Books Like An Ember in the Ashes — 9 Reads for Sabaa Tahir Fans
What makes An Ember in the Ashes distinctive is the combination of things Sabaa Tahir refuses to separate: a Roman-empire-inspired world built on structural violence, a dual POV that gives equal weight to the oppressor and the oppressed, a slow-burn romance that develops under conditions where attachment is genuinely dangerous, and moral questions that don't resolve cleanly. Laia and Elias are not chosen ones in the traditional sense — they're people the system was designed to either use up or spit out, who choose something different anyway. The nine books below share that same moral weight.
- 1
Red Rising
by Pierce Brown
A lowborn miner goes undercover in the ruling class's brutal military institute to spark a revolution. Like Ember, it drops its protagonist into an oppressive system designed to break them, uses the academy setting as a pressure cooker for character, and refuses to let its moral questions resolve cleanly. The revolution that follows is earned the same hard way.
- 2
The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
A war orphan from a rural village earns her way into Nikan's most elite military academy — and discovers powers rooted in shamanic fury just as the empire falls into genocide. Kuang matches Tahir's willingness to confront atrocity and the cost of survival, with a protagonist who finds that winning is not the same as justice.
- 3
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
In a world where magic has been violently suppressed, a young woman discovers she may be able to restore it — if she survives a brutal regime determined to stop her. Adeyemi shares Tahir's focus on structural oppression, the cost born by those at the bottom, and the complicated question of what revolution actually requires.
- 4
Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo
An orphaned soldier discovers a rare power that draws her into the orbit of the Grishaverse's most dangerous figure. Bardugo's world — like Tahir's — builds its magic system on systemic inequality, its romance on a figure whose motives are genuinely uncertain, and its tension on the question of who actually holds power and who pays for it.
- 5
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
A crew of six criminals attempt an impossible heist inside the world's most secure prison. The ensemble character work here — each member defined by what the system has done to them — echoes Tahir's dual POV structure. Bardugo's world rewards readers who want moral complexity woven into every plot decision.
- 6
From Blood and Ash
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
A maiden chosen by the gods falls for the guard assigned to control her, in a world where her entire identity has been dictated by forces beyond her understanding. Like Laia in Ember, the heroine begins with a constrained life defined by others' expectations and discovers the cost of breaking free. The romantic tension smolders from the first chapter.
- 7
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
A mortal huntress is taken into a dangerous fae world after breaking one of its laws. Maas shares Tahir's talent for building romance under conditions of genuine danger, for creating love interests whose moral position is genuinely complicated, and for making the world's political stakes feel as urgent as the personal ones.
- 8
Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor
A blue-haired art student in Prague discovers she is caught between two ancient species locked in endless war — and that her origin is more complicated than she ever imagined. Taylor's lush, mythological world-building and her gift for impossible romance across a vast divide will satisfy readers drawn to Ember's star-crossed emotional architecture.
- 9
The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh
A retelling of One Thousand and One Nights: a girl volunteers to marry a king who kills his brides at dawn, intent on avenging her best friend — but finds herself drawn to the man she came to destroy. Ahdieh's lush prose and slow-burn romance under life-or-death stakes hit the same emotional register as Laia and Elias.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is An Ember in the Ashes a series?
Yes. An Ember in the Ashes is the first book in a four-book series by Sabaa Tahir. The complete series consists of An Ember in the Ashes (2015), A Torch Against the Night (2016), A Reaper at the Gates (2018), and A Sky Beyond the Storm (2020). All four books are published and the series is complete.
How many books are in the Ember in the Ashes series?
Four books: An Ember in the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night, A Reaper at the Gates, and A Sky Beyond the Storm. The series is complete as of 2020. All four books should be read in order — each builds directly on the events and revelations of the previous installment.
What genre is An Ember in the Ashes?
An Ember in the Ashes is YA fantasy, specifically a military fantasy inspired by the Roman Empire. It features a dual POV between Laia (a Scholar slave) and Elias (an elite Martial soldier), set in an empire built on brutal conquest and slavery. It contains slow-burn romance, moral complexity, and significant violence — often described as closer to adult fantasy in tone than typical YA.
Is there romance in An Ember in the Ashes?
Yes, though it develops slowly. The series features multiple romantic threads across its four books, with a slow-burn central arc between Laia and Elias that is complicated by war, duty, and the political reality of what they are to each other's worlds. There is also a significant thread involving the Commandant's son. The romance is earned rather than instant.