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Fantasy. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of Time Magazineâ??s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Book two in the New York Times bestselling seriesA USA Today bestseller A Wall Street Journal bestseller â??Spectacular.â?ťâ??Entertainment Weekly â??Fresh and exciting...Tahir has shown a remarkable talent for penning complex villains.â?ťâ??A.V. Club "Even higher stakes than its predecessorâ?¦ thrilling." â??Publishers Weekly, starred review â??[An] action-packed, breathlessly paced story.â?ť â??Booklist, starred review Set in a rich, high-fantasy world inspired by ancient Rome, Sabaa Tahir's AN EMBER IN THE ASHES told the story of Laia, a slave fighting for her family, and Elias, a young soldier fighting for his freedom. Now, in A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT, 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 Kaufâ??the Empireâ??s most secure and dangerous prisonâ??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, Heleneâ??Eliasâ??s former friend and the Empireâ??s newest Blood Shrike. Bound to Marcus's will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her ownâ??one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the… (more)
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Note: Spoilers for Book One, but none for this book.
In Book One, we met Laia, a young
As Book One ends, one of the worst of the Martials, Marcus, has become Emperor, and Helene, long the best friend of Elias, has become (not by choice) Marcus’s chief assassin. Elias decided to flee the Empire, and he and Laia are on the run, racing to try and rescue Darin from the notoriously bad and impenetrable prison to which he has been taken.
This book is almost all action from the moment it begins - taking up right where the first book ended, and adding even more violence and brutality to the tale.
The focus shifts back and forth among Laia, Elias, and Helene. All of them struggle with competing loyalties, and accommodation to their roles in the changed Empire. The females are intelligent and brave, at least up to a point, but there is no doubt they are the heroes of the saga. [Note if I said “heroines” it would imply they were only sidekicks to male heroes. So one has to choose the “masculine” form of the word to indicate their prominence in the story.]
There is also a time limit to something that will happen in this book, adding a lot of tension and energy to the story, and making one want to race through to the climax.
Discussion: There is more depth to this book than just the usual YA tropes, of which there are plenty. But there is also much sadness, loss, pain, suffering, and a sensitivity to feelings of loneliness and horror. There is guilt, loyalty, and love, and triangles, albeit with fuzzy edges.
The books raise questions we continue to face in real life: how, in the face of tyranny and threatened death, can we stand up for justice, and at what cost to ourselves and our families? Is it wrong to take the “easy” way out? How do we live with ourselves for the bad choices we have made?
There is also an ongoing theme of the fear of hurting those we love, and the advice not to lock oneself away from others because of it: “What point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself feel anything?”
And perhaps most importantly for these fallible characters, there is the admonition not to let failure defeat them:
“Failure doesn’t define you. It’s what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfect good air.”
In the Acknowledgments, the author thanks some of her fellow YA fantasy authors for their friendship and chats, and interestingly, I can see the influence of some of them in this work. When one of the characters speaks of love, it particularly reminds me of Renée Ahdieh:
“You are my temple. You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.”
Evaluation: It isn’t often that a “book two” of a series is better than the first book, but I think it is true in this case. I didn’t always like the choices made by the characters, but couldn’t help liking them or hating them for who they were, and really enjoying the story.
The story shifts in perspective between Laia, Elias, and Helene. I enjoyed this aspect of it, which gave readers a broader sense of what was going on while keeping the pacing taut. Helene especially was a character I enjoyed getting to know. I'm not sure why I didn't love the sequel quite as much as the first - suffering a bit from being a "middle" book with no beginning and no tidy ending, that most of the world-building was done in the first book and there wasn't much added here, or because there were a couple of days during the week that I barely read it, perhaps - but it's an excellent story and I'll definitely continue the series.
As before, the world building is magnificent and now it has simply expanded to include new elements. The three point of view characters progress nicely along with many of the secondary characters. Tahir has mastered the ability to make it clear that every character has their own ambitions that interact with the path of the main characters without making it all about them. That's part of what makes it brilliant to read. Everyone had their own interests and they happened to clash, but not everyone is after the same thing. The writing is beautiful and the plot moves at a great pace.
This is one of those YA series that has a broad appeal to more than just the YA age group. I can't wait for the next installment to come out!Â
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My review of the first one is here.Â
Elias and Laia are running, trying to escape his mother and Emperor Marcus as well as Helene, who is commanded to bring Elias back. Elias agrees to help Laia get her brother
Helene is torn between what she feels is the right thing to do and what she must do. She, too, meets up with Elias but is unable to physically master him to bring him in. Helene has two trustworthy friends with her and begins to see what is truly going on with Marcus, but she is limited in her powers to protect anyone. She seems to have to suffer as much as Elias and Laia in order to get to her destiny.
