Soldiers hunt Laia and Elias as they flee the city of Serra and begin their journey through the heart of the empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf, the empire’s most secure and dangerous prison – to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival.
Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.
But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene – Elias’s former friend and the empire’s newest Blood Shrike.
Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own – one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape and kill them both before they set the empire on fire.
About the book
The best of ‘An Ember in the Ashes’ returns and it’s still a part of this story; the complexity of each and every character, the morals that are constantly questioned, and the raw human emotion that is at the centre of everything. The wonderful thing about ‘A Torch Against the Night’ is that though it never shies away from depicting cold brutality, the nuances of emotion are just as deeply felt and just as passionately rendered. You will yell at your favourite characters, laugh with their loved ones, and perhaps even shed a tear or two for a villain.
The first book in the ember quartet, ‘An Ember in the Ashes’, signs off as our two main characters Laia and Elias escape the Blackcliff Military Academy and set out to rescue Laia’s brother Darin. Now, the second book picks up right where the previous one left off, but what really distinguishes this book from its prequel is its utter otherworldliness. The breath of death on our characters’ necks, the villains that are evil incarnate, the idea of a prescribed destiny, the new abilities and powers, and the demons, stories, and souls – everything combines with a well-built, exquisite plot. An expanded universe and the realistically flawed and broken character portrayals deliver the best kind of chills.
From the very first page, we’re thrust back into Tahir’s fictional world quite violently. Starting exactly where the prequel ended, we’re reminded of the stakes, the world, and the unnatural, and of course, Elias and Laia’s slow burn, sizzling chemistry.
A few readers initially rated this book with five stars but ended up changing it. This is because of the inconsistency of the pacing. The story unravels with several ramifications that, at first glance, it only detracts from the main storyline. But the captivating world that’s been created is appreciated. Readers, however, may find themselves wishing more exciting things happened. There is a guarantee that those things will probably happen in the third novel because the wheels have finally been put into motion.
To those who’ve had any inkling of love for Elias in the first book, prepare yourself for full-on worship and adoration in this book. This sequel paints him in true hero colours, highlighting his altruism, his devotion, his intensity, and most of all, his fairness. There was a particular development that is utterly heartbreaking and will hopefully somehow be reversed by the end of the series.
This time around, Laia makes a lot of mistakes – one more disastrous than the other. However, instead of drowning in guilt, she turns a critical eye to her actions and learns from them. Betrayals change her, new allies shape her, and love strengthens her.
Helene Aquilla, however, is incredible. She grows phenomenally in this instalment, through emotional hardships that plague her at every step. Her whole journey is a turning point, the stepping stone for maturity. The question of duty versus heart remains deeply rooted in her persona and heartbreak shapes her anew in an astounding, almost terrifying image. Readers will eagerly await to see how this colder, broken, and hollowed Helene is going to enact her revenge and show the world her wrath. After all, the title of this book is an omen of the fire in Helene Aquilla.
The matter of the ‘love square’ is entirely resolved, thankfully, by the end of the novel. At least I think so. We could, alternately, go ahead and call it a pseudo-love triangle because even though the focus is on an almost-pair that has my heart bursting with joy, the possibility of old flames coming to life yet again is not wholly crushed. Feelings of mutual love still reside in a back corner, even though they are one of deep friendship.
The most compelling feature of this continuation are the villains and one of the most intriguing characters in the whole book is Marcus with his broken mind and ruthless and cunning ways; even if he’s not one of the good guys, he is one of the characters whose performance one can wholeheartedly applaud. The warden is a new bad guy but immensely intriguing in his sadistic ways. The Nightbringer establishes himself as a layered, complex character that is not as straightforward as one might think. The best of the worst is of course the Commandant who manages to upgrade her title. Such beautifully written bad characters are rather rare in Young Adult fantasy novels and ones like the Commandant who thrive on power and bloodshed, on gore and brutality, and perennial violence are ironically a breath of fresh air. It is fascinating and utterly horrifying to witness how easily she can make a whole nation crumble.
Memorable quotes
“So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light”
“Your emotions make you human. Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don’t lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier”
“Failure doesn’t define you. It’s what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air”
“But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night – if you dare to let yourself burn”
“Don’t lock yourself away from those who care about you because you think you’ll hurt them or they’ll hurt you. What point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself feel anything?”
“Don’t look so worried. Most successful missions are just a series of barely averted disasters”
“Elias and Laia are each other’s countermelodies. I am just a dissonant note”
“True suffering lies in the expectation of pain as much as in the pain itself”
“Perhaps grief is like battle: After experiencing enough of it, your body’s instincts take over. When you see it closing in like a martial death squad, you harden your insides. You prepare for the agony of a shredded heart. And when it hits, it hurts, but not as badly, because you have locked away your weakness, and all that’s left is anger and strength”
“Sometimes loneliness is a choice”
“Family is worth dying for, killing for. Fighting for them is all that keeps us going when everything else is gone”
“Willpower alone cannot change one’s fate”
“Secrets are a snake’s way of doing business”
“If your sins were blood, child, you would drown in a river of your own making”
‘A Torch Against the Night’ by Sabaa Tahir Synopsis
11 Sep 2022
‘A Torch Against the Night’ by Sabaa Tahir Synopsis
11 Sep 2022