Friday, 7 August 2020 09:16 pm
Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes
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deckardcanineAs I noted before, several blurbs compare the first volume of Sabaa Tahir's series to Game of Thrones or its literary basis, A Song of Ice and Fire. I also see multiple allusions in blurbs to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, which makes sense given the protagonists in their late teens. Well, I enjoyed HP but have been avoiding the other two, tho this wouldn't be the first Martin-esque book to appeal to me.
Like many high fantasies, it takes place in a world with what might be a medieval tech level, but the pre-gunpowder era kinda runs together for me. Actually, the presence of Latin-style names in an empire suggests a more ancient setting. Somewhat jarringly, the dominant ethnicity is called the Martials, the most frequently mentioned others being the Scholars and the...Tribes. Well, whatever.
Alas, the Scholars have it probably even worse than African Americans in the 18th century did: They can't legally seek professional medical treatment, no matter how much they need it. You'd think slave owners would try harder to keep their purchases intact, but maybe the Martials care more about trampling conquered enemies.
Like in the Gravediggers series, the structure consists of present-tense, first-person narration, alternating by chapter, each chapter titled to remind us who's speaking. Unlike in Gravediggers, there are only two narrators. And for all the atrocities that happen, I wouldn't classify AEitA as horror.
Laia has spent most of her young life outside of servitude, but since her parents were Resistance legends, the authorities have killed most of her family (not all at the same time), and her older brother is somewhere being tortured for information, if not already dead. She finds the Resistance and asks for help rescuing him, but since their resources don't exactly abound, the leader, Mazen, demands quid pro quo: She must spy on the Commandant at Blackcliff Academy, which raises children to be elite assassins. To do this requires her to become a personal slave of the Commandant, likely the cruelest woman in the Empire. Only Laia's desperation for her last relative could get her to agree. But one of the other slaves doesn't trust the Resistance so much, and Laia's crush in the Resistance, Keenan, has his own doubts about Mazen.
The other narrator, Elias, is a graduating senior at Blackcliff and the Commandant's son, tho you'd hardly guess it from their interactions. He and his classmates are called Masks, because they wear silver masks that eventually seal to their skin without hindering facial expressions, but his mask isn't so tight, because he takes it off whenever he can get away with that. (I picked a funny time to read this book, huh?) Indeed, he abhors the school as much as the readers do: Not only does it offend his curiously persistent ethical sensibilities, but it's almost as hard on students as on slaves. Probably every six-year-old after Week 1 has whip scars, and half of them won't survive to graduation.
Elias has been planning to escape, but an Augur advises him to stay a bit longer. He even enters a competition -- with his best friend, Helene, and his two worst enemies among peers -- that stands to pick a successor for the childless old Emperor. Whoever places second becomes the Emperor's right-hand Blood Shrike; those in third and fourth place are to be executed if they haven't died during the trials. Elias thinks his best bet is to let/help Helene win. Unfortunately, the two of them have shifting feelings for each other, running hot and cold as their different worldviews manifest.
Yeah, despite differences that are hard to reconcile, Laia and Elias find commonalities, resenting their notorious parents (but not their more familial grandparents) and being trapped in a realm they never wanted. They also both find themselves in love with two people, including each other. I'm pretty sure they'll end up together, but there's a rocky road ahead.
There are mythical creatures such as the jinn and efrit, which seem to reflect Tahir's Pakistani heritage, but they rarely come into play. The Augurs provide the most significant magical aspects. These 14 individuals, while apparently human-born, might as well be called gods. For some reason, they don't just see the future; they read minds (tho the equivalent of Occlumency is possible), command mighty beings and weather, and claim complete immortality. No one dares oppose their will. In truth, it's hard to tell what their goals are. They arrange for some horrible and unfair events, but are they evil, or do they perceive the best available path for humanity to be not all that good along the way? Regardless, their presence reduces my appreciation of the story by rendering everyone else a pawn.
There are maps in the front and back, but I didn't bother to consult them, because the focal characters never travel far in the first volume. Given its ending, I'm sure they'll go farther in A Torch Against the Night, if not in A Reaper at the Gates and the yet-untitled finale.
And yes, I plan to keep reading. The painful aspects get overshadowed by the hopeful. I found it more engrossing than gross, and I proved to be no Augur in terms of sensing what would happen next. Tahir pulled off a tough act; let's hope she keeps it up.
