Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collections
Publication
HarperVoyager (2018), 400 pages
Description
Fantasy. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:BOOK THREE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES "Thrilling and hard to put down, readers will absolutely devour Tahir's latest." �??BuzzFeed An Entertainment Weekly Summer Reads pick! "The perfect summer read." �??The Washington Post The highly anticipated third book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir's EMBER QUARTET. Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger. Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister's life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. But she knows that danger lurks on all sides: Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor's volatility to grow her own power�??regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path. Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But in the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight. And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender�??even if that means abandoning the wom… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
You know that moment when you think you're reading a trilogy, but then you reach the last 20 pages of the third book and realize that there must be another book on the way because there's no way the story is getting wrapped up that quickly? So that's the state I'm in, having just finished this
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novel. I really like the story, told from differing characters and set in a world that is a mix of Roman empire and magical fantasy. This volume is a strong addition to the books in the series that have come before and I am excited that there is likely another one on the way. Show Less
LibraryThing member acargile
Book three of the Ember in the Ashes series delves into the depths of our characters and places them in their greatest perils so far. If you haven’t read books one and two, STOP. Read no further. Go get book one and find a quiet corner to immerse yourself in a new world with courageous
Our characters all have their own journeys in this books. Elias, as the Soulcatcher, is torn between his human world and his obligations. If he can’t leave his feelings behind, the ghosts will not pass on. Unfortunately, his human world is in chaos. He wants to help everyone--the tribes, Laia, Helene, but he doesn’t have the time because the ghosts and the jinn won’t leave him alone. Elias must abandon even Laia and give himself to the Waiting Place more completely.
Laia is determined to stop the Nightbringer and help her people, the Scholars, with or without Elias. She asks her brother to make Seric steel so the Scholars can fight. Laia refuses to place herself first; she’ll sacrifice whatever she must to help her people and bring down the Nightbringer, but this focus may keep her from seeing what really needs to be done. She knows the Nightbringer needs one more piece before the star can be reassembled. Her goal it to find that piece first.
Helene, as Blood Shrike, is in a battle between Marcus and Keris. Helene thinks she knows what Keris wants, but no one can figure out Keris. Marcus controls the Blood Shrike through his marriage with her sister. She can only trust her two closest soldiers, who refuse to let her sacrifice herself. Keris and the Blood Shrike battle for allies amongst the wealthy who rule. If the Blood Shrike loses, the Empire falls.
The novel has quite a bit of running about as the novel gets everyone where they should be for the next novel. It’s not boring, so don’t misinterpret. Instead of presenting the novel as good vs. evil, we get depth of all the characters, and understand why they are as they are. You discover what happened to Keris, the jinn, and the Nightbringer. The question is--do you blame them? Who must be sacrificed? By the end of the novel, each character has sacrificed much and are willing to do more, but they will need each other. The wait is going to be excruciating. I love these characters and will miss them as we wait for the next novel.
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characters.Our characters all have their own journeys in this books. Elias, as the Soulcatcher, is torn between his human world and his obligations. If he can’t leave his feelings behind, the ghosts will not pass on. Unfortunately, his human world is in chaos. He wants to help everyone--the tribes, Laia, Helene, but he doesn’t have the time because the ghosts and the jinn won’t leave him alone. Elias must abandon even Laia and give himself to the Waiting Place more completely.
Laia is determined to stop the Nightbringer and help her people, the Scholars, with or without Elias. She asks her brother to make Seric steel so the Scholars can fight. Laia refuses to place herself first; she’ll sacrifice whatever she must to help her people and bring down the Nightbringer, but this focus may keep her from seeing what really needs to be done. She knows the Nightbringer needs one more piece before the star can be reassembled. Her goal it to find that piece first.
Helene, as Blood Shrike, is in a battle between Marcus and Keris. Helene thinks she knows what Keris wants, but no one can figure out Keris. Marcus controls the Blood Shrike through his marriage with her sister. She can only trust her two closest soldiers, who refuse to let her sacrifice herself. Keris and the Blood Shrike battle for allies amongst the wealthy who rule. If the Blood Shrike loses, the Empire falls.
The novel has quite a bit of running about as the novel gets everyone where they should be for the next novel. It’s not boring, so don’t misinterpret. Instead of presenting the novel as good vs. evil, we get depth of all the characters, and understand why they are as they are. You discover what happened to Keris, the jinn, and the Nightbringer. The question is--do you blame them? Who must be sacrificed? By the end of the novel, each character has sacrificed much and are willing to do more, but they will need each other. The wait is going to be excruciating. I love these characters and will miss them as we wait for the next novel.
