As our last hoo-rah before Winter Break, my class was assigned a research paper on an author of our choice, and an independent reading novel of our choice; one that we had to read through completely using our own free time. While I wrote my essay on C. S. Lewis, I chose a fairly new novel that was published this year by Sabaa Tahir: An Ember in the Ashes. It was intiguing to read, and had many surprising twists and turns, but it still gave me a few grievances here and there. I hate being negative, so I’ll get those grievances out of the way. But first, why not a little summary?

Synopsis: Left without her family, Laia, a Scholar in an Empire ruled by the Martials, sets off on a mission to find her arrested brother by linking up with the fabled Resistance. Sent to Blackcliff, the military academy of the Empire, as a slave, Laia encounters Elias Veturius, the son of the ruthless Commandant, who has dreams of his own – to desert and become a free man, no longer affiliated with the cruelty of the Empire. However, when the Trials to decide the new Emperor come upon Elias and the other three Aspirants, it is up to him and Laia to survive, uncover hidden truths, and most of all, obtain their freedom.

Alrighty, now on to the nitty gritty.

The Not-So-Good Stuff About This Novel:

1.Laia’s Character Development – At the beginning of the story, we see Laia’s home being raided by Masks, the elite soldiers of the Empire. The whole place is destroyed and her grandparents are murdered in the process – ouch. To make matters worse, her brother, Darin, is arrested and while getting roughed up and all, a Mask sees her and basically ensures that after they’re done with her brother, he will force himself on her (if you know what I mean) and will kill her. Like any big brother would, Darin tells her to run. Like any logical person would, Laia runs - but not before convincing herself that this was a cowardly thing to do. In fact, she feels the need to remind her of this fact throughout the entire story. She tells herself how weak she is in almost every chapter of hers, even though while in the Commandant’s dwelling, she does several brave feats, all that I would hardly have the guts to do. Yet, the abandonment of her brother is something she’ll constantly refer to, and instead of showing her ‘weakness’, our author has Laia accomplish difficult missions and lets Laia tell us just how ‘incapable’ she really is. At the end, Laia pulls off an epic escape mission with the help of Cook, and with how ‘weak’ she comes off as throughout the whole novel, it ends up kind of…random. And far too courageous for a girl who ran to get help for her brother instead of staying and getting herself killed.Far too courageous for a girl who spied on the Commandant/took her beatings several times. Oh yes, way too courageous. So, to be simply put – it would’ve been nicer to either a) have Laia show some true weakness instead of telling us readers how meek and useless she ‘truly is’ or b) have Laia be brave right from the get-go and find another vice or personality hurdle to jump over.

2.The Pacing – some scenes seemed to go agonizingly slow, while others went way too fast – like the First Trial that spanned seven days in only a few pages.

3.The Characters’ Thoughts – They were all so… lustful. Elias, at times, seemed to be the typical male who could only think about a woman’s figure, smell, and other attributes, while Laia seemed to be so infatuated at times with manly strength and manly man smell. It was honestly a little uncomfortable at times, reading lines like, “Her dress fit her like a glove” and “Her body arched into mine.” I dunno, maybe it’s just me.

4.The Romance – Ugh, it was so predictable. Who will Laia choose? Elias or Keenan? Who will Elias choose? Laia or Helene? The romantic sub-plot just seemed very inconsistent and thrown together at times. It was like it own little drama inside a story filled with far more complex issues than who’s going to kiss who. I don’t think romance makes or breaks a novel, and when you can tell it’s been deliberately written to create a love triangle…thing, it makes the illusion of true feelings harder to believe.

Good Things About This Novel (yes, I do have positive things to say):

1.The Setting – It was so unique and made for interesting descriptions at times – a desert like land with bustling cities and markets, sandy dunes and wastelands, rocky cliffs. I could imagine a lot of the settings within this world fairly well, and that can only be accredited to Tahir’s beautiful art of description.

2.The Backstory – It felt original! And still intricate enough to believe. I actually want to know a little bit more about it all, especially if the Augurs seem to be the driving force behind important decisions that take place in the Empire. Very attractive exposition, for sure.

3.The Realistic Death – Let’s face it, a lot of people die or come very close to death in this novel. One of my friends joked with me, “Oh yeah, just like the Hunger Games.” But the difference with this novel was that it wasn’t as expected and it took part in what usually would’ve been just normal days. It was sad and honestly heart wrenching to see familiar friends of Elias’ and Helene’s fall at their own hand, or to see Laia grieve over the death of the vast majority of her family. But that’s what made the story real and believable – someone has to die.

4.The Commandant’s Story – Wow. No wonder this woman is so sadistic. She was practically disowned by her own father for accidentally conceiving a child and for failing to kill the baby afterwards. She was forced to give birth on her own, in the wild, and had little help raising her son at first. It seems only natural that these feelings of abandonment, ridicule, and bitterness would lead a woman to take pleasure in the pain of others – perhaps it was her only way to cope, to see others suffer just as she had, for years. In fact, she probably still is suffering. It makes me almost feel bad for her. I want to know even more about her character now.

All in all, I liked this story. The ending left me with many questions, but it will obviously lead to the next novel, so I’m not particularly bothered by the loose ends. I trust they’ll be tied up. Will Cook survive? How will Marcus fare with leading an entire Empire? Will Laia see her brother again?

An Ember in the Ashes makes you lose yourself in this world geared by tyranny and betrayal. It gives readers the courage to pursue what’s right, no matter what the ‘norm’ may be, and it gives them the bravery to do so – fearless towards the possible consequences. I highly suggest reading this novel for yourself – it’s worth it, even if there are some elements that could be added to make it better. Tahir’s writing is beautiful yet sarcastic at times, keeping the novel from being anything but dry. Check it out! Maybe you’ll like it even more than I did!