From an Ember into a Torch: The Book That Inspired My Inner Pyro 🔥🔥🔥

Title: A Torch Against the Night
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Narrator(s): Fiona Hardingham, Steve West & Katharine McEwan
Series: An Ember in the Ashes, book #2
Length: 15 hrs 9 mins
Publisher: Razorbill/Listening Library
Publication Date: August 30, 2016
Source: ARC and audio from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

A Torch Against the Night takes readers into the heart of the Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers, manipulated by the Commandant, and haunted by their pasts, Laia and Elias must outfox their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.

In the city of Serra, Helene Aquilla finds herself bound to the will of the Empire’s twisted new leader, Marcus. When her loyalty is questioned, Helene finds herself taking on a mission to prove herself—a mission that might destroy her, instead.

What is up with the publishing deal for this series? First, it was going to be a stand-alone. Then a second book was announced, and unless I was misinformed, it was to be a duology. Right before I started reading Torch, it was announced that a third book is in the works. Which makes sense, now that I've finished this sequel, but damn, son. I like to know going into a book whether I'm risking a series or not. I mean, I guess I should count myself lucky that neither of the books in the series so far have ended on completely awful cliffhangers, but still.

That said, I did enjoy this sequel a bit more than Ember. There were some predictable developments but there were also jaw-dropping revelations that really ramped up my anticipation and enjoyment overall. The first half plods along, and if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook as well as reading the ARC, I might have set it aside for a bit. But once the journey aspect is more or less over, things really pick up, and I found myself turning the pages faster than the narrators could read for me.

Torch is no less savage than its predecessor, but I felt like it had more tender moments...more instances where you could see people weighing right and wrong and coming out on the side of good more often than not. Creepy villains are still creepy, but you also get a little more insight into them, and I was able to actually see them as human for a change, not just monsters with human faces.

I also felt like I got to know the three main characters a lot better in this installment, even if it was no easier to connect with them than in the first novel. But I think they got to know themselves better in this book, too. They know what they could die for and who they can't live without and they've come to terms with all of the mistakes they've made. And knowing all of that, maybe it's best that I can't connect with them all that well.

The narrators did help with that somewhat, though. Steve West and Fiona Hardingham are the perfect complement to each other, as far as audibook narrators go. And they're kind of my favorites, especially since they narrate one of my favorite (audio)books ever. But then Katharine McEwan was added in as the voice of Helene in this sequel and that just makes the audiobook version of this novel nearly perfect.

I wanted to give this book five stars, especially as it's so rare for a sequel to surpass the first installment. But I subtracted half a star for the slow start. Then added half a star back for the amazing narrators. And the took another half star away because I just wasn't able to connect to the characters the way I'd like, which is a problem I remember having with the first book, too. But the writing is lovely and evocative and brutal, and it's impossible not to visualize the world Sabaa Tahir has created. I know I was hoping for a stand-alone when I set out to read this series, but I am so glad that Laia, Elias, and Helen's stories didn't end with Ember. If you're on the fence about starting these books, know that it is worth all of the pain, brutality and violence to see the beauty in what these characters are trying to do for their people and Empire.

GIF it to me straight:

Okay, maybe not THE most brutal, but it's pretty brutal.

About the author:

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Find Sabaa:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

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Labels: an ember in the ashes, audiobooks, beautiful covers, dystopian, fantasy, favorite narrators, favorites, penguin, reviews, sabaa tahir

{WOW} A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...








's Pick:



Title: A Torch Against the Night
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Series: An Ember in the Ashes, book #2
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: August 30, 2016

A Torch Against the Night takes readers into the heart of the Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers, manipulated by the Commandant, and haunted by their pasts, Laia and Elias must outfox their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.

In the city of Serra, Helene Aquilla finds herself bound to the will of the Empire’s twisted new leader, Marcus. When her loyalty is questioned, Helene finds herself taking on a mission to prove herself—a mission that might destroy her, instead.

I think I was out sick the day this cover and excerpt were revealed, but that doesn't lessen my excitement for this sequel. I do wish this cover was more in keeping with that of the hardcover for the first book, but it's not bad by any means. Also, I'm pretty excited now that I know I was pronouncing Laia's name incorrectly the whole time I was reading Ember. That's the beauty of meeting the author on tour...besides the fact that she was really funny and snarky. =) I can't wait to re-read Ember in preparation for this book!!!