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LibraryThing member Jessika.C
Sabaa Tahir has had me wrapped around her little finger since an Ember in the Ashes. I hated the long wait for book 3 so much but if all that extra work was exactly what was needed to make this book sooooo good and full of action then I guess I’m fine. FOr NoW. But waiting for book 4 is going to
In this book Laia is determined to right her mistake from the previous book. She wants to take down the Night bringer and goes to far lengths to find any information she can about how to destroy him and avoid the resurrection of the Djinns. Elias is learning how to be a soul reaper (think Bleach anime but he’s not allowed to be human-ish) and control the ghosts that want to go back out into the living human world. He is being pressured to forget about his past life and merge with the being that controls the waiting place but he doesn’t want to if it means never being able to visit his old tribe family or forget the feelings he has for Laia. Helene continues as a duitiful Blood Shrike to Emperor Marcus. She struggles with her loyalties but leans heavily on her sister Livia whom Marcus took to be his empress. She fights back against the Commandant’s attempts to sabotage her and Marcus’ reign and turn the people against them and has little time to take her down before some horrible happens to the country she has sworn to protect.
Laia is still bae. Helena is bae. Elias is still ma boyfren. I’m going to pretend I’m still the 20-year-old that I was when this series first came out so I can continue lusting after this fictional 20-year-old. I hated the cover change but around the last five chapters, it hit me why it was a good decision. I don't want to get spoilery.
What I really like about this book is how it seems that they all have a common enemy but as revelations are made things are so much more complicated than I thought. As I said, Tahir knows how to keep me on my toes. I owe her my life for not making me bored with cliches. New rising stars for me are Livia the brave younger Aquilla who has to face Marcus’ wrath, Avitas Harper another new boyfren because I love a man that respects women, and Darin for the simple reason that I like seeing people struggle with their traumas and overcome them. The Night bringer is an interesting figure because I usually like my villains to be bad with no clear motivation over than just because they want to —it makes it so much easier to hate them. But with the exploration of his hand in the downfall of the scholars, you wonder who is the bad guy and if anyone can be redeemed…or saved.
Obviously, I guess I’m a bit of a sadist because the more problems the trio face the more excited I get to see how they’ll get through them.
I still need to know morrrrre. Where does Laia get her power from? What broke Keris Veturia? Will the three ever get together to fit their pieces of the puzzle into one big picture? I eagerly await: Helene showing feeeeeliiiings, Laia vocalizing her feeeeliiings because we all know Elias wears his feelings on his sleeve.Dex might be paired with Darin, I’m calling it now…but totally deleting if it doesn’t happen lol
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eat me alive.In this book Laia is determined to right her mistake from the previous book. She wants to take down the Night bringer and goes to far lengths to find any information she can about how to destroy him and avoid the resurrection of the Djinns. Elias is learning how to be a soul reaper (think Bleach anime but he’s not allowed to be human-ish) and control the ghosts that want to go back out into the living human world. He is being pressured to forget about his past life and merge with the being that controls the waiting place but he doesn’t want to if it means never being able to visit his old tribe family or forget the feelings he has for Laia. Helene continues as a duitiful Blood Shrike to Emperor Marcus. She struggles with her loyalties but leans heavily on her sister Livia whom Marcus took to be his empress. She fights back against the Commandant’s attempts to sabotage her and Marcus’ reign and turn the people against them and has little time to take her down before some horrible happens to the country she has sworn to protect.
Laia is still bae. Helena is bae. Elias is still ma boyfren. I’m going to pretend I’m still the 20-year-old that I was when this series first came out so I can continue lusting after this fictional 20-year-old. I hated the cover change but around the last five chapters, it hit me why it was a good decision. I don't want to get spoilery.
What I really like about this book is how it seems that they all have a common enemy but as revelations are made things are so much more complicated than I thought. As I said, Tahir knows how to keep me on my toes. I owe her my life for not making me bored with cliches. New rising stars for me are Livia the brave younger Aquilla who has to face Marcus’ wrath, Avitas Harper another new boyfren because I love a man that respects women, and Darin for the simple reason that I like seeing people struggle with their traumas and overcome them. The Night bringer is an interesting figure because I usually like my villains to be bad with no clear motivation over than just because they want to —it makes it so much easier to hate them. But with the exploration of his hand in the downfall of the scholars, you wonder who is the bad guy and if anyone can be redeemed…or saved.
