An Ember in the Ashes

Tahir, S. (2020). An ember in the ashes. New York: Razorbill. ISBN: 9781595148049 (paperback); ISBN: 9781595148032 (hardcover)

Genre: Fantasy / Format: Prose novel

Awards: Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award Nominee for Young Adults (2017), Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2017), Evergreen Teen Book Award Nominee (2018), Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2016),  Lincoln Award Nominee (2018), David Gemmell Morningstar Award Nominee for Best Fantasy Newcomer (2016), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Debut Goodreads Author, and for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2015), The Magnolia Award Nominee for 9-12 (2018, Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2017)

Reading level: Lexile 680 (source: teachingbooks.net)

Interest Level: Grades 9-12 (source: Booklist Online)

Plot Summary: Set in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Roman Empire, but with supernatural creatures out of middle eastern legends (ghuls, efrit, jinn, etc.), this story follows two point-of-view characters. Laia is one of the conquered Scholar people, and the book begins with soldiers of the Empire that rules them killing her grandparents and capturing her brother. This prompts her to make a desperate bargain with the Scholars’ shadowy resistance fighters: spy for them in exchange for a chance at rescuing her brother. At the same time, Elias, one of the Empire’s highly trained fighters, the elite Masks, is planning desertion–but then gets unwillingly drawn into a competition to choose the next Emperor. Elias and Laia are thrown together by circumstances and buffeted by the dangers and intrigue around them—conspiracy, subterfuge, betrayal, schemes, oaths, prophecies, and hints at a growing supernatural menace. They find themselves drawn to each other, despite the conflicting relationships with others in their lives. In the end they have to work together to survive and escape—although the book ends with the plot’s larger conflicts unresolved, as it is the start of a series.

Author Background: An Ember in the Ashes was Sabaa Tahir’s debut novel, and it arrived with a flurry of publicity: optioned for film, translated for foreign markets, becoming “an instant New York Times bestseller,” according to the publisher’s copy. Tahir followed up with two sequels, and a final volume in the series is scheduled for publication later this year. She has also contributed short stories and nonfiction to a handful of YA anthologies and authored scripts for graphic novels set in the world of An Ember in the Ashes.

Tahir is Pakistani-American, and grew up in a motel run by her parents in the Mojave Desert. She is active on social media and blogs about music on her website. Her website is very teen friendly, and her bio lists all sorts of her favorite things. (I’m trying not to hold the fact that her favorite book is The Giving Tree against her. I really hate that book.)

Critical Evaluation: This is a highly engaging epic fantasy, full of action and romance. It has relatable characters, a fast-paced plot, and a complex and fully realized world with enough competing factions and moral grey areas to make the characters’ struggles both compelling and conflicted. Many elements of the plot—fighting an evil empire, staged trials to choose a ruler, conflicted romantic feelings—feel familiar from other action fantasy or dystopian stories, but Tahir does a good job with the mixture, and it’s always interesting, even if it doesn’t feel groundbreaking. On top of that, the fact that this is not another medieval European fantasy setting is refreshing, and the characterization is solid. I wanted to root for Laia and for Elias, and I wanted to find out what would happen next.

Creative Use for Library Program: I would include this book on recommendation lists for fans of fantasy and action series books. I would also book talk it as an example of fantasy settings outside of the stereotypical northern/feudal medieval Europe milieu. Sabaa Tahir has also been doing online events during the pandemic (mostly conversations with other YA and fantasy writers, sponsored by independent bookstores). It would be good for the library to promote her upcoming online events, especially as the final book in her series is coming out this fall.

Book Talk: If you like action, mystery, conspiracy, and forbidden romance, this is a book for you. It takes place in a fantasy world where a massive Empire, similar to Ancient Rome, uses highly trained warriors of unquestioning loyalty to subdue its conquered peoples. Laia sees her family destroyed and her brother dragged away by minions of the Empire, and she makes a desperate bargain to try to save him, risking her life as a spy within the walls of Blackcliff Academy, which trains the elite Masks who defend the Empire. Elias is one such Mask, but he feels as trapped as Laia by his fate. Laia and Elias should be enemies, but circumstances draw them together, and they feel a powerful connection even as they begin to question everything they’ve been told…

Potential Challenges and Defense: This book includes supernatural monsters, physical and emotional violence, and frank discussions of rape and prostitution. It might inspire challenges from the parent of a younger teen who feels that their child is not ready for some or all of that. A good defense would be to refer to the many positive reviews the book has earned and to be ready with relevant language in the library’s collection policy manual about the importance of including popular, high-interest titles.

Why did I include this book? This book has been on my radar for a while, and I wanted to include an example of series fantasy in my mini library collection, since those works are a staple of many teens’ reading lives (including mine).

References:

Cart, M. (2015, January 1). An ember in the ashes [Review]. Booklist. Retrieved from: https://www.booklistonline.com/An-Ember-in-the-Ashes-Sabaa-Tahir/pid=7061010

Goodreads (n.d.). An ember in the ashes [Webpage]. Retrieved from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36040400-an-ember-in-the-ashes

Penguin Random House (n.d.). An ember in the ashes series [Webpage]. Retrieved from: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/EIT/an-ember-in-the-ashes

Tahir, S. (n.d.). Bio [Webpage]. Retrieved from: https://www.sabaatahir.com/bio/

Tahir, S. (2020). https://www.facebook.com/SabaaTahirAuthor/ [Author Facebook page].

TeachingBooks (2020). Literary text complexity measures for an ember in the ashes by Sabaa Tahir [Webpage]. Retrieved from: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tcid=42018