04-16-2026, 03:35 PM
King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist
Raymond Feist is still writing. Who knew? I came across his name on Facebook, where is quite active railing against the government. I can't remember the last book of his I ready, but it has to be over twenty years. But Feist continued to write Rift War novels. I think there are over 20 of them at this point.
But King of Ashes is not that. It is not part of the Riftwar Saga. (At least not for now. There are hints that might change) It's starts with a major battle where one of the five kings of Garn is betrayed by the other four. That whole line is wiped out save for one boy who is whisked away and sent to live with a mysterious clan to be raised. There is also a smith who also picks up an orphan as his apprentice.
Fast forward fifteen years. There is fractures between the remaining four kings, as the one king who put together the betrayal plan embraces the one true god and seeks to gain control of all of Garn. The story follows the lives of the two orphans. The one being trained to be basically a mob boss/ninja while the other becomes a great sword maker which will be important because all of a sudden all the kingdoms need swords.
My steady diet of grim dark fantasy makes this Fantasy romp kind of pale in comparison. Lots of cliches I've been reading for years especially the orphan who comes to realize he has magic powers. I was thinking I wouldn't need to visit any more Feist books but the ending kind of picked up with a few good curve balls and I want to see how it ends.
Raymond Feist is still writing. Who knew? I came across his name on Facebook, where is quite active railing against the government. I can't remember the last book of his I ready, but it has to be over twenty years. But Feist continued to write Rift War novels. I think there are over 20 of them at this point.
But King of Ashes is not that. It is not part of the Riftwar Saga. (At least not for now. There are hints that might change) It's starts with a major battle where one of the five kings of Garn is betrayed by the other four. That whole line is wiped out save for one boy who is whisked away and sent to live with a mysterious clan to be raised. There is also a smith who also picks up an orphan as his apprentice.
Fast forward fifteen years. There is fractures between the remaining four kings, as the one king who put together the betrayal plan embraces the one true god and seeks to gain control of all of Garn. The story follows the lives of the two orphans. The one being trained to be basically a mob boss/ninja while the other becomes a great sword maker which will be important because all of a sudden all the kingdoms need swords.
My steady diet of grim dark fantasy makes this Fantasy romp kind of pale in comparison. Lots of cliches I've been reading for years especially the orphan who comes to realize he has magic powers. I was thinking I wouldn't need to visit any more Feist books but the ending kind of picked up with a few good curve balls and I want to see how it ends.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm