As a result I flipped the last page feeling like I’d watched the first episode of a TV series and there were nine episodes to come as opposed to having invested 6 hours of reading and being right in the guts of the story. And whilst this is very much a first book in the series and the set up for the future is important, I feel that the current crop of writers are being held to a stricter standard in terms of having a conclusion that pulls threads together, wows the readers and gets the pulse racing.
You will get to know the characters, enjoy moments in their lives and wonder how they fit into the big picture, but there is little in the way of surprises or events unfolding that you could never have seen coming. Frankly, I don’t know if this qualifies as a spoiler or not because it’s never happened to me before, but I feel it is something a potential reader should know. I jumped at the chance to read King of Ashes when Harper Voyager sent me an early copy and had high hopes of becoming hooked again.įirst things first, you read the blurb at the top, yeah? Well the entire plot of the novel is covered in that blurb. The Empire trilogy he wrote with Jenny Wurts featuring the indomitable Mara of the Acoma is another personal treasure from my youth and Mara and Arasaki again are two characters I’ll never forget. His book Magician was one of the first fantasy books I ever read and Jimmy the Hand from that series is one of my favourite characters of all time. King of Ashes has its roots in much of the popular fantasy from the past and embraces the tropes the writer helped establish.
Slipping back into Raymond Feist’s new series is a treat. The legendary, long-ago Battle of Betrayal has never truly ended…….and they must discover the secret of who truly threatens their world.” Soon, the two young men – an unknowing heir to a throne and a brilliantly talented young swordsmith – will discover that their fates, and that of Garn, are entwined. Landing in Lord Daylon’s provinces, he hopes to start anew. Yet this precious knowledge is alos deadly, and Declan is forced to leave home to safeguard his life. Blessed with intelligence and skill, he unlocks the secret to forging King’s Steel, the apex of a weapon maker’s craft known be very few. Years later, another orphan of mysterious province, a young man named Declan, earns his Masters rank as a weaponsmith.
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. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon’s pavilion, he realises that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren.
As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy.Īs a free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no King. 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, know as “the Fireman” for his brilliant red hair. “For Centuries, the five greatest Kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace.