I don’t know why I was putting this off for so long. Because I think this has become my official favourite book. It’s right up there with Harry Potter and Percy Jackson which is an extremely hard task to accomplish. Sabaa Tahir is a magician and I would sell my soul to have known this series was unfinished because now the anticipation of the third book is KILLING ME.

An Ember In The Ashes is one of the most brilliant fantasy books I’ve ever read. Told in a world that mimics Ancient Rome and has a world where different communities have been brutally colonized by the Martial Empire I saw Tahir infuse the shared history of Indians and Pakistanis in her work. This is such an important commentary on the way colonies were treated and the savagery of the process.

Following young Laia who belongs to Serra a colony of the Empire and Elias a Mask, the most brutally trained soldier, of the Empire the book is told from a dual point of view. We get to experience this brutal world from both Laia’s perspective and Elias’s perspective. When Laia’s home is attacked, her brother is arrested she is forced to run. Trying to find help, she runs into the Scholar Resistance who strikes a deal with her. They will help free her brother from prison if she spies on the most feared, most brutal woman in the Empire for them. Keris Veturius, the Commandant of BlackCliff Military school where the masks are trained. Filled with espionage, political strife AND magic. This book has everything.

This story is a whirlwind. I loved seeing the vulnerability in both characters. Laia who is learning to be strong in an environment she never prepared for is contrasted against Elias who hates having to be brutal in the environment he was raised in. The characters Tahir has created are so complex and have so much depth, reading what they go through is enough to rip one to pieces. A testament to her ability as a storyteller. She keeps you invested in the outcome of each character because the reality of what she writes and the brutal truth of it makes you unsure of whether in the end these characters are going to make it.

I like how the side characters were tackled as well. I didn’t really like Helene too much in this book, but I haven’t written her off because I feel that there’s a lot of depth in her character that Tahir has yet to uncover in the coming books. Marcus made me viscerally hate him. The Cook, Dex, Faris, the augur Cain and Spiro, each character was fleshed out and well-developed and I enjoyed how much emotion Tahir was able to evoke in me for these characters.

The premise of the book is absolutely riveting. From the four trials to the spying each detail ties together brilliantly. I thought the plot twist at the end of the book was mind-blowing and I’m so glad that I do have the second book ready and waiting for me because if I had to wait book by book I would have been depressed for days after.

I love love love that the romance was explored secondary here. It really let me explore Laia and Elias as characters on their own and track their individual growth. I like that we understand them separately before pairing them together because that gave me a new understanding of their romance and how beautifully they fit together.

Basically, I think I love Sabaa Tahir and want to live in her mind while she writes Book 3.