Laia is a spy acting as a slave. Elias is a soldier. Both want to escape the Empire. Both of Laia's parents are dead. Her grandparents were killed in front of her. Now, she's trying to get her brother out of the most highly guarded prison in the Empire. She has found the Resistance, the rebellious group that stands against the Empire. In return for the Resistance's help, she has gone to Blackcliff Academy, the school that teaches and trains the soldiers of the Empire, to find information. Working as a slave for the cold- hearted Commandant, leader of the school, Laia meets Elias. Elias is a senior about to graduate to become a Mask, a soldier of the Empire, and he is the best of his class, just like his mother - the Commandant. Elias wants to abandon, to escape Blackcliff, to be free of the Empire, but if he does so, he would become everything he hates. A killer. A murderer. His mother.
    Sabaa Tahir lives in the San Francisco Bay area in California. An Ember In The Ashes is her first and only book so far, and the sequel, A Torch Against the Night, is expected to be released soon. Tahir is a down-to-earth and relaxed kind of girl. She is unafraid to be herself, and her website, sabaatahir.com shows that very well.
    An Ember in the Ashes shows the cunning of a scholar girl, and the wits and bravery of a soldier. Told alternatively from the point of view of Elias and Laia, this book portrays the struggles of life in the Empire from different social levels. This book is an explosive, heartbreaking, epic story that will keep you glued to the pages. If you are looking for a book with action, love, tragedy, and a moving story, this is the perfect book. You never know what will happen on the next flip of the page. “I will tell you the same thing I tell every slave. The resistance has tried to penetrate this school countless times. I have discovered it every time. If you are working with the resistance, if you contact the, I will know and I will destroy you.”- The Commandant.