A Torch Against the Night: 2 (Ember in the Ashes)

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It didn't feel like it was bridging a gap - the story moves along, many important and awful things happen, secrets are revealed and Tahir rounds off this installment well, whilst still promising so much more from the next book.

And I can guarantee that's what is probably going to happen in the third novel, because wheels have been finally been put into motion.I could not be more pleased with this series and cannot wait to find out what happens in the third book, and recent release, A Reaper at the Gates. It is the second book in the An Ember in the Ashes series, preceded by An Ember in the Ashes and followed by A Reaper at the Gates. Throughout the first book, the moment I was sucked into the plot, I could put myself in the position of Elias.

What I enjoyed the most though was the way Sabaa Tahir slowly unveiled the plot and challenged her own characters to grow throughout the novel. Tahir has stated the global refugee crisis, [3] [4] her childhood, news about child soldiers and the novel On Killing inspired A Torch Against the Night. There's no backstory to make their actions believable, aside from petty hatred towards the main characters. There is nothing, absolutely nothing about him that can be considered unexpected or unpredictable, nothing that isn’t perfectly in line with the type of person it was at the beginning of book one.As for the antagonists, the dreaded Commandant and the mysterious Nightbringer are hands down some of the best fictional villains I have read about. Meanwhile, the story also follows the character of Helene Aquilla, who was Elias's best friend and has now been charged by the new Emperor—her old enemy Marcus—to hunt Elias down. I was afraid to get too attached, fearing that I'd risk an emotional meltdown in the upcoming chapters.

Notwithstanding the above, A Torch Against the Night was an engaging story featuring diverse characters and war, where civilizations collided and villains had the upper hand, ravaging and destroying. This last section is without a doubt the strongest of the book and really rounded out the plot nicely, leaving lots of potential for the next novel, and I'm hopeful for lots of further development for the main 3 characters in the next installment. It was quite compelling and interesting, even the side characters were interesting enough, just not the ones the book revolves around. She forgot how Keenan belittled her or suffocated her because he was so warm and familiar and I couldn’t help but shout YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM DARN IT, GET OVER HIS WARMTH! I wanted something more, something I can’t put my finger on, but the magic of the first book, the glorious radiance that made An Ember in the Ashes shimmer and sparkle and burn was not there.In fact, however Tahir’s character development is so weak and defective, I don’t think I would have noticed if the personality of any of the characters had underwent any change that didn’t concern who loves who, Laia’s do-goodism or Elias self-centered desire for redemption. I'm not sure I'll be able to get more opinions into this review, because I'm starting to feel that my excited brain is starting to confuse everything again. She is deeply torn between her due loyalty to her family and the Empire and the strong relationship that binds her to Elias, and from the very beginning she resolves to act according to the obligations of the first.