Play Book Tag discussion

An Ember in the Ashes is set in a fantasy world in which members of the Martial elite rule through fear and brutality. It tells the story of Laia, a slave girl who works as a spy to save her captive brother; and of Elias, a young man raised to become a Martial, and whose only desire is to be free from his future of violence. It's set in a vivid world, which echoes ancient Rome and Athens with the Martials vs. Scholars rivalry. There's also something that reminded me a bit of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with four members of the graduating class vying to become the new Emperor. There are some clever ideas here, such as the fact that Martials wear masks that fuse with their faces, to erase their original identity and forge a new one devoted to the Empire.

The school’s commander (Elias’s estranged mother and Laia’s mistress) is likely to gouge out the eye of a child for another slave’s offense. In one scene, she burns her initial into Laia’s chest. The Commander is portrayed as the epitome of evil. Towards the end of the book, we are given some hints to her back-story, but we don't yet find out how she became so evil. My favorite character, though, is Helene and I can't wait to find out what happens to her in the next book.

The author vividly describes the fantasy world of the story from the marketplace to the forbidding Blackcliff Academy where the soldiers live and are trained from childhood. It's not a pretty world. She also combines a fantasy world with lifelike characters. She doesn't overwhelm the reader with too many characters, but just enough to get to really know those who are important and those who are supporting characters. The mysteries and how they are revealed are also timed perfectly. It took me a little while to get into this story but once I did I was hooked. I will definitely look for the next one.

Nice to see this, I have trying to get this book in rotation the last couple months-your review gives me the extra push to get it done!