And yet, with this rather traditional High-Fantasy treatment, I must stress that the devil is truly in the details. It rises and falls with how good the writing is, how invested we get, and how much fun we have. As a minor aside, as well, the book is littered with printing errors (I assume they are not grammatical errors because nobody can so regularly misspell “but” as “hut”) which, for me at least, were continually irritating – an unfortunate analogy of a book that seems not to have received the attention to detail necessary. Since the fight between Kirito and Heathcliff didn't end anticlimactically, the city of Collinia didn't devolve into chaos, meaning there was no bandits nor was there a player called "The King of Ashes" in original series.

As different as the setting and world of the Firemane Saga can be, there are nonetheless echoes of Magician: Apprentice in this first book of the new trilogy, mainly from the slow-burn character development, minimal plot progression and extensive worldbuilding. Five great kingdoms on the twin continents of North and South Tembria have lived in relative peace for centuries, until one rogue king convinces the other three to betray the fifth, Ithrace. Ithrace, known as the Kingdom of Flames, is ruled by Steveren Langene, known as "the Firemane" for his brilliant red hair. The entire Kingdom is razed to the ground, and every member of the royal family is killed - or so everyone thinks. After the battle forever known as "The Betrayal", Lord Baron Daylon Dumarch finds a child hidden in his tent. All in all I felt like this was an OK new fantasy from Feist. Nothing special but it settled down to be readable enough after a sluggish start and I'll probably read the sequel when it comes along. As was the case with Stephen R. Donaldson's Seventh Decimate last year, King of Ashes was supposed to be Raymond E. Feist's big return with brand new material. And like the Donaldson, this novel was nothing but a big disappointment. . . Overall, King of Ashes is an excellent addition to Raymond E Feist’s repertoire of hard-hitting fantasy novels. Full of lush imagery, immaculately outlined characters and a narrative which will satisfy even the fussiest reader, the cessation of Feist’s hiatus from the written word could not have come at a better time.Hatu’s story line follows his exploits as he serves the Nocusara, the “hidden warriors” of the Kingdom of the Night. 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). Then it's 17 years later and the baby has grown up to be a spy for a hidden island of Coaltachin. We learn the story of Hatu, the baby who survived and how he doesn't know anything about his identity and is looking for answers whilst completing his training. Simultaneously, we get the story of Declan, the smith who was an orphan and was raised by a legendary smith. We learn of their present stories and their abilities to do more than what seems at first. Hatu finishes his training and goes for his first mission and Declan loses his only home to the raiders from sandura. Hatu learns somethings that were only known to be myths and Declan leaves his only home to survive and he ends up at Marquensas, Barony of Daylon who sent Hatu to train at Coaltachin. There are also some chapters from other characters' POVs, one of the Baron Daylon and the other Hava, friend of Hatu who is also a spy. Hatu has another friend Donte who gets lost at sea on one of the missions. 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.

For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient covenant and betray the fifth: Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames, ruled by Steveren Langene, known as “the Firemane” for his brilliant red hair. As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy. King of Ashes opens with a story of a betrayal. A longstanding alliance between the five Kingdoms of North and South Tembria is broken as the other nations conspire, some reluctantly, to destroy Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames. King Steveren Langene, known as Firemane, is executed and his entire family slaughtered, or so it is believed. One man, Baron Daylon Dumarch, seeks the aid of the so-called Kingdom of the Night to hide the survival of a single Langene infant. 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.Raymond Feist is, of course, well known for his lengthy Riftwar Cycle involving many inter-related trilogies, duologies, etc. and totaling nearly 30 books. He is known for telling his stories through his characters and this book continues that tradition. While this entire book serves as the setup for the real meat of what is to come, we do get to know the major characters very well and more importantly, really come to care for them and what the future may hold for them. The world building is so well done that I didn’t even realize how much I was learning about how it was all coming together. The prose is very down-to-earth and easily readable (once again, not like so many of today’s gritty fantasy that tries to be “literary” at the expense of good old fashioned story-telling). There is magic in this world and exotic creatures but these are only briefly touched on in this first volume…teased really. The first volume in legendary master and New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist’s epic heroic fantasy series, The Firemane Saga – an electrifying tale of two young men whose choices will determine a world’s destiny. Daughter of the Empire - Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts <-Included because this author has done amazing things in the past.