I will start this off with the disclaimer that I am not the biggest fantasy fan. Sure, I LOVE Harry Potter, but I've never been a high fantasy reader. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, a classic fantasy series, is high fantasy, and too much for me. However, I know many people that adore all fantasy, and for those people they will probably think much higher of this book.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir is the first in a new Young Adult (YA) fantasy series. You have your classic girl and guy power and overcome the impossible. There is magic and the classic good vs. evil dilemma as well.
This book gets 3.5 out of 5 stars in my book review. I felt the book and story line were okay, but it wasn't anything fantastic. The writing was a tad wordy, though most high fantasy is, and the pace a little slower than I would've liked. I read the book, but I just didn't love it or get into it.
An Ember in the Ashes has the classic fight against the big evil. There is a main girl and main guy character. Laia, the girl, and Elias, the guy, have different situations but similar deeper struggles. I guess what I thought was incredibly cheesy, but that is probably my age coming through and me not being the target audience, is the fact that every guy Laia comes in interaction with seems to fall in love with her. It just seems a bit silly to me that it just happens. I'm okay with some romance in a story, but it was a bit too cliche and over the top for me.
Leaving the book in a cliffhangers is a personal irritant. For most people, cliffhangers get the reader super excited for the next book. I personally feel that your story line should be what brings people back to the next book, not a major cliffhanger that almost forces you to. An Ember in the Ashes definitely has a cliffhanger. It just seems a little cheap to me; I want better writing.
All in all, I am not anxious to read book 2, A Torch Against the Night, but after seeing all of the reviews on Goodreads I am apparently in the minority.
Amazon has the following book description. This will give you a teaser into the story line without giving away any spoilers.
"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."
Have you read An Ember in the Ashes? Are you a fantasy fan? As always, I love to hear your thoughts.
Happy High Fantasy Series Reading!
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