Obviously, I guess I’m a bit of a sadist because the more problems the trio face the more excited I get to see how they’ll get through them.
I still need to know morrrrre. Where does Laia get her power from? What broke Keris Veturia? Will the three ever get together to fit their pieces of the puzzle into one big picture? I eagerly await: Helene showing feeeeeliiiings, Laia vocalizing her feeeeliiings because we all know Elias wears his feelings on his sleeve.
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LibraryThing member Starla_Aurora
I love this series. Laia is obviously my favorite, and cook. My husband likes Helene.
LibraryThing member BillieBook
So I tried something different with this and alternated listening to the audio on my commute and reading when I got home and it sort of worked, but I feel like the audio would have gotten three stars and the paper book four stars. The problem with the audio was not an issue with either the text or
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the narration, but audio on the Elias and Laia chapters had a much lower volume than that of the Blood Shrike chapters, so I had to occasionally strain to hear and I'm sure I missed some things. This is the first time technical issues have been the downfall of my enjoyment of an audiobook, but there you go. Show Less
LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2
Oh my! And another cliffhanger ending? I am not sure if Tahir is planning abook 4, but I want more!
LibraryThing member Linyarai
I read this for the "Nominated for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards" part of my 2019 reading challenge. I really enjoyed it, I like the characters and they way they've changed since the first book, and I'm really looking forward to book 4.
LibraryThing member bell7
Laia and Darin are reunited, Elias has become a Soul Catcher in training (freeing ghosts from the Waiting Place to where they should rest eternally), and Helene is fully the Blood Shrike now trying her best to protect her sister and take down the Commandant. The Nightbringer continues his plans to
If you've read the previous books in the series, you know to expect fast-paced and high-stakes action, and three narrators - Laia, Elias, and the Blood Shrike - giving you the full picture of what's happening in the Empire. Just about every chapter, including the final one, ends on a cliffhanger. Thankfully book 4 is already out, so I don't have to wait long to finally getting (what I hope will be) a satisfying ending.
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free the jinn, and Laia and her friends are determined to stop him - but can they? Or is this meant to be?If you've read the previous books in the series, you know to expect fast-paced and high-stakes action, and three narrators - Laia, Elias, and the Blood Shrike - giving you the full picture of what's happening in the Empire. Just about every chapter, including the final one, ends on a cliffhanger. Thankfully book 4 is already out, so I don't have to wait long to finally getting (what I hope will be) a satisfying ending.
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LibraryThing member Kiaya40
So many feelings
I was waiting for this book, preordered it and I'm glad I did so I didn't have to avoid everyone to avoid all the spoilers lol.
This one was even more intense and emotional than the other two books! It was a bit more darker and a lot of bog things happening.
A lot of major reveals
There was one of the reveals in regards to Laia and her mother and what happened with her mother etc that was a little hard for me to read, stomach and process though.
Of course there was a lot that was hard to process - I'm going to go to sleep and hope to process some of this and out of the book hangover stage soonish.
I'm kind of hoping for some possibly more positive moments in the next book, but we'll see.
If you've read all the books except this one, you need to read it.
If you haven't checked this series out yet, go check it!
I was waiting for this book, preordered it and I'm glad I did so I didn't have to avoid everyone to avoid all the spoilers lol.
This one was even more intense and emotional than the other two books! It was a bit more darker and a lot of bog things happening.
A lot of major reveals
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with all the characters and the storyline as well.There was one of the reveals in regards to Laia and her mother and what happened with her mother etc that was a little hard for me to read, stomach and process though.
Of course there was a lot that was hard to process - I'm going to go to sleep and hope to process some of this and out of the book hangover stage soonish.
I'm kind of hoping for some possibly more positive moments in the next book, but we'll see.
If you've read all the books except this one, you need to read it.
If you haven't checked this series out yet, go check it!
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
It's taken me ages to get to 3rd book of this series. and I don't know why as it's really enjoyable. It's marketed as YA but has a depth that is more adult.
On hold for the fourth and final book through my library.
On hold for the fourth and final book through my library.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-04-10
Physical description
400 p.; 5.04 inches
ISBN
0008288755 / 9780008288754
Local notes
The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister's life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.
Signed, limited (250 copies). Teal sprayed edges. Map laid in.
Signed, limited (250 copies). Teal sprayed edges. Map laid in.