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An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Aug. 31st, 2016 11:41 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death.
When Laia’s grandparents are brutally murdered and her brother arrested for treason by the empire, the only people she has left to turn to are the rebels.
But in exchange for their help in saving her brother, they demand that Laia spy on the ruthless Commandant of Blackcliff, the Empire’s greatest military academy. Should she fail it’s more than her brother’s freedom at risk … Laia’s very life is at stake.
There, she meets Elias, the academy’s finest soldier. But Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined – and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Sabaa Tahir’s debut YA novel is a well-plotted fantasy filled with twists that kept me turning the pages. Elias and Laia are well developed characters who undergo definite arcs throughout the overall story – particularly Laia who has to learn to conquer her fears and develop her own form of heroism and Tahir gives them both their own perspectives and first person voices. I also liked Helene, a talented soldier whose loyalty to the Empire blinds her to its faults, although Keenan (a rebel fighter) is less developed on the page and I could have done without the obligatory love square that takes place between the four. The plotting is tight and Tahir uses the trial elements well – the action scenes are especially good but there’s a lot of psychological development in there too. I did find the world building a little simplistic – particularly in the ‘Scholars = good, Martials = bad analogy – and the Roman influences on the Martial society is heavy-handed and somewhat crude (to the extent that a couple of times it risked throwing me out). However the antagonists are well developed with the Commandant standing out for her cold cruelty and the ending promises an equally exciting sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
When Laia’s grandparents are brutally murdered and her brother arrested for treason by the empire, the only people she has left to turn to are the rebels.
But in exchange for their help in saving her brother, they demand that Laia spy on the ruthless Commandant of Blackcliff, the Empire’s greatest military academy. Should she fail it’s more than her brother’s freedom at risk … Laia’s very life is at stake.
There, she meets Elias, the academy’s finest soldier. But Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined – and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Sabaa Tahir’s debut YA novel is a well-plotted fantasy filled with twists that kept me turning the pages. Elias and Laia are well developed characters who undergo definite arcs throughout the overall story – particularly Laia who has to learn to conquer her fears and develop her own form of heroism and Tahir gives them both their own perspectives and first person voices. I also liked Helene, a talented soldier whose loyalty to the Empire blinds her to its faults, although Keenan (a rebel fighter) is less developed on the page and I could have done without the obligatory love square that takes place between the four. The plotting is tight and Tahir uses the trial elements well – the action scenes are especially good but there’s a lot of psychological development in there too. I did find the world building a little simplistic – particularly in the ‘Scholars = good, Martials = bad analogy – and the Roman influences on the Martial society is heavy-handed and somewhat crude (to the extent that a couple of times it risked throwing me out). However the antagonists are well developed with the Commandant standing out for her cold cruelty and the ending promises an equally exciting sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