For now, I'm checking out a very short non-fantasy that I noticed in childhood but never read: Juggling for the Complete Klutz. Now if I could only find some good objects...
Like many high fantasies, it takes place in a world with what might be a medieval tech level, but the pre-gunpowder era kinda runs together for me. Actually, the presence of Latin-style names in an empire suggests a more ancient setting. Somewhat jarringly, the dominant ethnicity is called the Martials, the most frequently mentioned others being the Scholars and the...Tribes. Well, whatever.
Alas, the Scholars have it probably even worse than African Americans in the 18th century did: They can't legally seek professional medical treatment, no matter how much they need it. You'd think slave owners would try harder to keep their purchases intact, but maybe the Martials care more about trampling conquered enemies.
Like in the Gravediggers series, the structure consists of present-tense, first-person narration, alternating by chapter, each chapter titled to remind us who's speaking. Unlike in Gravediggers, there are only two narrators. And for all the atrocities that happen, I wouldn't classify AEitA as horror.
Laia has spent most of her young life outside of servitude, but since her parents were Resistance legends, the authorities have killed most of her family (not all at the same time), and her older brother is somewhere being tortured for information, if not already dead. She finds the Resistance and asks for help rescuing him, but since their resources don't exactly abound, the leader, Mazen, demands quid pro quo: She must spy on the Commandant at Blackcliff Academy, which raises children to be elite assassins. To do this requires her to become a personal slave of the Commandant, likely the cruelest woman in the Empire. Only Laia's desperation for her last relative could get her to agree. But one of the other slaves doesn't trust the Resistance so much, and Laia's crush in the Resistance, Keenan, has his own doubts about Mazen.
The other narrator, Elias, is a graduating senior at Blackcliff and the Commandant's son, tho you'd hardly guess it from their interactions. He and his classmates are called Masks, because they wear silver masks that eventually seal to their skin without hindering facial expressions, but his mask isn't so tight, because he takes it off whenever he can get away with that. (I picked a funny time to read this book, huh?) Indeed, he abhors the school as much as the readers do: Not only does it offend his curiously persistent ethical sensibilities, but it's almost as hard on students as on slaves. Probably every six-year-old after Week 1 has whip scars, and half of them won't survive to graduation.
Elias has been planning to escape, but an Augur advises him to stay a bit longer. He even enters a competition -- with his best friend, Helene, and his two worst enemies among peers -- that stands to pick a successor for the childless old Emperor. Whoever places second becomes the Emperor's right-hand Blood Shrike; those in third and fourth place are to be executed if they haven't died during the trials. Elias thinks his best bet is to let/help Helene win. Unfortunately, the two of them have shifting feelings for each other, running hot and cold as their different worldviews manifest.
Yeah, despite differences that are hard to reconcile, Laia and Elias find commonalities, resenting their notorious parents (but not their more familial grandparents) and being trapped in a realm they never wanted. They also both find themselves in love with two people, including each other. I'm pretty sure they'll end up together, but there's a rocky road ahead.
There are mythical creatures such as the jinn and efrit, which seem to reflect Tahir's Pakistani heritage, but they rarely come into play. The Augurs provide the most significant magical aspects. These 14 individuals, while apparently human-born, might as well be called gods. For some reason, they don't just see the future; they read minds (tho the equivalent of Occlumency is possible), command mighty beings and weather, and claim complete immortality. No one dares oppose their will. In truth, it's hard to tell what their goals are. They arrange for some horrible and unfair events, but are they evil, or do they perceive the best available path for humanity to be not all that good along the way? Regardless, their presence reduces my appreciation of the story by rendering everyone else a pawn.
There are maps in the front and back, but I didn't bother to consult them, because the focal characters never travel far in the first volume. Given its ending, I'm sure they'll go farther in A Torch Against the Night, if not in A Reaper at the Gates and the yet-untitled finale.
And yes, I plan to keep reading. The painful aspects get overshadowed by the hopeful. I found it more engrossing than gross, and I proved to be no Augur in terms of sensing what would happen next. Tahir pulled off a tough act; let's hope she keeps it up.
For now, I'm checking out a very short non-fantasy that I noticed in childhood but never read: Juggling for the Complete Klutz. Now if I could only find some good objects...