A Torch Against the Night
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4.6 • 897 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Book two in the New York Times bestselling series • One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time • A USA Today bestseller
“Fresh and exciting...Tahir has shown a remarkable talent for penning complex villains.”—A.V. Club
The beloved and bestselling fantasy series that “glows, burns, and smolders.” (Huffington Post).
Elias and Laia are running for their lives.
After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.
Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars' survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.
But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.
Bound to Marcus's will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape...and kill them both.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An Ember in the Ashes introduced us to Laia and Elias, a slave and assassin who join forces and rebel against the brutal Martial Empire, inspired by ancient Rome. In this sequel, Sabaa Tahir cranks the action and suspense up to ten, pitting the unlikely allies against murderous and horrific antagonists. Tahir’s writing is dense and beautiful, evoking a world that’s shrouded in mystery and intensely dangerous. We were 100 percent invested in Laia and Elias’ fate.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The sequel to Tahir's bestselling An Ember in the Ashes picks up where the last installment left off: Laia and Elias, fresh from the Trials that made them both traitors, barely escape the city of Serra with their lives as a Scholar rebellion tears the city apart. Elias is sworn to help Laia rescue her brother, Darin, from the prison of Kauf, held there for his knowledge of steelmaking secrets that could bring the end of the Martial empire. But Helene Aquilla, the new emperor's Blood Shrike and Elias's best friend from childhood, has orders to hunt down both of the fugitives or forfeit her own family's lives. Watching them all is the commandant of Blackcliff, ruthless in her hatred and hiding a sinister agenda of her own. The shifting network of alliances and betrayals can almost be too elaborate to follow at times, but Tahir's skill with her characters is more than enough to hold readers' attention. This sequel has a darker tone and even higher stakes than its predecessor, setting the stage for a thrilling conclusion. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
OMGGG
STOPPOP LAIA AND ELIAS ARE THE CUTEST AND WHY DO THESE BOOKS ALWAYS END ON A CLIFFHANGER MAKING ME BUY THE NEXT BOOKKKK 😩😩 NOT COMPLAINING THOOO BC THESE BOOKS ARE TOOOO GOODD!!
Epic story
Love the whole series. Such a talented author.
I cannot put these books down!
Amazing. I love the characters and their vulnerability. Sometimes in fantasy, writers make characters vulnerable but in a way that’s not truly insecure, imperfect and real like we are. So I love the reality of the characters like in real life we have to face ourselves and become better. I mean the cliffhangers at every chapter… you just cannot stop reading :)