Bookquote.net Bookquote.net – Books Review and Quote site
Related Articles
| Categories | Literature & Fiction |
| Author | Sabaa Tahir |
| Publisher | Razorbill; Reprint edition (February 9, 2016) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 480 pages |
| Item Weight | 1.25 pounds |
| Dimensions |
6.13 x 1.3 x 9.06 inches |
I. Book introduction
An Ember in the Ashes is a fantasy novel written by Pakistani-American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on April 28, 2015 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the first book in the An Ember in the Ashes series, followed by A Torch Against the Night. In a fantasy world inspired by Ancient Rome, the story follows a girl named Laia spying for rebels against the reigning empire in exchange for their help in rescuing her captive brother; and a boy named Elias struggling to free himself from being an enforcer of a tyrannical regime. The novel is narrated in the first-person, alternating between the points of view of Laia and Elias.
BOOK ONE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time
Instant New York Times bestseller
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir
Amazon’s Best Young Adult Book of 2015
People’s Choice Award winner – Favorite Fantasy
Bustle’s Best Young Adult Book of 2015
- “This novel is a harrowing, 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
- “A worthy novel – and one as brave as its characters.” —The New York Times Book Review
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.
A Scholar girl by the name of Laia lives in the Martial Empire with her grandparents and brother Darin in the city of Serra. Their existence is a grueling one as they are seen as second-class citizens by the ruling Martial elite. Darin is arrested by Martial forces and accused of being an anti-Empire rebel. Laia seeks out the help of the anti-Empire group called the Resistance, and agrees to infiltrate an infamous military school for them if they help her break her brother free from prison.
At the school, called Blackcliff Academy, Laia meets a student named Elias Veturius. Along with his best friend Helene Aquilla and his two rivals Marcus and Zak Farrar, he has been chosen to take the Trials, a series of tests that will decide who the next ruler of the Empire is. But Elias has no wish to take the tests, or be ruler. He wants to escape the Empire.
When Elias meets Laia, the two realize that their destinies are more intertwined than they could have ever dreamed.
Popular Highlights in this book
Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.
All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.
Life is hard enough without having to avoid entire rooms in my own head.
Editorial Reviews
Named one of the best books of the year by:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- The Wall Street Journal
- Buzzfeed
- LA Weekly
- Bustle
- Paste Magazine
- Indigo
- Suspense Magazine
- The New York Public Library
- Popsugar
- Hypable
***
“This novel is a harrowing, 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] 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
“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
“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
“One thing I can say for sure: this is a page-turner. There comes a moment when it’s impossible to put it down. Sabaa Tahir is a strong writer, but most of all, she’s a great storyteller.” —The Huffington Post
“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
“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
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of May 2015: If the test of a good novel is how badly you want to drop everything to finish it, then Sabaa Tahir’s debut An Ember in the Ashes gets an A+. The world she creates is rich in fantasy, coupled with echoes of a historical saga, all vividly rendered on the page. Tyrannical leaders and a building rebellion set the stage for dual narrators, Elias, one of the elite, trained from a young age to become a skilled assassin for the Commandant at Blackcliff Military Academy, and Laia, one of the oppressed, forced into the role of spy and saboteur in order to save her only remaining family member. Though diametrically opposed within their society, both Laia and Elias are wracked by internal conflict and driven to great lengths by shame and a desire to escape the bonds of their present lives. A complex relationship between them ensues, and while there is a romantic thread to the story, it is ancillary to the larger forces of political power, crippling deceit, and an undistinguished hope that endures in even the darkest corners of their brutal world. Potent action and liquid language whisk the chapters along all too quickly and while this has not been released as part of a series (yet), there can only be great things in store for author Sabaa Tahir, her Martial Empire, and her readers. — Seira Wilson
About Sabaa Tahir
– Sabaa Tahir is a Pakistani-American young adult novelist best known for her New York Times-bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and its sequels.
– Two of her novels, An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night, were listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time in 2020. In 2022, her novel All My Rage won the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.
– Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s eighteen-room motel. Her parents emigrated from Pakistan to the United Kingdom before moving their family to the United States. She attended UCLA, during which time she interned at The Washington Post. After graduation, she took a job there as a copy editor. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks, and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.
– For more information, please visit Sabaa at SabaaTahir.com or on Twitter @SabaaTahir.
II. [Reviews] An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
| Here is a summary of the book Review “An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir“. Helps you have the most overview of the book without searching through time. Please access “BookQuote.Net” regularly or save it to keep track and update the latest information. |
1. EMILY MAY Review An Ember in the Ashes
“This life is not always what we think it will be,” Cain says. “You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”
I think a lot of people will understand me when I say that the best kind of books are those that provoke strong emotions in you. My favourites are made up of books that filled me with happy excitement or, alternatively, books that ripped my heart out and made me cry. An Ember in the Ashes, however, made me angry. No, not angry – furious. I raged. I panicked. I hated. And damn, it was amazing.
You know those rare books that just make your heart pound? Those that take you so far out of the real world that you have to remind yourself afterwards that it’s all fiction, or else you won’t be sleeping? For me, this was one of those books. Everything about it was gripping, from the godawful but mesmerizing setting to those two bloody love triangles (love square?).
Yes, that’s right. I don’t even care that there were love triangles. That seems like too simplistic a term for this complex web of relationships, anyway. It isn’t about choosing between hot dude #1 and hot dude #2, there’s far bigger things at stake here and every character is so well-developed that you genuinely wonder and care what their fate will be.
