{"id":81737,"date":"2018-07-19T17:22:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T06:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=81737"},"modified":"2018-07-19T17:29:59","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T06:29:59","slug":"raymond-e-feist-king-ashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/07\/19\/raymond-e-feist-king-ashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Raymond E. Feist on King of Ashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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,\u00a0King of Ashes<\/a><\/em>. I have to admit, I was a little star-struck!<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"raymond<\/a><\/p>\n

I devoured King of Ashes<\/em><\/a>. The first book in a new epic series – The Fireman Saga –\u00a0it is a truly amazing read full of drama, adventure and\u00a0action. 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\u2019t 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\u2019s Hatu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read my full review of\u00a0King of Ashes<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"raymond<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0across from the\u00a0jovial 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?”<\/p>\n

This question\u00a0intrigued the author so much that now, years later, we have a whole new world because of it!<\/p>\n

Fortunately,\u00a0Feist is used to his characters having a mind of their own. “My characters have this annoying habit of informing me what they\u2019re doing,” he says. “Rather than asking.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming off the back of his decades-long\u00a0Riftwar Cycle series and straight into a new world wasn’t as hard as it sounds.\u00a0“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\u2019t ….\u00a0<\/span>I was staring at a virtual blank sheet of paper when I started with Garn [the world of King of Ashes] <\/em>but it was a sort of recharging-the-batteries experience.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Feist told us all about\u00a0how The Firemane Saga\u00a0is a tortuously slow build written in the style of a\u00a0three-act play and, speaking from experience, King of Ashes<\/em><\/a> definitely leaves you wanting more!<\/p>\n

Listen to our full podcast interview with Raymond E. Feist below:<\/p>\n