As the story continues, there are many surprises that will lead to despair and make you wonder how they’ll ever overcome the evil and set good back on its tracks. I really like Elias and Laia because they are “good.” They are strangely stronger together, finding strength in each other that they can’t find with others. If they could just be left alone, they would find contentment in a simple life, but they each have a destiny. Laia has a strange power, and Elias chooses a future that no one would want, but it’s the only way he can help Laia. I don’t know if this is a series or a trilogy, but I do look forward to book three because it’s a great story with engaging characters.
I don't know how she does it but Sabaa Tahir has great control of everyone's story and knows how to make everyone's voice different. I am sooooooooo excited to see how this story ends because honestly if it were me taking on this ambitious story I would have no idea how to give a satisfying resolution for anyone. I mean maybe I'd give in to fan service but it wouldn't be believable so I'm really rooting for her on the next book.
The main thrust of the plot revolves around a prison break attempt in order to help the Scholars and the rest of the people to rebel against the violent, oppressive
Do you ever get into a funk where you know the book is good, but you just get through it? Skies, this was me. It took me 2 long weeks to finish and that's just not acceptable...
The plot was enjoyable and the love triangle was endearing. I enjoyed the twists
All and all I was bipolar with this one and I definitely will reread when my mood is better.
The second volume of the Ember in the Ashes series picks up right where the first one left off, so familiarity with the characters and the plot to date is absolutely essential. As before, Elias, Laia and Helene take turns to narrate their individual sections of the narrative, and each one is tested almost beyond endurance in this novel, setting up conflicting emotions within each of the main protagonists within the greater, all-encompassing chaos and turmoil into which the Empire has been thrown after the events surrounding the Fourth Trial. Sabaa Tahir introduces a cruel twist fairly early on in the book that has dire consequences for both Elias and Laia and far-reaching ramifications for the rest of the series, increasing the tension while ensuring that the reader races through the remaining pages to find out what happens. There are further twists and surprises in store, and the ending raises expectations for the next volume in the series. I’m not quite sure how I feel about a revelation about Laia – hence the four and a half stars – but I’m already eagerly awaiting book no. 3. A warning though: the darkness and violence quotient has increased quite dramatically compared to (most of) its predecessor.
Chapters from Helene's point of view are a welcome addition. As the new Blood Shrike, she battles sexism, navigates tricky alliances, and is conflicted about obligations that violate her personal convictions, not the least of which is finding Elias to bring back for execution.
Sabir Tahir adds new elements to the world, some more successfully than others, and cranks up the violence to brutal and disturbing levels. The dialogue can still be melodramatic on occasion but the storyline explores deeper issues than the first book. Plenty of unresolved plot issues remain at the end as well as new questions about how this world works and what role the main characters will play in the next installment.
There is not much joy or humor in A Torch Against the Night. This novel is a harrowing tale of genocide, prison torture, devastating betrayals, public executions, and a menacing evil coming to power. Laia and Elias have escaped the city, but their journey to rescue Laia's brother from a high security prison is an ugly one. They are joined by the enigmatic and shadowy rebel Keenan and Laia's dear friend Izzi, but they do not know what dark fates await them. With bounties on their heads, their path plagued by roadblocks and delays, and Elias slowly succumbing to poison, this book is a somber affair.
"Shadows gather, Elias, and their gathering cannot be stopped."
This book did not interest me for much of the first half and we are faced with the unfortunate task of slogging through a horrid love triangle. However, the legendary jinn have a stronger presence in this installment and chapters told from Helene's perspective break up the monotony while offering a disturbing glimpse of the bloodthirsty new Empire.
Tracks:
Who Stole the Soul - William Elliott Whitmore
It Only Takes One Shot - Lera Lynn
The Way it Goes - Gillian Welch
My Silver Lining - First Aid Kit
Sweetgrass - Lauren Shera
From the beginning, I was reminded of how inexplicably I felt drawn into the storytelling. Normally, first-person
Now why the face-palms? Well... Avoiding spoilers, was Laia always this wishy-washy with her feelings? While it turned out to have some actual plot significance, she seemed a lot less intense this time around, less an Ember in the Ashes and more a burnt up log. But anyways.
Despite this, by the end, it felt as if Laia, Elias, and Helene had all progressed as characters, finally growing into who the events of the first book had made them. There was enough closure, that frankly, the series would be fine ending where it is. Of course, sequels are still exciting.
Laia and Elias try to reach the prison where Laia's brother Darren is being tortured, but they're the empire's most wanted enemies, there's a large reward on their heads, and Elias' best friend Hel is after them, too.
How will they reach the
Both Laia and Elias feel guilty for all the deaths they caused, but there doesn't seem to be an end to that.
We have here another wonderful story about tyranny, torture, friendship, love, trust, and betrayal.
I'm looking forward to reading/hearing more from Laia, Elias and all the others, but that will have to wait at least a year. Still, I didn't subtract a star, because the book could well end here.
The three narrators were perfect and their narration was wonderful.
I just feel like it was all over the place. I found myself drifting off when listening to the audiobook. I wanted to push through since I loved book one so much and I hope that the next book picks back up with everything I was loving in the series.