Heir by Sabaa Tahir is the start of a sequel series to An Ember in the Ashes (AEITA) which came out in 2015. I did not read AEITA until my first year of high school, and I still cannot believe it took me that long to read it. The series ended in my junior year of high school, and I did not want to leave the world Tahir created. When I found out Heir was coming out, I felt like I was back in high school.
Tahir has managed to capture the feeling of the original series, one of fighting for hope, justice, and a better future while leading with love: Quil, with his love for his country, and Sirsha, with her love for a community. I think multiple perspectives can be a lot sometimes in a first book, but Tahir made me want to read all of them. Aiz is a character who I did not understand at first, but by the end of Heir I found myself wanting to know what is next for her so much.
Quil is amazing. He is 20 years old and is in line to lead the Empire. I love how he is very strong and fierce, but is also shyer than Elias. Quil may be my favorite male character that Tahir has written. Also, I love reading books with royals in relationships that are made complicated by the family around them. This is also the first time the male main character has almost been my favorite in a book, which almost never happens for me.
I loved Sirsha – she is my favorite character of Heir. She is different from Laia and Helene; she has a carefree attitude that she uses to hide the fact that she does care about the people around her and yearns for people who will stay by her side. I love that she is not afraid to ask for what she wants in any relationship she has.
Aiz was such a surprising character; I did not expect to see her story to go where it did. I think this shows how Tahir is such an amazing writer as I felt many different emotions toward her, including disappointment. At the same time, the side characters captured my attention more than Aiz. I appreciate that Tahir is able to make me understand the characters even though I do not agree with them.
I would read a thousand books set in the world of Ember. Tahir has written a fantasy novel that I believe will become one of the classics of our time. Heir is an adventurous novel that uses the tropes of soul mates and the “chosen one” in new ways.
Sabaa Tahir’s Ember Quartet remains one of my greatest fantasy series of all time. I read it every time and I find my love for it increasing. After re-reading the series (out of order, the last two books first and the first two books after), I realized that there is so much that I did not pick up on even after reading the series in full for the third time. There will be spoilers for the entire series in this article, so please, please, please read the series and then come back to this article!!!
An Ember in the Ashes
Elias’ grandfather’s saying: “The field of battle is my temple. The sword point is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.” – pg 11 – This is referenced multiple times throughout the other books in different contexts. Elias changes this saying to represent his love for Laia in A Torch Against the Night.
“No, please, no. Disappear, I want to disappear. The Mask blinks, some foreign emotion flickering across his eyes – surprise or shock, I can’t tell.” – pg 18 – Laia’s invisibility powers manifest more in the sequels.
“[The mask] makes my skin crawl, makes me feel like I’m not myself anymore. Like I’ll never be myself again.” – pg 25 – This may foreshadow Elias’ escape from having to live as a soldier.
Keenan comments on Laia’s armlet: “That’s an unusual armlet. . .It’s silver, isn’t it?” pg 57 – already foreshadowing that Keenan is the Nightbringer.
“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy.” Cain says this to Elias before the trials begin/are announced on page 65. It’s a reference to the title and I think how Elias will become the Soul Catcher.
These are the first 65 pages of AEITA. I can’t believe how many hints there were to future books from the very first hundred pages.
Did you notice any foreshadowing in the first 100 pages of the Ember Quartet?
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir is the best book of the Ember Quartet. I think I love it so much because nearly every aspect is perfect. I first got into the Ember Quartet because I saw that there was a lot of press for ARATG. It was the first book by a brown Asian American person I read where I saw a main character who vaguely looked like me in a fantasy novel. (It is important to recognize that brown Asians have various and different experiences and come from all around Asia and so it’s important to say that if the Ember Quartet was made into a movie, Laia should be played by a Pakistani actress.) There will be spoilers for the first two books of the AEITA quartet.
At the beginning of ARATG, Laia, Helene, and Elias are all split up in different parts of the Empire. Helene is the Blood Shrike, Laia is learning how to use her invisibility powers, and Elias is the Soul Catcher. I appreciated seeing how much character growth happens throughout ARATG, and what sets this apart from the first two books is that we get to see Laia and Helene’s relationship develop, something that was a bit tenuous in the prior books. Elias is brooding this entire book – he pines a lot over his lost life and struggles to fully accept his identity as the Soul Catcher.
Laia remains my favorite character of the three. She is a heroine who defines herself by her kindness and hope. Laia is strong and her emotions are not a weakness. They do not have to be a strength. Her agency is also not defined by the people around her. However, Helene is still my least favorite character. Although she does begin to recognize the Empire as the colonizing force that it is toward the Scholars, she is not yet fully there in recognizing how she contributes to the oppression of the Scholars.
The world building in ARATG is the strongest of the Quartet. The scope of the world expands so much in this book, which is what makes it my favorite of the Quartet. It feels organic and is balanced with the rest of the narrative. For example, Musa of Marinn is a great new character who introduces us to an entirely new aspect of the world, and to wights. At the end of it all, though, Laia is the main character of the Ember Quartet and without her, the narrative would be nothing. She is the heart of these novels.
