An Ember in the Ashes
In a world ruled by the iron fist of the Martial Empire, Laia lives as a Scholar, a member of a people subjugated and oppressed. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia agrees to a dangerous mission in exchange for the rebellion's help: infiltrate the empire's brutal military academy, Blackcliff, as a slave, and gather intelligence for the resistance. There she crosses paths with Elias Veturius, Blackcliff's finest soldier and its most reluctant, who dreams only of escaping the tyranny he has been trained to enforce. As the Empire's brutal Trials begin, Laia and Elias find their fates entangled in ways neither expects, in the first book of Sabaa Tahir's New York Times bestselling Ember quartet.
A Mask, one of the Empire's elite soldiers, secretly plotting to desert on the eve of his graduation from Blackcliff Academy.
A sadistic Blackcliff cadet and rival to Elias, competing in the Trials to become the Empire's next Emperor.
Elias's best friend, the only female cadet at Blackcliff, fiercely loyal to the Empire.