This fast-paced story is told from two perspectives. Laia is one of the Scholars – now ruled over by the Martial Empire – many of whom are poor, illiterate and even enslaved. When her brother is arrested and presumably tortured by the Masks (masked soldiers), she seeks out the Resistance for help. However, they will not help her for free and demand that in return she must enter Blackcliff Military Academy as a slave in order to spy on the Commandant. Elias – the son of the Commandant – makes up the other perspective in this book.
Initially, I drew some comparisons between this and Legend, but though I liked the latter, I still don’t think it’s anywhere near as compelling, interesting, fast-paced or evil as this book. And despite the similar premise, this book branches off in many very different and exciting directions, including the arrival of creatures believed to only exist in myth.
I mentioned my fury before and I’m going to elaborate a bit. This book is nasty. This world is nasty. The Commandant is an evil hellbitch and complete sociopath. There’s torture, child abuse and the threat of rape (none of it is really graphic but it’s effective just the same). But it works. The stakes are higher; it made me actually afraid for Laia when she was sneaking about and spying on the Commandant. It’s hard to not grind your teeth at the unfairness and simultaneously feel powerless to stop it. It’s been a while since I’ve read such an evocative novel.
So, I enjoyed pretty much everything about this book. I liked the varied cast of characters and that Laia wasn’t a typical badass heroine but a scared girl going against her every instinct to save her brother. I loved the use of prophecies and the way Elias has to try and understand what they mean in order to do the right thing. I loved the Augurs – a bunch of hooded holy men who claim to deliver prophecies. Such a great read and I can see people eating it up and being desperate for more.
The book is rounded off well and is supposed to be a standalone, but there’s room for more here and I’d love to see the author revisit this story and these characters. ***
“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.”
2. JESS Review An Ember in the Ashes
5/5 stars.
This is the 4th time I’m reading this book “An Ember in the Ashes”. And the third time I finish this book with my mouth open. The third time I was rocking through strong emotions – with the characters, about the characters. This is the third time that I am proud of the author and delighted that this book exists. Because I think every person should understand how to write a book in the most incredible way.
In this book you can experience all kinds of emotions. Fury, about the world where the characters live. Hate, for the bad and cruel people. Empathy, for Elias who cannot carry the burden of the Blackcliff. Sympathy, to Laia who lost her entire family to death by the empire. Sadness, about the way we lost loads of amazing characters throughout the book. Pride for Izzi, who took courage and finally began to break her cruel routine as a slave.
This book has a lot of cruel and brutal parts. I guess there are people who can’t read it because the details can go far. But I think, as much as this book is brutal, it teaches us about humanity. And about inhumanity.
“I see humans, but not humanity”
This is a quote I really love, from the time I was a child. I understood that long ago. I had an uneasy childhood and a cruel life, and I realized that the world is full of human beings, but not all of them are human inside. When I told people about it, they tended to laugh at me and say I’m pessimistic, that people are generally good, that people are people. That every person who is bad, has some good in him too. but it‘s not correct. There are people who breathe the same air I breathe, live in the same world I live. But deep down inside, they lost their hearts and souls.
Something else I loved about the book – there is a lot of love in it. Love between good friends. Love between people of different classes. One-sided love. Physical attraction against love from within.
Still, this book did not shout “Look! I’m a YA book and I love to get lots of readers! ” No.
First, this book shows that not every story and plot is supposed to be about love. The reader can be fascinated by the story even without it.
Secondly, I really like the fact that Elias only came across Laia in the middle of the book. First of all we got to know them, and once they found their way and met, we already knew who they are, we knew how similar they were.
Plus, to be honest, you can also see that, even in a cruel and almost inhuman place, you can hold on to love and see one light in the other.
“An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir” this book taught us what friendship, loyalty, compassion, love, cruelty, strength, fear and more, are. It’s an amazing achievement.
It’s time for me to read the second book.
3. LORETTA Review An Ember in the Ashes
Guys. GUYS. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. I really can’t say enough about this series and I’m definitely kind of obsessing about it these days. This audiobook happened a few weeks ago before I decided to start writing reviews, but I had to include it because I’m still reeling. Everything about this was amazing and listening to the audiobook only heightened the experience because the narrators were top notch. Buckle up kids, this is gonna be a long one.
THE REHASH
It starts in the perspective of Laia, a lowly scholar girl who lives with her brother and two grandparents. She’s noticed lately that her brother Darin has been keeping odd hours and carrying around a sketchbook everywhere he goes. When she catches a glimpse into said sketchbook, it’s filled with doodles of weapons—concerning behavior to say the least. A group of masks (or a fancy word for soldiers) comes to their home one night, killing their grandparents and accusing Darin of treason. The two siblings try to escape, but quickly get caught and Darin tells Laia to run. She listens without thinking, barely making it to safety and spends the rest of the book berating herself for leaving Darin all alone. There’s no friends or family she can turn to for help, so she goes to the only connection she has left—the resistance. Through her interaction with members of the resistance, we learn that Laia’s parents used to be a part of it before they were killed and apparently were pretty bad ass. With some aggressive negotiating, the resistance decides to help Darin escape prison if Laia will pose as a servant and gather information for them in return. Feeling guilty with her recent abandonment, she readily agrees.
