Article contributed by Suya Chry
For this segment of Author Spotlight, I want to introduce you to one of the queens of YA out there, Sabaa Tahir. If you are one of the millions who love YA fantasy novels and can’t get enough of it, while constantly trying to find something good, stop right here. That is, if you haven’t already Tahir’s book!
Sabaa Tahir is a Pakistani-American writer who grew up in Mojave Desert in California. Her parents initially emigrated from Pakistan to United Kingdom, where she was born, and then went on to live in the States. She attended UCLA and worked at The Washington Post, after which she knew she wanted to write a book and started working on it.
Since 2015, Tahir has published three books, with the fourth scheduled to be released by end of 2020. All books are part of the ‘An Ember in the Ashes’ series, with the first book of the same name. The Ember books are truly what any bookworm would want to read. There is the concept of hope and human spirit, and finding love in times of despair. There are amazing characters with intertwined relationships that makes Tahir worthy of her praise and success.
‘I was so engrossed with this book that I missed a connecting flight. If that doesn’t convince you to read An Ember in the Ashes, I don’t know what will. An explosive, heartbreaking, epic debut that will keep you glued to the pages. I hope the world’s ready for Sabaa Tahir.’ – Marie Lu
Books by Sabaa Tahir:
- An Ember in the Ashes (2015)
- A Torch against the Night (2016)
- A Reaper at the Gates (2018)
- A Sky beyond the Storm (2020, to be published)
In An Ember in the Ashes series, there is a strict Martial Empire, where resistance is destined to death. The main characters, Elias and Laia, are on opposite sides. Elias is a soldier in the Empire’s Blackcliff Military Academy, but secretly he’s the most unwilling. Laia is a scholar whose parents are dead, and grandparents killed in front of her eyes. She makes a deal with the Resistance to spy on the academy in exchange for her brother’s rescue and there, she meets Elias. They both soon realise that their futures are inevitably and irrevocably tangled together.
One of the best tropes in YA fantasy literature is resistance to an unjust authority. The Hunger Games and Divergent are some examples of bestselling books about this trope. Falling into a similar category, the Ember series is a beautiful rendition of fight against the cruel empire. Sabaa puts in hope, love, and determination, along with despair, death, and betrayal in her books, making us cry in both happiness and sadness. There are complex and intriguing villains, with mysterious pasts and locked emotions, one of the more beautiful things to come across in books.
‘A heart-pounding story of love and loss, with the most original worldbuilding I’ve read all year…’ Margaret Stohl
An ember in the ashes, a torch against the night, a reaper at the gates and a sky beyond the storm, Sabaa Tahir is it all. To find out more about this brilliant writer, visit her website and Goodreads page.
