It is the second novel to take place on the fictional planet of Tékumel, also featured in Barker's role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne (1974).

The plot follows a group of far-future legionaries who discover an ancient "tubeway car" by accident and inadvertently use it to explore various exotic locales.

[1] As is the case with The Man of Gold, Flamesong features no separate description of the setting, although a short treatise on its fictional languages is subjoined.

Reportedly, they fell out after Barker urged Wollheim to take legal action against Raymond Feist, believing the latter's Riftwar series to be a plagiate of Tékumel.

Trinesh, on the other hand, sets free a group of extra-dimensional aliens enslaved by the Yán Kóryani ruler, thus seriously damaging his fancies of world domination.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry written by David Langford and Neal Tringham calls Flamesong "an exotic travelogue" that is less successful than The Man of Gold, but interesting nonetheless.

[5] A retrospective review posted on the genre fiction blog Pornokitsch describes the novel as more consistent and better balanced than The Man of Gold.