Power Struggles in An Ember in the Ashes

The last book that I read was called An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. In the book the people in the world they live in are divided into four groups; The Martials, The Mariners, The Scholars, and The Tribesmen. The Martials conquered the other tribes and rules over all of them, but The Scholars (unlike the Tribesmen and The Mariners) have no rights whatsoever and are treated like slaves.

There are two main charcters, a boy named Elias who is a soldier for The Martials and a girl named Laia who is a Scholar whose family got killed by the Martials (except her brother who was captured and taken to jail where he was tortured). Before Elias and Laia meet you can tell that there relationship with each other will be cautious at first considering Scholars are considered nothing more than mere slaves and The Martials literally ruined Laia's life.

As the story progresses, the power struggles become even more apparent. Not only are there struggles between the separate clans but also the people within the clans as well. For example, Elias and other kids in The Martials clan go to a special school to train to be soldiers. The "principal" of the school is none other than Elias' mother who abandoned him when he was a baby. His mom, or the Comandmant, is merciless. In this academy she is obviously the higher power. Kids get whipped just for breaking small laws. Trying to run away ends up in being killed. And even though this is cruel, all the students are too scared of the Comandmant to try to stand up to her.

Another power struggle is between Laia and the Comandmant. Although the only reason Laia is at the academy is to spy on Elias' mother and to pose as a slave she too is terrified of the Comandmant. The Comandmant branded her for dropping a letter and slapped her when she was a few minutes late to bring up tea.

After reading this book I realized that a person's personality has a lot to do with their position in power. One of the reasons the Comandmant is so imposing is because she is absolutely merciless and only cares about herself. Laia on the other hand is extremely cowardly which shows why she never stands up for herself and is very reluctant to do anything generous.

overall rating: 3/5