An Ember in the Ashes
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4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
BOOK ONE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy and 100 Best YA Books of All Time • People's Choice Award winner • Bustle's Best Young Adult Book
“This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human — and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear.” — The Washington Post
The beloved and bestselling fantasy series that “glows, burns, and smolders.” (Huffington Post).
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. 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.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR FROM The Wall Street Journal • Buzzfeed • LA Weekly • Bustle • Paste Magazine • Indigo • Suspense Magazine • The New York Public Library • Popsugar • Hypable
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As one of the conquered Scholar people, Laia has grown wary of the ruthless Masks that enforce the Martial empire's laws. But the lesson doesn't hit home until Masks imprison her brother for aiding the Scholar Resistance. Desperate to save him, Laia agrees to spy for the rebels as a slave in Blackcliff, the hellish school where Masks are trained. Her mission becomes all the more dangerous when the empire's prophetic Augurs announce that, for the first time in centuries, four newly graduated Masks will compete for the emperor's throne. One of these "Aspirants," Elias, had been on the verge of desertion before he was chosen, and he only stays to compete because of the Augurs' warning that he will never know freedom unless he undergoes the Trials. Tahir's deft, polished debut alternates between two very different perspectives on the same brutal world, deepening both in the contrast. In a tale brimming with political intrigue and haunted by supernatural forces, the true tension comes from watching Elias and Laia struggle to decide where their loyalties lie. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
LOVE❤️❤️❤️❤️📖📖📖
O.m.g I love this 📖 so much the story is amazing I recommend it for anyone looking for a good fantasy read.
amazing
i literally could not put this book down!! when i finished this book honestly i really wanted helene and elias to get together.. after reading second book idk anymore.. i will def be purchasing all of the books in the series bc this was amazing
I could not put it down!
I love this. As a woman of color I’ve always wanted to read a book feeling like the characters and heroes looked like me!! I love this SO much! Incredible writing I was on the edge of my seat not able to put the books down.