Book: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
Read From: 10th February - 13th February 2022
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary (An Ember in the Ashes): Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason and her family slain, Laia must go undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from those who claim they can free her brother. The academy’s finest soldier Elias is secretly its most unwilling. But before he can act on the desertion he plans, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Emperor. When Laia and Elias’s paths collide, they find that their destinies are inescapably intertwined...
I’m having a lot of fun with binge-reading this series, both books so far have been relatively easy to get through whilst being filled with enough tension to be stupidly addictive at the same time. Even though it’s not the most memorable fantasy series I’ve ever read, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed making my way through these books and I’m excited to see what the third brings for these characters on their journeys.
In the interests of not spoiling the first book, all I’ll say is that A Torch Against the Night begins right where An Ember in the Ashes ends. Literally immediately after. So you’re thrown straight back into the plot and this world which I think would have been a little disorienting had I not read the books back to back. Usually, I leave it a couple of months between books in a series so if that’s something you do too then I think this is definitely something to bear in mind.
I liked that Helene’s POV was introduced, she was a very intriguing character in the first book so it’s not only great to see more of her but be inside of her head too. If I had to pick a favourite character, I think it would definitely be her. More of the magic system was also revealed/hinted at in this second book, proving itself to be very interesting and I’m definitely excited to see where it goes in book 3 (where I have very strong reasons to believe we will be finding out a LOT more about it).
Overall, just like the first book in the series, this one was a lot of fun. It’s definitely not going to end up being my favourite fantasy series of all time and I doubt that these are books I’ll ever revisit, but I’m having a great time nonetheless and I’m excited for the third book.