Why ‘The Ember Quartet’ by Sabaa Tahir is worth your time

What a ride. Covers of An Ember in the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night, A Reaper at the Gates, and A Sky Beyond the Storm (Sabaa Tahir) by HarperVoyager.

Hello lovely people. I believe it was about fifteen years ago, earlier this year when I purchased my paperback copy of An Ember in the Ashes, the first of four novels in the Ember Quartet. It stood among my fellow to-reads on Goodreads for two years before that, give or take. However, it was this October that I finally picked it up.

And lovely people, I am so glad I did. With this review, in which I’m going to discuss the whole series (the entire thing has rather blended into one entity in my brain, especially books two through four), I’m going to explain why you need to procure this series for yourself as well. I’m going to try and do this in as spoilerless a manner as is possible. But first…

What I’m Reading: A Deal with the Elf King (Elise Kova)

What I’m Watching: The Mandalorian (Disney+) / Virgin River (Netflix)

What I’m Playing: In Between Games (😞)

So. Where to even begin with this series? Perhaps I’ll start by saying that the Ember Quartet is one of the most consistent series I’ve encountered. In tone, in story and plot, in quality… I rated each book four stars, which for me is considerably high. I would be hard-pressed to decide which is my favourite of the four, so perhaps I’ll go with the first; not necessarily because it’s a better quality than its successors, but rather I remember it as its own story better than I do two through four. An Ember in the Ashes was a setup for all to come, and for building our three MCs, it soared.

Laia, Elias, and Helene. Though Helene certainly shines more in the other three volumes, primarily due to her not having any POV chapters in the first novel, I felt a connection to each of them early on. Across the span of four volumes, they’re each dealt a frickety tonne of loss and grief, and find time both together and apart to grow. They do not close the series the same people they were on page one, enough so that just thinking of their origins is enough to find decided differences. They make mistakes, they struggle, their legs dare to give out on multiple occasions. All said, their resilience and their endurance borders on inspiring. I find myself thinking of this trio, saying, “I would follow them to the ends of the earth if they asked me.”

Laia especially. Perhaps it is because this story begins as hers, but watching her evolve into the woman she becomes was like finding water after a long, miserable summer’s day. She’s not remotely perfect (none of them are), she feels intensely, but in the end, can find forgiveness for even the cruellest of monsters. She never gives up — no matter how many times Sabaa Tahir gut-punches her. I’m perfectly serious on that last point, given how often Tahir strikes out at her characters (I’m genuinely impressed as an author just how brutal she is to her characters, all the respect). She adapts, she learns, and through it all, she never lets herself succumb to her failings or the incoming tides of darkness. Laia of Serra is someone worth looking up to, and I’m rather inclined to encourage reading it purely for her evolution.

But the story isn’t just about Laia, Elias, and Helene. It’s about the minor characters, about their families, both blood and found, about finding the true stories of even the worst antagonists (and we’ll get to the Commandant in a second) and granting them mercy. It is about love, finding love, losing love, and rediscovering love — even when a maelstrom of pain and suffering stands right behind.

That’s not to say all is well. There is so. Much. Suffering in this series. Genuinely, by the end, I’d need more than both hands to count the deaths of featured characters in this story. Again, all the respect for Tahir here. As well, I appreciated that this story didn’t hold back as the final battles approached. No one escapes unscathed as the last pages roll through. If you’re like me, and you’re tired of great big final battles where no one of significance dies, drop everything and pick up these books.

Speaking of final battles, namely because I couldn’t think of a better segway, the Commandant.

Oh. My. Good. Golly. Gosh.

I have rarely come across a character so vile, so intelligent and complex and scheming and *splutters in rage*. The mother of Elias, she is one of the best-written antagonists I’ve come across in a long time, if ever. She’s not the main antagonist, but she had a more considerable impact than I felt said main antagonist (a mysterious and tragic figure, the Nightbringer) ever came close to touching. While I stayed consistently intrigued by the Nightbringer, by his story and his relationship with the main characters, I genuinely think that if the Commandant didn’t exist, I’d have enjoyed his role as antagonist more. However, she does exist, and he really pales in any comparison. Both are solid, but the Commandant is top tier evil. I shake my fists at you, Commandant!

But of course, while a character-driven story, the Ember Quartet does also include a solid backdrop. It’s not necessarily the most masterful worldbuilding I’ve come across, in that I didn’t connect with it as much as I hoped or expected to — namely, I never got a sense of complete immersion into the setting — I still enjoyed it. The different cultures are fleshed out, namely those of the Tribes, the Scholars (who begin the series enslaved), the Martials (who enslaved the Scholars 500 years prior), and later, the Jinn. They each felt unique from one another, which can be tremendously difficult to pull off, and each had vital roles in progressing the story. Other than a wish to have connected further, as much is a small complaint — I genuinely enjoyed it.

Lastly, I’ll talk about the magic system. I would classify it as one of the softer magic systems in literature, but it’s one of the quietest, strongest charms to this series. Something that carries on consistently through the Ember Quartet that, as I think of it, I smile at just how… magical it felt. It was different from most other systems I’ve encountered — which I loved for that reason alone — and it was perfect in helping continue the plot. It didn’t allow for any unnecessary instances of deus ex machina, so points for that as well, and I never found myself confuzzled by how it all worked. It will probably be discussed less often than the books’ other facets, as the series is absolutely character-driven to all ends, but if I were ranking on magic alone, this would have been a five-star series.

Story, character, setting, worldbuilding, and magic. I didn’t discuss the story as much, namely because of how character-driven these books are. It lives and breathes and dies (again, so much dying) with the characters. It sets up all the dominos in An Ember in the Ashes, and with that story’s end, Sabaa Tahir — with every conceivable grace — taps the first one over. And what a magical, magnificent array of dominos she’s built!

If you’re looking for a quality series of books that succeeds at every corner, I would have to recommend the Ember Quartet to you. A four-star collection across the board, one I can’t imagine you’ll regret. And with that, I will see you next week, lovely people.

—Charis.

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