A Torch Against the Night

near.

Empire soldiers.

Elias touches my shoulder and points to his feet, then mine. Step where I step. So carefully that I fear to breathe, I mimic him as he turns and heads swiftly away from the voices.

We reach a fork in the tunnel and veer right. Elias nods to a deep, shoulder-high hole in the wall, hollow but for a stone coffin turned on its side.

In, he whispers, all the way to the back.

I slide into the crypt, suppressing a shudder at the loud crrrk of a resident tarantula. A scim that Darin forged hangs across my back, and its hilt clanks loudly against the stone. Stop fidgeting, Laia no matter what s crawling around in here.

Elias ducks into the crypt after me, his height forcing him into a half crouch. In the tight space, our arms brush, and he draws a sharp breath. But when I look up, his face is angled toward the tunnel.
Even in the dim light, the gray of his eyes and the sharp lines of his jaw are striking. I feel a jolt low in my stomach I m not used to his face. Only an hour ago, as we escaped the destruction I wrought at Blackcliff, his fea­tures were hidden by a silver mask.

He tilts his head, listening as the soldiers close in. They walk quickly, their voices echoing off the walls of the catacombs like the clipped calls of raptor birds.

probably went south. If he had half a brain, anyway.

If he had half a brain, a second soldier says, he d have passed the Fourth Trial, and we wouldn t be stuck with Plebeian scum as Emperor.

The soldiers enter our tunnel, and one pokes his lantern into the crypt across from ours. Bleeding hells.&r

haunting reminder of what it means to be human and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear.   The Washington Post

An Ember in the Ashes could launch Sabaa Tahir into JK Rowling territory It has the addictive quality of The Hunger Games combined with the fantasy of Harry Potter and the brutality of Game of Thrones. Public Radio International

"An Ember in the Ashes glows, burns, and smolders as beautiful and radiant as it is searing." Huffington Post 

[An Ember in the Ashes] thrusts its readers into a world marred by violence and oppression, yet does so with simple prose that can offer moments of loveliness in its clarity. This complexity makes Ember a worthy novel and one as brave as its characters.   The New York Times Book Review 

Sabaa Tahir spins a captivating, heart-pounding fantasy. Us Weekly

An Ember in the Ashes mixes The Hunger Games with Game of Thrones...and adds a dash of Romeo and Juliet.   The Hollywood Reporter

Blew me away...This book is dark, complex, vivid, and romantic expect to be completely transported.   MTV.com

Fast-paced, well-structured and full of twists and turns, An Ember in the Ashes is an evocative debut that has left me invested in knowing what happens next. NPR
 
Once you get caught up in the story, it s addictive, and there s no way you can put it down before you figure out what happens to the characters you have fallen for over the course of the 400 some-odd pages. So I didn t. Bustle 
 
This epic fantasy set in the Martial Empire has it all: danger and violence, secrets and lies, strong characters and forbidden romance and a touch of the supernatural. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

A setting inspired by ancient Rome; a fierce battle for freedom in the face of tyranny; and a villain who makes Cersei Lannister and Dolores Umbridge look like a pair of pathetic amateurs...An Ember in the Ashes is at the top of our must-read list for 2015. MTV.com

Be prepared to be blown away by this fantasy-thriller-adventure. Girls Life

An Ember in the Ashes is a book that's too good to put down. RedEye
 
Perfect for fans of Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races or Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass series The book is already set to be a film, which will be EPIC! TeenVogue.com

*  Tahir s deft, polished debut alternates between two very different perspectives on the same brutal world, deepening both in the contrast. In a tale brimming with political intrigue and haunted by supernatural forces, the true tension comes from watching Elias and Laia struggle to decide where their loyalties lie. Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
Tahir s world-building is wonderfully detailed and the setting is an unusual one for fantasy novels. All of her characters, even minor ones, are fully realized....For fans of Game of Thrones and of Melina Marchetta s Finnikin of the Rock. School Library Journal
 
An original, well-constructed fantasy world...truly engaging. Kirkus Reviews 
 
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. Hypable.com

First-time novelist Tahir has written an ambitious sword-and-sand adventure story that is notable for its suspense and scope. Booklist 
 
Here's one of the year's most anticipated young-adult debuts. io9.com

I was so engrossed with this book that I missed a connecting flight. If that doesn t convince you to read An Ember in the Ashes, I don t know what will. An explosive, heartbreaking, epic debut that will keep you glued to the pages. I hope the world s ready for Sabaa Tahir. Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of Legend
 
With An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir shows us light in the darkness, hope in a world of despair, and the human spirit reaching for greatness in difficult times. #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson
 
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 bestselling author of Counting by 7s
 
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 bestselling co-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 bestselling author of Frozen and The Ring and the Crown