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An Ember in the Ashes

By: Sabaa Tahir
Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Jack Farrar
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Publisher's Summary

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.

What if you were the spark that could ignite a revolution? For years Laia has lived in fear. Fear of the Empire, fear of the Martials, fear of truly living at all. Born as a Scholar, she's never had much of a choice.

For Elias it's the opposite. He has seen too much on his path to becoming a Mask, one of the Empire's elite soldiers. With the Masks' help the Empire has conquered a continent and enslaved thousands, all in the name of power.

When Laia's brother is taken she must force herself to help the Resistance, the only people who have a chance of saving him. She must spy on the Commandant, ruthless overseer of Blackcliff Academy. Blackcliff is the training ground for Masks and the very place that Elias is planning to escape. If he succeeds, he will be named deserter. If found, the punishment will be death.

But once Laia and Elias meet, they will find that their destinies are intertwined and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

In the ashes of a broken world one person can make a difference. One voice in the dark can be heard. The price of freedom is always high, and this time that price might demand everything, even life itself.

©2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited (P)2015 Sabaa Tahir

Critic Reviews

"With An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir shows us light in darkness, hope in a world of despair, and the human spirit reaching for greatness in difficult times." (Brandon Sanderson, number-one New York Times best-selling author)
"A heart-pounding story of love and loss, with the most original world-building I've read all year. Deeply felt and deeply moving, I could not put it down." (Margaret Stohl, New York Times best-selling author of Beautiful Creatures)
"This electric debut is a pulse-pounding, action-packed Romeo and Juliet story in a richly imagined world with a great twist and heroic characters you'll root for and won't stop thinking about." (Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times best-selling author of Frozen and The Ring and the Crown)
" An Ember in the Ashes is a spectacular page turner that asks readers to consider how far they'd go to save the ones they love. Sabaa Tahir is the next superstar in young adult fiction and her debut is as cinematic as Gladiator and as high-stakes as Game of Thrones." (Holly Goldberg Sloan, New York Times best-selling author of Counting by 7S and I'll be There)

What listeners say about An Ember in the Ashes

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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So good

Agh this was the perfect book to get me out of my last book series hangover. Utterly captivating. I can’t wait to read the next instalment. There’s 5 or so in this series so I just hope they are all as good and engaging as this one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing 👏

Hooked me in so quickly I didn't want to stop. Amazing story telling and world building.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very engaging

I loved the plot twists and intrigue. Well worth the read. The narrators were excellent.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story, questionable female narration.

This book is so wholesome 🤗

It has all the best tropes

Down trodden civilisation that was overthrown by conqurers taking over the land

Romeo and Juliet vibes of the two different cultures

Magic beasties who've been asleep and are coming alive

Rebels with questionable motives.

A main character who starts off ANNOYING AS HELL but comes into herself and becomes someone you could love.

Everything a girl needs

I love the male Audible narration but the female makes our main character sound like a 5 year old. I actually could not stand it. Usually I will warm to a voice narrator after a few chapters but this was almost story ruining.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good Read

Series starts pretty well. Characters can be a bit frustrating with how stupid they are.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Loved it

A gripping story with great characters and strong, engaging plot.
I loved the performance from Elias but I felt as though Leya's voice was very juvenile. I kept picturing a 13-year-old girl and not 17 year old young woman. Overall, great narration of the emotions and scenes from both readers.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

wow

this book only had me hooked during part 2. it was slow to start and not that riveting, even though it was good. but it got better n now, im aching for book 2 haha. a very cool story

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

This a great book, I loved the theme and twists and turns. The performance was also great. The only thing with the book was it repeatedly had to tell you what was at stake and why they were on the mission etc. We are listening or reading the book not reading part of it and then picking it up a year latter we don't need to be reminded about the main story line over and over again. I'm still going to get the second book for sure, can't wait to find out what happens.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very descriptive writing.

Enjoyable narrators. Best part? Incredibly descriptive writing, author has really put SO much effort into setting the scenes and adding the feeling to the reader (listener). That was really memorable. It's a super slow first book. Just started the second book now... it's getting good now!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic story and narrator

This story was so good, the narrator's were easy to listen to hooked from the first chapter to the last

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