Raymond E. Feist on King of Ashes

I love all things fantasy, especially when it involves a powerhouse author like Raymond E. Feist. Upon hearing that he was coming into Booktopia, I may have lost my cool just a little bit. It’s not every day we get an internationally bestselling giant like Raymond E. Feist swinging by for a chat about his new novel, King of Ashes. I have to admit, I was a little star-struck!

And with over 15 million copies sold and over 30 books to his name (every single one still in print), it was a massive privilege to speak with this world renowned author. 

I devoured King of Ashes. The first book in a new epic series – The Fireman Saga – it is a truly amazing read full of drama, adventure and action. It tells the story of Hatu, the only surviving member of the legendary Firemanes family, the royal family of Ithrace. Hatu’s family were betrayed and murdered by the ruthless and cold-blooded Lodavico, the King of Sandura. Only Hatu doesn’t know this, since he was only a baby at the time. Raised by a secret society whose purpose is to infiltrate, spy and occasionally kill, Hatu is being trained to become an unstoppable killing machine. And if anyone has a debt to settle, it’s Hatu.

Read my full review of King of Ashes here.

Now that you know a little bit about the plot, you might be wondering where this idea came from? The truth is, Raymond E. Feist heard a voice in his head! As we sat across from the jovial author, Feist explained to us how one morning he woke up with a voice in his head asking one question: “Who’s the King of Ashes?”

This question intrigued the author so much that now, years later, we have a whole new world because of it!

Fortunately, Feist is used to his characters having a mind of their own. “My characters have this annoying habit of informing me what they’re doing,” he says. “Rather than asking.” 

Coming off the back of his decades-long Riftwar Cycle series and straight into a new world wasn’t as hard as it sounds. “I wanted to go in different directions in the narrative style and I wanted to talk about different things in different orders than I had before,” says Feist. “It gets very easy to write the 31st book about Pug and Tomas, so I didn’t …. I was staring at a virtual blank sheet of paper when I started with Garn [the world of King of Ashes] but it was a sort of recharging-the-batteries experience.”

Feist told us all about how The Firemane Saga is a tortuously slow build written in the style of a three-act play and, speaking from experience, King of Ashes definitely leaves you wanting more!

Listen to our full podcast interview with Raymond E. Feist below:

King of Ashes

The Firemane Saga: Book 1

by Raymond E. Feist

At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician - and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever.

Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun.

Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug's destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic.

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About the Contributor

Bronwyn Eley

Before entering the exciting world of books, Bronwyn served in the Royal Australian Air Force, travelled extensively and worked (still does!) as a barista on the weekends. Books are her true passion. Bronwyn's debut fantasy novel Relic is coming out in 2019 with indie publishing house Talem Press. They are to publish her entire trilogy called The Relic Trilogy. In her spare time, Bronwyn writes, reads and enjoys keeping fit (which she undoes by eating loads of chocolate) with Martial Arts and personal training. She can't answer what her favourite book is but she has a soft spot for Peter Pan (J.M Barrie), Outlander (Diana Gabaldon), Stardust (Neil Gaiman), The Illuminae Files (Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman) and Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo). Fantasy, sci-fi and YA make up the majority of her bookshelves.

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