We also get to hear the perspective of Elias—a.k.a. my new fictional husband—who has spent most of his life training to be a mask at the very strict and very prestigious Blackcliff Academy. He’s been there for years and has finally made it to graduation, but he hates it. The life of a soldier is not one he wanted and he’s planning to escape. Elias has spent months hiding rations and supplies and he’s finally ready to blow the joint after the graduating ceremony. As luck would have it, he’s stopped right before he can get away by an Augur, which is basically a big scary-looking fortune cookie that can see the future. For anyone who has read The Mortal Instrument series, they’re pretty much exactly like the Silent Brothers. Anyway, the Augur tells Elias to reconsider his escape plan, saying freedom won’t be all it’s cracked up to be and he’ll have a chance to create his own freedom if he has the will to stay. Since he hasn’t mentioned his plans to anyone, even his best friend Helene, he takes the Augur’s warning seriously.
After graduation, it is announced that the Augurs want to look for a new Emperor and have created a competition for four specially selected students to fight for the title. And guess who gets chosen?! There are four trials to this competition and the first person to win two will become the new Emperor. Elias only hesitates a moment before he accepts, remembering the Augur’s words from earlier. All four competitors are forced to meet with the Commandant, one of their superiors (who happens to be Elias’s mother) and a god damn she-devil with no soul. During this meeting Elias happens to notice that his mother has a new servant who is none other than Laia in disguise! DUN DUN DUN!!
While Laia tries to dodge blows from the Commandant and gather insider information, Elias has to compete in the nightmare-inducing Emperor trials. All of the character’s lives get intertwined in unexpected ways and there’s an amazing ending that will literally blow your freaking socks off.
THE GOOD
Oh man, where to even begin.
Laia is such an amazing female main character and I love how independent and strong she is throughout the entire novel. The same goes for Helene because even though she had a tendency to get on my nerves, that didn’t take away from her intelligence or killer fighting skills. Reading a young-adult book with strong, independent female leads is always a good day in my opinion. Woo feminism!
On the flip side, Elias was also a great character to read about and I loved the alternating perspectives between the two. He’s a strong soldier with heart of gold who just wants the chance to live his own life, and who doesn’t love that?! After watching Elias show kindness to everyone around him while still being smart on the “battlefield,” you can’t help but fall into the old rooting-for-the-underdog trap.
And the villains!! Oh my god, I have never hated a character more than I hate the Commandant. All too often I encounter fictional bad guys that are more annoying than evil. You’re not scared of them, you just want them to get out of the way and stop ruining the story. This was different though. Marcus and the Commandant seriously scared the crap out of me. Both of them are so emotionless and determined in their scheming, it makes you wonder if they can even be defeated! Some hardcore Cersei Lannister vibes up in here.
The setting is really brilliant too and Tahir has done a great job building up this universe, down to the last detail. Just looking at all the maps makes it evident how much time and thought was put into this. I even listed this book on my website under historical fiction (technically it’s not but…) because The Empire really feels like ancient Rome. That’s not a time or place we hear very often about these days, especially in young-adult books, so it was a refreshing perspective.
In terms of narrators, the two voice actors did a great job and really brought life to Laia and Elias. Right now I’m actually reading a hard copy of the sequel A Torch Against the Night and I can hear their voices in my mind as I read. That might be weird of me, but it’s hard to care when I have smooth sounds of Steve West’s accent in my noggin.
THE UGLY
NOTHING. THIS BOOK IS PERFECTION.
FINAL WORD
If you haven’t noticed from this incessantly long and rambling review, I loved this novel. Whether you read a hard copy or listen to the audio book, just freaking read it. You can thank me later.
4. ANGELICA C Review An Ember in the Ashes
“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”
Warning! LONG REVIEW AHEAD!
Please Lord tell me there is a sequel. If this book does not have a sequel I might just punch somebody.
That was the most dramatic and tense ending to a book ever! I was nervous and I was afraid for the characters in ways I rarely ever am. In books I never feel as if I should fear for the characters because nothing bad ever happens to them. They are put through trials but you never really see them get hurt. The MC’s never get broken. In this book the characters get destroyed. They get split open and ripped to pieces and you never know if they are going to make it out completely whole and I live it.
I love this book so much. It was both tense and intense. There was so much happening. So many secrets and so many lies and so many hidden agendas.
The plot of this book was of epic proportions. After her brother is accused of working for the resistance, Laia witnesses her grandparents brutal murder and has no choice but to run as her brother is captured and take to one of the worst prisons in the Martial Empire. Feeling guilty for leaving him behind she makes a deal with the resistance: free Darin and she will spy on the most vicious, most dangerous woman in the Empire, the Commandant of Blackcliff Academy, the training grounds of the Masks, the most dangerous and most feared soldiers in the land.
On the other side of this is Elias, a Mask in training just a day from graduation. He is the highest ranking Mask at Blackcliff yet he wished for nothing more than freedom. After planning his escape and dreaming of his freedom for months it is all taken from him when he is chosen as an Aspirant, one of four Masks to compete for the ultimate prize, the crown to the Empire. Where any other soldier would be honored and proud Elias regrets his missed opportunity at freedom and dreads his future as either Emperor, Blood Shrike, or dead.
Now the thing I loved most about the plot was that it was two separate stories that weaved together to make one. The two characters, Laia and Elias were their own separate people and we got to see that. We got to see their individual lives and who and what they were before we got to see how they were together. In fact they are apart for like 90% of the entire book. This way we get to see all the things that are happening in all the different places and all the characters that make the story whole.
