it was thought.

The other main character, Declan, was a young and talented smith, who witnessed the further collapse of the Covenant as mercenaries traversed the land to press capable men into service for the covetous King of Sandura. In my opinion, Declan's POV is the less interesting of the two main characters. There is also a third POV, who has only a few chapters to her name - Hava, a close friend of Hatu's, and the best female fighter amongst the students in his school. While Hatu is perhaps a little less so, the other two seem to be fairly cookie-cutter characters. No. Normally my constructive analysis allows me to figure out who might be a more appropriate audience for a given title. Or at the very least, I concede that it might be just me who didn’t like it. In this case, I know it bothered me more than most, but I still wouldn’t hand it to anyone and would actively discourage someone from reading it. It was that bad. The King of Ashes was the working title for a new series of books, not related to the Riftwar Cycle. There are currently planned 3 books, the titles of which will be made known at a future time. This novel is traditional epic fantasy. By that, I mean that unlike much of today’s “gritty” fantasy, the heroes face tough situations and decisions and make their way through them much like a true hero would. They may make mistakes but their motivations are good. You will not find F-bombs in this book nor anti-heroes as main characters (at least not yet…some are still sufficiently vague to really know for sure). The reader meets as well his friends Donte and Hava, also training up with the Nocusara. Hatu’s exploits take us to several places within the North Tembria, and we gain hints of major plots on the verge of unfolding. He also encounters several deadly adversaries, and by the end of the novel, he has learned his true lineage, and finds himself pursued by at least two different groups: one bent on killing him, the other supposedly wanting to help him. Meanwhile, another threat, one from much closer, looms large.

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In other words, ya'll be fools to pass this up if you're into good modern fantasy written by a master of the field with all the heart of the classics (some of which, HE WROTE). It starts off towards the end of a war where one kingdom was taken over by the other four kingdoms and their line is perished or so everyone thought. A baby survives who is the heir of the fallen kingdom, Ithrace and the baby is sent away by a baron to a secret place where the baby is to be trained and taken care of.