The trials reveal a little more of each character, both to themselves and to the reader. The plot of a group of people pitted against each other and various trials set by someone outside that group is not a new one, but this ones is convincing within the constructed world of the Empire. And what part is the Commandant, the cruel, unscrupulous and ruthless woman in charge of the Academy playing in all of this? Elias is her son, but she is certainly not doing anything to help him. The trials are demanding and distressing and require the contestants to re-evaluate their loyalties and strengths. The two closest friends, Elias and Helene, have to compete against the two class bullies for the title of Emperor. The Augur – who can read thoughts – convinces Elias that the way to freedom is not the one he’s chosen but through the competition for Emperor. On the eve of graduation and of his escape attempt, he is visited by an Augur, a supernatural being who is in charge of the process for determining a new Emperor. Elias is hoping to escape from the Academy where they’ve lived through their training and find freedom outside. Harper Collins, 27 April 2015, 450pp., $27.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780007593279Įlias and Helene are about to graduate after 15 years of training to be Masks, an elite soldier group, in this dystopian world know only as the Empire. Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes (Ember in the Ashes #1).
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