Another thing about the separation was that the characters sounded different. I could tell which was Laia and which was Elias. I did not need to look at the name on top of each chapter because they characters minds were so distinctive that there was no worries for confusion. In many occasions we even see the two thinking similar thoughts which sound so different coming form the different minds.
Then there was the romance. You know the best part?! There was none. That’s right! NONE! I mean sure there is attraction but hey, Elias is a pretty hot guy and Laia isn’t bad looking herself. They see each other and thing “wow that person is good looking”. Then they keep going with their lives because they both realize they have bigger problems to deal with. They don’t sit in their rooms thinking of each other all day because they have things to do. They aren’t lovey dovey or any of that because in truth, THEY DON’T LOVE EACH OTHER!!! There is no declaration of love or loyalty or any of that crap and it was awesome. The fact that they were apart for most of the book does help though.
This brings me to the supporting cast of characters. More specifically Helene. Helene is the only female student at Blackcliff. She is as beautiful as she is deadly and almost as powerful as she is loyal. She and Elias love each other. Not in a romantic way but in a way that is so much deeper than that. They have been best friends since they were six years old and have been watching each other’s backs for over 12 or so years. Elias loves her. Again, not romantically, but he loves her. He is loyal to her and she to him. Helene is more important to Elias than Laia and that is the way it should be considering that Helene is the 12 year friend and Laia a slave he met 3 days ago. I love Helene. I may not have always agreed with her and her methods but she stuck by Elias until the end. She was stubborn but loyal and those are the best of all people.
The rest of the supporting characters were great too. I love Elias grandfather. He was barely in the book but he looks so cool in a powerful and dangerous sort of way. And the commandant was such a terrible human being and that’s what made her a good villain. She was cruel and without remorse. She put the characters through hell and she reveled in it. If the villain was not as villainous then I doubt the heroes would have come out as heroic. Even Marcus and Zak were real and believable. Is it wrong that I feel bad for them?
Then there was the world. It was filled with strange creatures and unknown beasts that even the characters don’t full know what’s going on. It was a wonderful twist of fantasy into this ancient dystopian world.
This is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I cannot wait for more. I mean, there has to more right. THERE HAS TO BE A SEQUEL!!!! I recently met The author and she does not currently know if there will be a sequel but is hoping there will be. A book this awesome deserves to continue!
But anyway, this is a book I recommend to everyone. Admittedly, the book does have long moments in which little action happens so if you like really quick books this may not be for you. But if you are patient and calm and can get excited about nothing then this is the book for you.
I have no doubt that Sabaa Tahir will go on to do great things. I am ready to read whatever she writes.
P.S. Watch the book trailer! Its awesome!
5. KATERINA Review An Ember in the Ashes
“The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.”
One word.
E*X*P*L*O*S*I*V*E*
Dear Book Gods,
I beg you to forgive me for not reading this masterpiece sooner. I will graciously accept any punishment you deem appropriate. I would also like to thank you for bringing this book into my life. You guys rock!
Sincerely, Sabaa Tahir’s new stalker fan
The story
“You are full, Laia. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes.”
The Scholars are enslaved by the Martial Empire and they live under horrible conditions. Laia and her family try not to stick out, until her brother is arrested for treason and the only way to make the Resistance set him free is to become their spy within Blackcliff, the infamous military academy that breeds human weapons, the Masks, whose only purpose is death and destruction.
“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”
Even though he is the most promising Blackcliff student, Elias plans his escape from this living hell. Until he is informed that the only way to become truly free is to participate in the Trials that will determine the next Emperor, Trials so harsh and brutal that their cost might be too great. His soul.
Thoughts
Have you ever wished that you could forget a book only to experience reading it for the first time once more? An Ember in the Ashes is one of those books. It is special. While I turned the pages, while I inhaled Sabaa Tahir’s words, everything around me ceased to exist. Everything was frozen and the only thing I could hear was my heart. Thump, thump, thump. Sometimes it beat incredibly fast. Sometimes it stopped. Some others it was flooded with a warmth that spread through my veins into every inch of my body. It was beautiful and ugly, sweet and brutal, heartbreaking and heartmending.
“I look up at the stars hanging low in a sky that makes me think I’m seeing the infinite. But beneath their cold gaze, I feel small. All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.”
There was no reprieve from action and suspense in An Ember in the Ashes. War, battles, trials, espionage, rebels, slaves, ruthless villains, ancient creatures of immense powers, ghouls and wraiths, unbreakable swords, all of them woven together resulted in a story that kept you on the edge, that made you hold your breath and pray that your heroes will be spared the agony and the pain that was about to come. But it wouldn’t happen. They suffered, and you suffered with them. They hurt and you hurt. They were broken and you tried in vain to glue them back together. There was raw brutality that made you cringe, and strength and dedication and courage and harsh decisions that gave you goosebumps. There was hope in despair, light in darkness ,life in death. And I loved every single moment.
The characters
“Look at us”, he says. “Scholar slave and Mask, each trying to persuade the other that they’re not evil.”
Two enemies that were never meant to cross paths, let alone find a kindred spirit in each other, Elias and Laia were two rare characters. They were driven by their passion for freedom, they felt guilty for their actions, they blamed themselves for everything that was wrong in the world. Elias was a controlled chaos, lethal but noble, while Laia was weak and scared but she recognized her fear and she tried to tame it for the sake of the people she loved. You may have heard that there is a love square in this book, but things are a little more complicated. You see, Elias and Laia don’t have many scenes together. Both of them have another love interest that makes them confused, but I strongly believe they are mere distactions, a way to show that Elias and Laia come from different worlds and there are people who are more suitable for them, but the attraction and connection between them is off the charts and simply, they belong together. Which is unfortunate for me because I have a huge I want to have your babies crush on Elias.
