King of Ashes
- 560
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“King of Ashes” opens Feist’s “The Firemane Saga” with an absorbing new world and a hidden heir at its heart. When four kingdoms of Garn destroy the fifth, a baron who answers to no king finds an abandoned infant who must be its missing heir. Some readers enjoy discovering this world through its characters, though some feel the conflicts it sets up are left for later books. It is the first of three volumes.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
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. As a Free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no king. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon’s pavilion, he realizes that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren. The boy is valuable—and vulnerable. 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. Years later, another orphan of mysterious provenance, a young man named Declan, earns his Masters rank as a weapons smith. Blessed with intelligence and skill, he unlocks the secret to forging King’s Steel, the apex of a weapon maker’s trade known by very few. Yet this precious knowledge is also deadly, and Declan is forced to leave his home to safeguard his life. Landing in Lord Daylon’s provinces, he hopes to start anew.
Reading order · The Firemane Saga
Full order & progress →- King of AshesThis book
7.97.9 / 10 - Queen of StormsQueen of Storms–Not ranked yet
- Master of FuriesMaster of Furies–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 61 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 29% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 61 | 100% |
Frequently asked
How long is King of Ashes?
It has 560 pages — longer than 55% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Fantasy — with scores between 7.9 and 8.0, closest to this book.
