An Ember in the Ashes

Laia and Elias stole my heart, while the Commandant’s cruelty stole my breath. Sabaa Tahir’s ability to evoke such powerful emotion with this story set in reimagined Ancient Rome was nothing less than masterful.

The characters are faced with impossible choices, which kept me asking questions about what I would do in their situation. I thought the integration of elemental magic was woven in perfectly. I’m a sucker for it and could lose hours thinking about what abilities I’d wish for.

Laia is spying on the Martial Empire for the rebels in exchange for their help rescuing her brother when… show more.

Within fifteen pages of picking up this book, I was stressed. The plot began on the first page and did not stop until the last. 

While Elias is a soldier and Leia is a slave, neither are free. They are both servants of a cruel and brutal empire that shows no mercy on its people. A rebellion rises, and Leia and Elias find themselves thrown together while fighting on separate sides of the conflict. 

There is no good stopping place within this book to break for food or change the laundry. Each chapter ends in such a way that you’re… show more.

This is the first book in one of my favourite series of all time. It catches you by the throat right from the start and keeps its relentless pace to the end.

Laia of Serra infiltrates a military school in exchange for help to save her brother from prison. Elias is one of the star students at the military school, and he is thrown into the vicious trials to decide the next emperor, even though all he wants is to be free of the Empire.

This book is packed with danger, secrets, a love triangle, and magic. You never know… show more.

An Ember in the Ashes features gorgeous imagery and a compelling blend of mythology, magic, and a setting reminiscent of classical world history. This story grabs hold of your heart and doesn’t let go.

Be warned: Tahir doesn’t pull punches when it comes to gut-wrenching emotion, but that only makes her story craft more addictive. 

I don’t always love fantasy books, even though the Hero’s Journey is a staple of this genre.

This series, however, hooked me from the start. It starts out in a familiar, Roman Empire-type world and slowly adds layers of metaphysical complexity. The hero, Laia, is tough-as-nails and has earned a place as one of my all-time-favorites.

If you want to read a book that feels like a time machine—where you begin and then suddenly days have gone by and you are surrounded by dirty laundry and dishes and wishing there were just one more book in the series, these books… show more.

In a fantasy world inspired by ancient Rome with a Hunger Games-type tournament, a spy hiding as a slave clashes with an elite soldier who is more than meets the eye. The unexpected chemistry between Laia and Elias shines against the backdrop of the brutal world of the Empire. This story explores so many different sides of humanity, and it’s the human connections that kept me hooked and eagerly anticipating the rest of the series.

Inspired by the culture of ancient Rome, An Ember in the Ashes is a story of two very different people forced into an unlikely alliance. With constant horrors (Sabaa Tahir pulls no punches) pressing grimly on each characters’ psyche, the similarities between the protagonists emerge with artful telling. The immersive world building and compelling characters lend the story its strength, and as the plot progresses, those protagonists, along with the reader, must dig deeper and deeper into Tahir’s stunning tangle of divided loyalties, slowly-emerging love, and impossible, gruesome decisions. The series unfolds from this book on, and Tahir introduces… show more.