If you were patient enough to read this review, then you understand you have to drop everything you’re doing and grab An Ember in the Ashes as fast as you can. Pretty pretty please?
6. FEDE Review An Ember in the Ashes
Imagine a high fantasy novel typical scenario: semi-medieval world ruled by a faction of warriors, the martials, who has ensalved the previous non-violent leading people, the scholars and made servants of the rest. There is a Resistance hidden in the darkest part of town, ready to strike against the Empire. There is an Emperor whose position has been established by some ancient omniscient beings, The Augurs.
In all of this, the story of the two main characters emerge. A girl, Laia, daughter of two of the leading figures of the resistance (now dead) whose entire family is captured or killed by the martials and Elias, one the prominent figures in the martian legion who however is trying desperately to escape a life of violence.
Their lives interwine when Laia infiltrates the martials school in order to save her brother from prison and Elias fails in his escape by being selected as the potential next emperor.
The plot has a little bit of everything: perfectly describes action scenes, suspace created by the unknown of the supernatural, mythology of different nature (there is a bit of a mix of roman and egyptian mythology which fits very well with the whole “martial ruling in the middle of a desert vibe”), several backstabbing scenes and just a hint of some sort of love …ehm … rectangle? Enough is going on to keep any fantasy reader engaged.
Characters are not one-dimentional, but it must be said that the relationship of the two main characters is a bit confusing. I am yet to judge given that there are several more books in the saga, and cannot wait to get started on those!
7. TAMISHLY Review An Ember in the Ashes
⚔️Most favourite character : Helene Aquilla
⚔️What surprised me: The unexpected turn of events towards the end.
Now we can expect more than one strong villian in the sequel.
⚔️What worked out that made me jumped to the next book without even waiting for a blink:
The confusion between the characters worked out quite well towards the end and there’s so much to look forward to. The writing doesn’t waste words. So yes, 400 something pages awaits me for more chilling reading.
⚔️Elais and Laia:
These characters are developed so well that you clapped the hardest while reading the last chapter!
There’s not much romance which I appreciate. It’s there but it’s telling you to have the pizza delivery kind of patience. The pizza is coming in slices in the sequels I feel.
Bleeding skies, the first book is good!
⚔️ First when the book started, I was like Sabaa Tahir is good. And after that for the rest of the pages left, I was still like Sabaa Tahir is really good!
And then, there’s the characters!
When the Mask guy first appeared, I wanted to murder him so bad. But (STOP!) after a few pages (first introduction to Elias), I was like may my evil thoughts disappear forever! Why would I want to kill my future fictional bias who’s so soft inside like gooey caramel, but acting tough on the outside because he’s meant to be the Mask one (with the mask unwilling to merge on his face. I would have suggested Fevicol or something but I wasn’t in the story and I support the author in meaning to make this guy come out as my fictional bias so no to any glue or alike ☺️)
And then there’s my weakling piece, Laia. YOU. ARE. NOT. AS. WEAK. AS. YOU. BELIEVE. YOU. ARE.
Keenan. Damn. I feel so bad to ship you two. But I do still bad if I do not ship you two.
Helen. Damn. What’s wrong with Elias when it comes to you two? Besties. I get that. But the chemistry is too good.
And the chemistry is just as good between Laia and Elias.
CAN ANYONE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?
What am I supposed to do in such situations, tell me, Sabaa Tahir?
And then the Commandant?! Even I got scared. Like my mom would find out something I do not want her to find out. She’s that intimidating 🤦
The plot is so convincing! I mean give me more! If series are going to be a series (what am I writing?!), it has to be like this 👆
The world building is amazingly done. Less description yet it follows the characters well enough to let you know even the tiniest details of the world.
Even the magical paranormal beings that keep fluttering around keeps playing with your head while they haunt the characters too well in their weakest moments.
I love how the story deals with family and friendship bonds under difficult circumstances.
I loved the side characters and loved knowing about their background stories. I love the love-hate vibes that do not come out too strong nor too weak.
Try to know about Izzy and the Cook too.
I love the consistent flow of the story with something interesting to look forward to in each page. And the story ended! Seriously, why?
⚔️If at all you want me to say something which I feel you might feel uncomfortable while reading this book, I would say there are some scenes of assault and violence but I would say they are not that descriptive. It might trigger you (and you will feel actual pain while reading such scenes) but I would say it’s not at all overdone.
⚔️ The writing is addictive. The characters jump out of nowhere to strangle you and your heart. The pain they suffer makes you actually writhe. And the reader in you becomes an assassin determined to pick up the rest of the books in the series just after reading page 2 of the first book.
⚔️ And yes, the chemistry boils. Not just between the main characters but yes, the side characters are rather too convincing that sometimes you don’t know what to do with them while shipping the main OTP. (There were moments of doubt who was pairing up with whom during the entire read because….. I love these characters so much and either way the chemistry would work out with any pair. Yes, the writing is that good.)
😱 And the reader here got hooked. Rather too much 💘
I wish every book I read for the rest of my life is this good. There wasn’t a dull moment in the entire book and I couldn’t afford to miss out even a word. Cover to cover love is real when it comes to books like this!
