A “deft, polished debut” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), Sabaa Tahir‘s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and pulse-pounding read. Set in a rich, high-fantasy world with echoes of ancient Rome, it tells the story of a slave fighting for her family and a young soldier fighting for his freedom. 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. It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy. There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.


薩巴‧塔希爾最強巨作：灰燼餘火能激發讀者思考、揪心、緊張刺激的系列小說。故事背景在古羅馬帝國的烏托邦世界，敘述一位為家庭奮鬥的奴隸和一位追求自己自由的年輕軍人。拉雅是位奴隸，而埃力亞斯是個軍人，兩人都被環境受困住。在軍權至上的帝國統治下，反抗只是死路一條，而那些不發誓為國捐軀、盡心力的人只會讓他們愛的人受死。在這樣殘忍的世界裡，拉雅和她的爺爺奶奶以及哥哥一起住在帝國狹窄的街道裡，因為他們看見反抗帝國人的下場，拉雅一家人只能忍氣吞聲。直到拉雅的哥哥被國家以叛國為由被逮捕，拉雅被迫抉擇：為解救她哥哥，拉雅決定答應反叛軍變成間諜潛入帝國偉大軍校，在那裡，拉雅認識全校最優秀的軍人－－－埃力亞斯。埃力亞斯想要逃離訓練他變得冷血的軍隊，他和拉雅很快地發現上天將他們綑綁在一起：改變帝國的命運。