What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: an ember in the ashes, fantasy, grabby hands, must-read, penguin, sabaa tahir, waiting on wednesday (wow)

An Ember in the Ashes Release Day Blitz

I am so excited that AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir releases today and that I get to share the news, along with a special introduction from Sabaa herself! I had the pleasure of reading an ARC, and I was pretty awestruck by this novel...in the best way. You can find my review here.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for signed copies of the book plus some of those awesome sword letter openers we’ve seen around, courtesy of Sabaa, Penguin Teen, and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

A letter from Sabaa Tahir:

Dear Readers,

Today, my “baby” AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is finally out in the world! From inception to pub date, this journey took eight years. And what a journey it was: writing, rewriting, revising, editing, querying, submitting; Meeting other debuts, bloggers, booksellers and librarians, and hearing their thoughts on EMBER. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the radness.

And now, the book is here! I am so excited to see it in the hands of readers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. To celebrate release day, I’m giving away two signed, first-edition hardcovers of the book. Details below!

All my best,

Sabaa

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: April 28, 2015
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

Check out the book trailer!

About the author:

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Find Sabaa:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a signed hardcover of AN EMBER IN THE ASHES. US Only.

3 winners will receive a hardcover of AN EMBER IN THE ASHES and a Sword Letter Opener! US Only.

Ends on May 9^th at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Labels: an ember in the ashes, beautiful covers, book blitz, dystopian, fantasy, favorites, penguin, sabaa tahir

Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Series: n/a (at this time, but pleasepleasePLEASE let there be a sequel?!?)
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: April 28, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW.

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU.

Laia is a slave.
Elias is a soldier.
Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

From the moment I started An Ember in the Ashes, I knew how it would end...and I couldn't have cared less. Usually, I hate that kind of predictability in the novels I read, but with this story, it's more about how the characters get there than the actual thing itself. But I must warn you, the path is bloody and violent and no one is left unscathed when all is said and done.

Though the pacing of this story was slow and steady in the beginning, there is never a lack of intensity -- in the characters or in their actions -- and it is far from tedious. It also picks up immensely once the Trials begin. An Ember in the Ashes is a survival story: of one girl's mission to rescue her brother and one boy's quest for his own freedom. Both are pretending to be something they are not in order to achieve their goals, and both may lose their lives in the process. They know the risks and yet, whether they consider themselves brave or not, they undertake the missions they've set for themselves as if they've got nothing left to live for. And maybe they don't.

Laia is not your average brave heroine who will do anything for the people she cares about, which is actually what made her so intriguing to me. She's terrified of her own shadow but because she knows he would do it for her, she embarks on this insane journey to find the Resistance and convince them to help her save her brother. Elias, on the other hand, is the son of the most vile and reprehensible character I've come across in some time, and yet he hates his role in the Empire as a Mask and trained killer. He just wants to be free of those who would make him a murderer.

Their lives could not be more different, and yet Laia and Elias are obviously fated to meet and fall madly in love, right? Except that they don't immediately become each other's world. Their thoughts do linger on the other, but there's not quite room for them in each other's lives yet, especially since Laia's contact in the Resistance is noble and good and quite eye-catching. And Elias's best friend -- and the only female student at Blackcliff -- is in love with him, though Elias pretends he doesn't know this. And even at that, these would-be love affairs are the least of their worries. Still, Laia and Elias are both "an ember in the ashes" in the future of the Empire, and their futures are wrapped up in each other. But if you're worried about a possible love square, or whatever, I'd say save your worry because the focus of this book isn't really on the romance(s).

You've definitely seen some version of this same story around, as this novel gets a little tropey at times. I won't make comparisons and generalizations: I'll leave those up to you. But although I did find a lot of similarities to other recent and very popular young adult novels, I have to say that the writing in this book was just so much more eloquent and haunting than what I'm used to from dystopian-like novels. The prose was fluid and imagery-heavy, and it created a very stunning and terrible picture of what this world was like for all inhabitants. It was one of the most evocative novels I've read in awhile, and it made me angry. Especially when it came to the Commandant and those Trials.

I was quite impressed by this novel. It's gut-wrenching and horrifying and it was definitely hard to read at times. But it also speaks of a future where anyone can rise up against the powers that be and strike out for change. So, in that way, it was kind of hopeful, albeit dismally so. As I said, I expected the ending, so I didn't feel like it was a cliffhanger, though not knowing if there will be a sequel is a bit perplexing. I just have to hope that with all of the hype over this book, the author has more of Laia and Elias's story to tell and that the publisher will get it out into the world.

GIF it to me straight:

This book made me want to burn things...in the best possible way.

About the author:

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Find Sabaa:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

Read More

Labels: an ember in the ashes, beautiful covers, dystopian, fantasy, favorites, penguin, reviews, sabaa tahir