Ember in the Ashes (Tahir)

An Ember in the Ashes 
Sabaa Tahir, 2015
Penguin Young Readers
464 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781595148032


Summary
An Ember in the Ashes, is the first book in an exhilarating fantasy adventure series about the power of hope in the face of oppression.

Debut novelist Sabaa Tahir tells the thrilling, heart-wrenching story of two unforgettable characters willing to sacrifice everything for the chance to write their own destinies.

In a world inspired by ancient Rome and defined by brutality, seventeen-year old Laia has grown up with one rule for survival: Never challenge the Empire.

But when Laia’s brother Darin is arrested for treason, she leaves behind everything she knows, risking her life to try and save him. She enlists help from the rebels whose extensive underground network may lead to Darin. Their help comes with a price, though. Laia must infiltrate the Empire’s greatest military academy as a spy.

Elias is the Empire’s finest soldier—and its most unwilling one. Since childhood, he has trained to become one of the Masks, deadly fighters who ravage and destroy in the name of the Empire. But Elias is secretly planning a dangerous escape from the very tyranny he has sworn to enforce.

Thrown together by chance and united by their hatred of the Empire, Laia and Elias will soon discover that their fates are intertwined—and that their choices may change the destiny of the entire Empire. (From the publisher.)