*27th December 2020:(Just after closing the book)
[[[ Where was I all this time? Was I in the same Universe as this series?
****I need some time to handle these feelings****
Review or whatever it is, wait. I need food, sleep and sanity and a lil wee time to adapt to my new fictional family of assassins. Assassins with gummy bear hearts 💝💝💝💝 you 4 stay safe.]]]
*Started reading this book on 26th December 2020 at around 10.45 pm thinking I would just check out a page and go to sleep.
I mean who was I kidding?!
I mean WHO TOLD YOU TO START A BOOK JUST BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP?
A BOOK LIKE THIS 🤦☺️
*My favourite lines:
“I live with my sins every day.
I live with the guilt.
But there are two kinds of guilt, girl: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose.”
8. JESSICA Review An Ember in the Ashes
okay. in 2019, some things are going to change. i am going to take the whole ‘new year, new me’ to heart, beginning with not waiting YEARS to read a book that everyone has told me to read. because i really havent been living my best life without this.
“An Ember in the Ashes” this was the fantasy story ive been needing recently. i was very much impressed with the world building – this introduced a lot of different aspects, and whilst not everything immediately affected the plot of this particular book, i felt like there was so much set-up for an amazing series to come.
and even though the writing felt a bit plain and the characters were decent, i couldnt help but be so entertained by this. i was immediately hooked and drawn into the story. i think the whole ‘your destiny has been seen and foretold’ and how each of the characters comes to terms with that (not to mention how everything intertwines with each other) was the highlight for me. it was definitely the sort of plot that makes everything so engaging and i cant wait to see how everything plans out!!
and i promised i have learned my lesson – when multiple people recommend a book, i will be so much happier if i just read it!! cant believe i have gone so long without this in my life!
9. ROBIN HOBB Review An Ember in the Ashes
An Ember in the Ashes is a deceptively simple read. The writing is as smooth as silk and keeps one reading long after the lights should have been out. Short chapters and the youthful viewpoints might put this book firmly in the Young Adult category.
But the questions considered in this book are the very questions that must be considered as one moves into adulthood. How much should an individual be willing to suffer ‘for the greater good?’ Is it foolish to struggle if one can avoid extreme pain by accepting an oppressive system and clinging to whatever small comforts there can be in daily life? Is idealism and heroism glorious if it means sacrificing the safety of your children and loved ones?
A compelling story, simply told, that considers both the cost of struggling for freedom and the price of maintaining supremacy . An Ember in the Ashes pits the false security of submission against the terrifying price of gaining choice. Set in an oppressive society, the two view point characters could not be more different in status, nor more alike in their subjugation. This tale recognizes that the ruthlessness required to retain power is as restrictive as the slave’s subjugation.
10. ZAINAB Review An Ember in the Ashes
I’ve been throwing four and five stars here and there recently but it’s not my fault that every other book I read turns out to be a gem.
All these (good) books came out during the time when even the word ‘fantasy’ would make me cringe but I’ve grown to like the genre so I’m lucky in this way that I have so many books to read now.
Anyway, this book “An Ember in the Ashes” is thrilling. The story is very different from other books in it’s genre. The characters are so loveable (and some equally hateable. I’m looking at you Commandant and Marcus) you have our very strong protagonist Laia, Helene with her big big heart, Izzy who is so friking cute and of course sweet sweet Elias. The guy is so friking sweet, man. I love him.
The book is adventurous, it’s amusing, it’s thrilling and I’m not doing it the least bit of justice with this review but trust me, it’s amazing.
III. [Quote] An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
![[Review - Quotes] An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir](https://bookquote.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Review-Quotes-An-Ember-in-the-Ashes-by-Sabaa-Tahir.jpg)
The best book quotes from An Ember in the Ashes
“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”
“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that’s a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It’s damaged but it’s there. Don’t let them take it from you.”
“Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be.”
“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”
“All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.”
“You are full, Laia. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes.”
“The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.”
“I’d rather die than live with no mercy, no honor, no soul.”
“There are two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose.”
“Fear can be good, Laia. It can keep you alive. But don’t let it control you. Don’t let it sow doubts within you. When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.”
“Nan always said that as long as there is life, there is hope.”
“In the night, your loneliness crushes you, as if the sky itself has swooped down to smother you in its cold arms.”
“Just because he’s a good leader doesn’t mean he’s a good person.”
“It will get better. You’ll never forget them, not even after years. But one day, you’ll go a whole minute without feeling the pain. Then an hour. A day. That’s all you can ask for, really.” His voice drops. “You’ll heal, I promise.”
“But I’m not strong. I’m weak, and I’m sick of pretending I’m not.”
“Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be. Too much fear and you’re paralyzed. Too little fear and you’re arrogant.”
“I do not doubt, I do not hesitate. I am the Lioness’s daughter, and I have the Lioness’s strength.”
“As long as there is life, there is hope.”
“Once, I’d have wanted that. I’d have wanted someone to tell me what to do, to fix everything. Once, I’d have wanted to be saved.”
“The best lies come from the truth.”
“Laia and Helene: They’re so different. I like that Laia says things I don’t expect, that she speaks almost formally, as if she’s telling a story. I like that she defied my mother to go to the Moon Festival, whereas Helene always obeys the Commandant. Laia is the wild dance of a Tribal campfire, while Helene is the cold blue of an alchemist’s flame.
