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  • King of Ashes

  • Firemane, Book 1
  • By: Raymond E. Feist
  • Narrated by: David Thorpe
  • Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (740 ratings)

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King of Ashes cover art

King of Ashes

By: Raymond E. Feist
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Publisher's Summary

A new novel from internationally best-selling author Raymond E. Feist. 

The world of Garn once boasted five great kingdoms, until the King of Ithrace was defeated and every member of his family executed by Lodavico, the ruthless King of Sandura, a man with ambitions to rule the world. 

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. 

In the small village of Oncon, Declan is apprenticed to a master blacksmith, learning the secrets of producing the mythical king's steel. Oncon is situated in the Covenant, a neutral region lying between two warring kingdoms. Since the Covenant was declared, the region has existed in peace, until violence explodes as slavers descend upon the village to capture young men to press as soldiers for Sandura. 

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. 

Meanwhile, on the island of Coaltachin, the secret domain of the Quelli Nacosti, three friends are being schooled in the deadly arts of espionage and assassination: Donte, son of one of the most powerful masters of the order; Hava, a serious girl with fighting abilities that can set any opponent on their back; and Hatu, a strange, conflicted lad in whom fury and calm war constantly, whose hair is a bright and fiery shade of red.... 

©2018 Raymond E. Feist (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

Praise for Raymond E. Feist: "File under guilty pleasure." (The Guardian)

"Get in at the start of a master's new series." (Daily Sport)

"Well-written and distinctly above average...intelligent...intriguing." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about King of Ashes

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Mediocre

I bought this based on my love of previous Feist books but I was genuinely disappointed. The characters and story just didn’t have the same punch and so many themes were repeated throughout the story that I found myself frustrated at hearing the same thing over and over again.
Also, too many elements were just too predictable to be enjoyed. The set ups were clumsy and yet they were then explained as though it wasn’t annoyingly obvious already.
I especially disliked the narration.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I am waiting for the next book...

Delving into Mr Feist new book, world, characters and lore. Two things I can say about this book is that it is nothing like his massive Riftwar saga, and when will the next one be out!

I felt that this was a book of introduction and world building. Meeting the main characters, exploring their personalities and their goals at this moment in time. The world building was remarkable, and I couldn't help comparing it with my ideas (I will be writing a blog about that at a later date).

Did I enjoy the book, oh my yes! With a Captial HELL YEAH! King of Ashes is indeed a first of three as the pace and style scream that. Characters have flaws and strengths with strong motivations. The plot hasn't revealed itself, but I can see there are more surprises in future books.

As much as I like it, the drawback of it was the restraint and too much concentrating on the introduction of this series. Which was only a small qualm of mine, it still didn't detract from me losing myself in the story and the need to know more.

I would suggest buying the book but wait until the second comes out as you find out the 'need to read now!' feeling.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

what is this?

I can remember loving magician, serpent war saga
But this story is bland at best with boring characters that scream for something, anything other than what they are.
or is it the narrator, bland bland bland.
at least reduce the price of you still feel confident in charging for this

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The new fantasy novel I've been waiting for!

I've listened to so many bad fantasy novels over the past year, waiting for a good one and this blew my expectations out of the water. Listened to the whole thing over 4 days. Can't wait for the next book

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Smutty

Did not like all the smuttyness took away from the story very crass dint like

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful

I loved it and now The Queen of Storms, this book had suspense, love, hate and pride in every word

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Could not stop listening

The story captures you from the moment you start and you get involved with the characters. Really interesting.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

4 stars

the fantasy scottish accent made me want to kill myself but otherwise the performance was good, though the female voices left something to be desired

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Meh.

This felt like it was clearly padded to get a word count. It was repetitive and that killed the enjoyment of what could have been a good story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Seems good so far

After having taken a break from feist for a while, this is pretty good to come back to. Definitely feels like it’s setting up the rest of the series as not much actually happened in this book. Was tempted to give it 3 stars just to water down those 5 star reviews that this book doesn’t deserve. Narration is decent

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