Kill an heir, claim their magic.

Subei and his brothers have been raised on stories of the Great Khan, their ancestor who conquered the world with might, mind, and fearsome magic. But the Great Khan is long dead and his power vanished.

The brothers live by his laws still, even as infighting consumes their once-proud people. When a sacred artifact is destroyed in an attempt on their lives, Subei, Bataar, and Kashi find themselves imbued with slivers of the Great Khan’s magic—and they’re not alone.

Under the tutelage of a famed commander, and the guidance of a stoic monk, the brothers are ordered to hunt the other ‘heirs’ and claim their magic for the khanate. With each kill, they grow stronger. But the magic that empowers them is no mere tool. Something ancient, alive, and angry dwells within it.

Kill an heir, claim their magic. But at what cost?

Servant of Rage launches in all formats on March 11, 2025. You can pre-order it here.

On Writing Servant of Rage 

by Alex Knight

No matter where my publishing adventures take me, coming back to the Fantasy Hive feels like coming home. Part of that’s because my journey into publishing began right here, helping launch this site. A whole lot more of that is because of the wonderful community here cultivated by Beth, Nils, and the team who have—for years now!— lovingly maintained this paradise of fantasy fanfare.

emotional intro that’s complimentary to the hosts. . . ✔️

What’s more, when I released my debut fantasy novel, The Fantasy Hive was there to steady my ungainly first steps. TFH hosted my cover reveal, encouraged me to enter SPFBO, and in general, stoked the inspiration that’s allowed me to do this job full-time. But it all started here, with a cover reveal for my first ever book, Servant of Rage.

continue throughline of complimentary intro. . .✔️

smoothly introduce marketing objective. . .✔️

So six years and nine books later, when my publisher told me they wanted to re-release Servant of Rage in a much-improved, new edition, TFH was the only place I could imagine breaking the good news!

brag about publishing milestones in a way that feels humble and unintentional. . .✔️

The Fantasy Hive was incredibly gracious to have me back, and it was a joy to unveil the new cover here with everyone! In that post, I promised to return and talk about what’s different between the original edition of Servant of Rage and the new one. 

link to new cover reveal post to drive additional views. . .✔️

pivot to the meat of the post. . .✔️

demonstrate value proposition to reader. . .✖️ 

The Fantasy Hive was incredibly gracious to have me back, and it was a joy to unveil the new cover here with everyone! In that post, I promised to return and talk about all the incredible changes that’ve been made to Servant of Rage and why buying this book will improve your life immeasurably / solve that problem you’ve been having / get you that promotion!

demonstrate value proposition to reader. . .✔️ 

It’s rare to return to a previously published book and release a whole new edition, but Servant of Rage has always been a story I’ve cared deeply about, so when the opportunity arose, I had to take it. Aside from the fact the book’s finally getting an audiobook edition (brought to life by the legendary Tim Gerard Reynolds, of Red Rising narration fame) the biggest change readers will notice is the first act. It turns out, somewhere between publishing my first book and my ninth, I learned a few things about plotting. The book’s first act has been entirely reworked and now features ten all new chapters to better introduce our characters, the world, and the magic system that’s so central to the events to come. Of all the changes I made, I know this one helped the most. When I first wrote Servant of Rage, I was just meeting the characters. Now that I’ve spent 100,000+ words with them (and know explicitly where they’re headed in the sequels) I’ve been able to return to their first steps and give them the introduction—and foreshadowing—they deserve!

describe how the first act just totally kicks ass now. . .✔️

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seed “foreshadowing” to encourage speculation. . .✔️

Another benefit of having had Servant of Rage out in the world prior has been hearing all of the wonderful feedback from readers. What you loved, what you wanted more of, what chapter absolutely bucked the pace of the entire book and definitely had to be—ahem. I’m legitimately honored to have returned to Servant of Rage with all of this in mind. As such, at least one more main character is now a POV character, and the fan fan favorite characters have been expanded on—both in backstory and presence on page. (But no, I’m not undoing [REDACTED]’s death. It’s important to the plot, stop asking!) 

state title again to ensure it’s properly burned into readers’ brains. . .✔️

tease additional time spent with the fan favorite characters. . .✔️ 

mention an impactful, moving death that definitely probably still happens to pique curiosity. . .✔️

Along with the additional focus on beloved characters, I’ve also polished and refined the second and third acts to ensure we continue hurtling toward the book’s cataclysmic finale, but also to seed in the stirring of everything that’s going on just beneath the main characters’ notice. One of my weakest aspects as a fledgling author was subtlety. If a thing wasn’t stated plainly on the page, I was sure readers wouldn’t catch it. Now, I’ve learned y’all are actually far better detectives than I’ll ever be, and my confidence as an author has progressed such that I love sprinkling in little hints and clues for you to uncover. There’s always been something simmering just out of frame in Servant of Rage, but in the revised edition, I’ve finally placed all the proper breadcrumbs for the attentive reader to unravel it early.

congratulate yourself on how clever and subtle you are and pray readers don’t just solve the whole story by chapter five. . .✔️

inflate readers’ egos with compliment that’s probably true, actually. . .✔️

The changes, both micro and macro to Servant of Rage are numerous. While I could go on about them ad nauseam, it’s probably best to wrap things up here by saying: from the beautiful new cover art to the increased presence of fan favorite characters—and the masterful narration of Tim Gerard Reynolds—the new edition of Servant of Rage is improved in basically every way. It’s been an absolute joy and honor to return to my first book and do it the justice it deserves. 

Servant of Rage launches in all formats on March 11, 2025. You can pre-order it here.

Call this a new edition. Call it the improved edition. Call it, I suppose, whatever you want, but I’m calling it a long overdue thank you to the book, the people, and the website that kicked off my career.

restate biggest selling points of new edition. . .✔️

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stick the landing with an emotional punch that ties everything together. . .✔️?

When not describing himself as an invasive species, Alex can be found filling good books with bad jokes one sentence at a time.

As an author his work includes the The Far Wild, Rise to Glory, the Nova Online trilogy, and more.

As an aspiring twin he’s not making much progress, but remains determined.

Alex grew up a sunbaked Floridian. In the veritable far wild that was Florida, he spent his days in the prairies, swamps, and springs of the state’s interior.

Since those simple, sweaty days Alex has lived in many places around the world, including many of the on’s—London, Boston, and (currently) Houston.

In the past Alex has worked as everything from a dishwasher to a communications coordinator. After deciding he didn’t like stability or predictable paychecks he made the jump to become a freelance writer. That soon turned into ghostwriting romance novellas, then ghostwriting science fiction novels. After some time, he was able to excise the ghost from ghostwriting and write his own books.

When Alex isn’t writing, he’s likely lost in a wetland, falling down in his novice hockey league, or playing competitive pinball. Oh, and gaming. Lots of gaming.