Why did you read the Ember Quartet? If you haven’t read it, are you planning to?
Cover of A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir. Laia is holding a scythe and Elias is holding a wooden armlet.
THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THIS REVIEW OF A SKY BEYOND THE STORM. I AM TELLING YOU NOW TO NOT LOOK IF YOU HAVE NOT READ A SKY BEYOND THE STORM. DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU HAVE READ IT. IF YOU READ MY REVIEW AND GET SPOILED, YOU WILL BE SAD. . . . . . . . SPOILERS!!!!!!!!! . . . . . . .
If you are here, I am assuming you’ve read the entirity of A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir. If so, here is another warning: my style of writing reviews is VERY incoherent after I’ve read a really great book that is amazing and makes me want to cry and also just stare at the ceiling for a few hours contemplating my life choices.
Listen, I only checked my laptop and phone twice when reading this book from 8:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. today. I audibly gasped at some moments. I 100% stand by this statement: THIS IS HOW YOU END A SERIES.
I first read An Ember In The Ashes in January 2018. I then read A Torch Against the Night and A Reaper at the Gates in September 2018 in the span of three days (I honestly don’t remember doing this but I am proud and also wonder how I managed to do that). I read A Thief Among the Trees in October of this year and now I’ve finally done it!! I finished a series this year!!!
Sabaa Tahir is an excellent writer. I feel like the series can be divided up into two parts: AEITA and ATATN and then ARATG and ASBTS. The first two books seem more political fantasy focused while the last two books have this element as well as containing a lot of action and magic. This magic system is so unique and I agree with another review I read: THERE IS NO DEUS EX MACHINA. In fact, I love that Laia defeated/gets rid of the Nightbringer with the power of love and stories. I love endings like that.
I never felt bored while reading this. I definitely raced through some parts, but those were the action parts (like when Dex sacrificed himself, or the battle between Helene and the Commandment). I don’t remember the name of the Commandment’s mom, but OMG!! Commandment = lovey. I was not expecting that at all.
I also didn’t mind Helene’s point of view. Yes, she is still my least favorite character for being for colonization and how she treated Laila, and I do like seeing how she grew throughout the story. Her ending made sense. I was very sad when Harper died. I would love to see a novella about Harper’s childhood and maybe of interactions he had with Elias at Blackcliff.
Also, Darin’s journey!!!!!! This death made me the most sad because for a while, he was the only family Laia had left. I would like to see a novella about Laia dealing with the aftermath of the war. I also need to re-read a physical copy of ARATG because I didn’t comprehend why that other country was attacking. I also want to know how the government will work now that Helene is empress?! Like I was almost expecting there to be debates on having a representative government (or maybe I forgot this part).
Let’s talk about Laia. Laia is my favorite character AND YET that moment when she played into the Nightbringer’s hands made sense while also irritating me. However, I feel like this pushed her to see how she fights and I know that Tahir doesn’t favor certain characters/doesn’t allow Laia to be the perfect main character: to quote Rose Tico, “We win by saving what we love, not killing what we hate.” Yes, the Nightbringer went away, but again, Laia defeated him with love. Laia’s love for Elias is so strong, and that scene where Elias repeats Always Victorious almost made me cry, or at least I was sobbing in my mind. Elias went through so much and I truly believe he and Laia deserved the happy ending they got.
See, I absolutely despise it when authors kill off the main characters or make them die and come back. No resurrections allowed!!! They’re the main characters for a reason. This is why A Sky Beyond the Storm has the perfect ending. I love the character arcs of Laia and Elias and to see them rise beyond who they were in An Ember in the Ashes is so beautiful. Tahir is an excellent writer and every page made me want to keep reading.
Basically, I’m happy because Laia finally gets to be free and live on her own terms. In the other books, she was attached to her past and now in ASBTS, she knows how to work past her fears and tap into her powers. The legends/stories in this novel are so beautifully interwoven.
Finally, I cannot wait to see what Tahir writes in the future. This is the most perfect fantasy series I’ve ever read (besides The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – no I have not read The Burning God yet oops), and I’m not just saying that because so many of my friends love this series. This is what fantasy should be: a world that expands as you read the series with characters who will live in your minds forever.
Last thoughts: I would love a wedding novella about Laia and Elias!!!! Or them going on dates or something because I want to see them together!!!! Most of this book was Elias acting super grouchy (haha) and being all like, “let me tend to my ghosts,” and yes I know that’s not him but I just want to see more of them!!! Also, I definitely think this series is in the upper YA category because I could definitely analyze some of the darker themes in this book/moments like when Helene crosses that pit of bones. I hope Tahir writes an adult fantasy series, and I’ll be happy with anything she writes. Again, I would love that Harper novella and maybe one about Musa. As well as a textbook of the history of this world.
Solace in Reading 