But why am I even comparing them? I’ve know Laia a few days and Helene all my life. Helene’s no passing attraction. She’s family. More than that. She’s part of me.”“You—you were like me. You were a child. A normal child. And that was taken from you.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Well, it certainly makes you harder to hate.”“Exhaustion is temporary. Pain is temporary. But Helene dying because I didn’t find a way to get her back on time—that’s permanent.”
“I don’t need to believe in the supernatural, not when there’s worse that roams the night.”
“Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It’s damaged, but it’s there. Don’t let them take it from you, Elias.”
“The field of battle is my temple. I mentally chant a saying my grandfather taught me the day he met me, when I was six. He insists it sharpens the mind the way a whetstone sharpens a blade. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.”
“I never feared the night, not even as a child, but Blackcliff’s night is different, heavy with a silence that makes you look over your shoulder, a silence that feels like a living thing.”
“Safety is an illusion never to trust.”
“When Hel and I were Fivers, a Barbarian raiding party took us prisoner. I was trussed like a festival-day goat, but they tied Helene’s hands in front of her with twine and propped her on the back of a pony, assuming she was harmless. That night, she used the twine to garrote three of our jailers and broke the necks of the other three with her bare hands.
“They always underestimate me,” she said afterward, sounding puzzled.”“Life is hard enough without having to avoid entire rooms in my own head.”
“The voice is deep and soft, not a sound so much as a feeling. It is storm and wind and leaves twisting in the night. It is roots sucking deep at the earth, and the pale, sightless creatures that live below the ground. But there’s something wrong with this voice, something diseased at its core.”
“Seeing the enemy as human. A general’s ultimate nightmare.”
Book excerpts: An Ember in the Ashes By Sabaa Tahir
I. LAIA
My big brother reaches home in the dark hours before dawn, when even ghosts take their rest. He smells of steel and coal and forge. He smells of the enemy.
He folds his scarecrow body through the window, bare feet silent on the rushes. A hot desert wind blows in after him, rustling the limp curtains. His sketchbook falls to the floor, and he nudges it under his bunk with a quick foot, as if it’s a snake.
Where have you been, Darin? In my head, I have the courage to ask the question, and Darin trusts me enough to answer. Why do you keep disappearing? Why, when Pop and Nan need you? When I need you?
Every night for almost two years, I’ve wanted to ask. Every night, I’ve lacked the courage. I have one sibling left. I don’t want him to shut me out like he has everyone else.
But tonight’s different. I know what’s in his sketchbook. I know what it means.
“You shouldn’t be awake.” Darin’s whisper jolts me from my thoughts. He has a cat’s sense for traps—he got it from our mother. I sit up on the bunk as he lights the lamp. No use pretending to be asleep.
“It’s past curfew, and three patrols have gone by. I was worried.”
“I can avoid the soldiers, Laia. Lots of practice.” He rests his chin on my bunk and smiles Mother’s sweet, crooked smile. A familiar look—the one he gives me if I wake from a nightmare or we run out of grain. Everything will be fine, the look says.
He picks up the book on my bed. “Gather in the Night,” he reads the title. “Spooky. What’s it about?”
“I just started it. It’s about a jinn—” I stop. Clever. Very clever. He likes hearing stories as much as I like telling them. “Forget that. Where were you? Pop had a dozen patients this morning.”
And I filled in for you because he can’t do so much alone. Which left Nan to bottle the trader’s jams by herself. Except she didn’t finish. Now the trader won’t pay us, and we’ll starve this winter, and why in the skies don’t you care?
I say these things in my head. The smile’s already dropped off Darin’s face.
“I’m not cut out for healing,” he says. “Pop knows that.”
I want to back down, but I think of Pop’s slumped shoulders this morning. I think of the sketchbook.
“Pop and Nan depend on you. At least talk to them. It’s been months.”
I wait for him to tell me that I don’t understand. That I should leave him be. But he just shakes his head, drops down into his bunk, and closes his eyes like he can’t be bothered to reply.
“I saw your drawings.” The words tumble out in a rush, and Darin’s up in an instant, his face stony. “I wasn’t spying,” I say. “One of the pages was loose. I found it when I changed the rushes this morning.”
“Did you tell Nan and Pop? Did they see?”
“No, but—”
“Laia, listen.” Ten hells, I don’t want to hear this. I don’t want to hear his excuses. “What you saw is dangerous,” he says. “You can’t tell anyone about it. Not ever. It’s not just my life at risk. There are others—”
“Are you working for the Empire, Darin? Are you working for the Martials?”
He is silent. I think I see the answer in his eyes, and I feel ill. My brother is a traitor to his own people? My brother is siding with the Empire?
If he hoarded grain, or sold books, or taught children to read, I’d understand. I’d be proud of him for doing the things I’m not brave enough to do. The Empire raids, jails, and kills for such “crimes,” but teaching a six-year-old her letters isn’t evil—not in the minds of my people, the Scholar people.
But what Darin has done is sick. It’s a betrayal.
“The Empire killed our parents,” I whisper. “Our sister.”
I want to shout at him, but I choke on the words. The Martials conquered Scholar lands five hundred years ago, and since then, they’ve done nothing but oppress and enslave us. Once, the Scholar Empire was home to the finest universities and libraries in the world. Now, most of our people can’t tell a school from an armory.
“How could you side with the Martials? How, Darin?”
“It’s not what you think, Laia. I’ll explain everything, but—”
He pauses suddenly, his hand jerking up to silence me when I ask for the promised explanation. He cocks his head toward the window.
Through the thin walls, I hear Pop’s snores, Nan shifting in her sleep, a mourning dove’s croon. Familiar sounds. Home sounds.
Darin hears something else. The blood drains from his face, and dread flashes in his eyes. “Laia,” he says. “Raid.”
“But if you work for the Empire—” Then why are the soldiers raiding us?
“I’m not working for them.” He sounds calm. Calmer than I feel. “Hide the sketchbook. That’s what they want. That’s what they’re here for.”
Then he’s out the door, and I’m alone. My bare legs move like cold molasses, my hands like wooden blocks. Hurry, Laia!
Usually, the Empire raids in the heat of the day. The soldiers want Scholar mothers and children to watch. They want fathers and brothers to see another man’s family enslaved. As bad as those raids are, the night raids are worse. The night raids are for when the Empire doesn’t want witnesses.
I wonder if this is real. If it’s a nightmare. It’s real, Laia. Move.
I drop the sketchbook out the window into a hedge. It’s a poor hiding place, but I have no time. Nan hobbles into my room. Her hands, so steady when she stirs vats of jam or braids my hair, flutter like frantic birds, desperate for me to move faster.
She pulls me into the hallway. Darin stands with Pop at the back door. My grandfather’s white hair is scattered as a haystack and his clothes are wrinkled, but there’s no sleep in the deep grooves of his face. He murmurs something to my brother, then hands him Nan’s largest kitchen knife. I don’t know why he bothers. Against the Serric steel of a Martial blade, the knife will only shatter.
“You and Darin leave through the backyard,” Nan says, her eyes darting from window to window. “They haven’t surrounded the house yet.”
No. No. No. “Nan,” I breathe her name, stumbling when she pushes me toward Pop.
“Hide in the east end of the Quarter—” Her sentence ends in a choke, her eyes on the front window. Through the ragged curtains, I catch a flash of a liquid silver face. My stomach clenches.
“A Mask,” Nan says. “They’ve brought a Mask. Go, Laia. Before he gets inside.”
“What about you? What about Pop?”
“We’ll hold them off.” Pop shoves me gently out the door. “Keep your secrets close, love. Listen to Darin. He’ll take care of you. Go.”
Darin’s lean shadow falls over me, and he grabs my hand as the door closes behind us. He slouches to blend into the warm night, moving silently across the loose sand of the backyard with a confidence I wish I felt. Although I am seventeen and old enough to control my fear, I grip his hand like it’s the only solid thing in this world.
I’m not working for them, Darin said. Then whom is he working for? Somehow, he got close enough to the forges of Serra to draw, in detail, the creation process of the Empire’s most precious asset: the unbreakable, curved scims that can cut through three men at once.
Half a millennium ago, the Scholars crumbled beneath the Martial invasion because our blades broke against their superior steel. Since then, we have learned nothing of steelcraft. The Martials hoard their secrets the way a miser hoards gold. Anyone caught near our city’s forges without good reason—Scholar or Martial—risks execution.
If Darin isn’t with the Empire, how did he get near Serra’s forges? How did the Martials find out about his sketchbook?
On the other side of the house, a fist pounds on the front door. Boots shuffle, steel clinks. I look around wildly, expecting to see the silver armor and red capes of Empire legionnaires, but the backyard is still. The fresh night air does nothing to stop the sweat rolling down my neck. Distantly, I hear the thud of drums from Blackcliff, the Mask training school. The sound sharpens my fear into a hard point stabbing at my center. The Empire doesn’t send those silver-faced monsters on just any raid.
The pounding on the door sounds again.
“In the name of the Empire,” an irritated voice says, “I demand you open this door.”
As one, Darin and I freeze.
“Doesn’t sound like a Mask,” Darin whispers. Masks speak softly with words that cut through you like a scim. In the time it would take a legionnaire to knock and issue an order, a Mask would already be in the house, weapons slicing through anyone in his way.
Darin meets my eyes, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing. If the Mask isn’t with the rest of the soldiers at the front door, then where is he?
“Don’t be afraid, Laia,” Darin says. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I want to believe him, but my fear is a tide tugging at my ankles, pulling me under. I think of the couple that lived next door: raided, imprisoned, and sold into slavery three weeks ago. Book smugglers, the Martials said. Five days after that, one of Pop’s oldest patients, a ninety-three-year-old man who could barely walk, was executed in his own home, his throat slit from ear to ear. Resistance collaborator.
What will the soldiers do to Nan and Pop? Jail them? Enslave them?
Kill them?
We reach the back gate. Darin stands on his toes to unhook the latch when a scrape in the alley beyond stops him short. A breeze sighs past, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
Darin pushes me behind him. His knuckles are white around the knife handle as the gate swings open with a moan. A finger of terror draws a trail up my spine. I peer over my brother’s shoulder into the alley.
There is nothing out there but the quiet shifting of sand. Nothing but the occasional gust of wind and the shuttered windows of our sleeping neighbors.
I sigh in relief and step around Darin.
That’s when the Mask emerges from the darkness and walks through the gate.
….
Note: Above are quotes and excerpts from the book “An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir”. If you find it interesting and useful, don’t forget to buy paper books to support the Author and Publisher!
| The above content has been collected from various sources on the internet. Click the Share button to recommend the book to your friends! |
BookQuote.Net Sincerely Introduced!
