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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSIn a brutal empire modeled on ancient Rome, a Scholar girl named Laia makes a desperate bargain: spy on the most dangerous woman in the Empire from inside her walls, and in return, the Resistance will free her captured brother. At the same time, Elias Veturius — a senior student at the military academy she infiltrates — is one of four chosen to compete in a brutal series of Trials that will decide who rules the Empire next, even as he secretly plans to desert everything he has ever known. Told in alternating voices, the story follows two people on opposite sides of an oppressive system who begin to see each other as something more than enemy or slave, even as the trials they each face push them toward choices that could cost them everything.
Free Battle of the Books questions for An Ember in the Ashes
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about An Ember in the Ashes. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a brother return through the window before dawn smelling of steel and coal and forge?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The opening scene shows Darin sneaking home before sunrise after secretly working at the forges. The smells immediately signal to Laia that he has been somewhere forbidden, which sets the entire plot in motion.
- First half
In what book is a young woman dropped into a giant bird's nest above the clouds for her trial?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Helene wakes in a spire vulture nest high atop a mountain peak, with bloodthirsty hatchlings breaking through their shells. She must climb down a sheer cliff while battling her fear of heights.
- First half
In what book do shadow creatures with glowing eyes feed on sorrow and the stink of blood?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The ghuls haunt Laia after her family is killed, whispering taunts only she can hear at first. A swordsmith later reveals they are real creatures returned to this world to feed on grief.
- Second half
In what book does a girl spike her master's tea with kheb leaf so she can sneak out?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Laia laces the Commandant's evening tea with a scentless sleeping herb her grandfather once used on patients. The drugged tea is part of her plan to slip out to the festival and meet the Resistance.
- Second half
In what book does a soldier pick a locked grate using two pins pulled straight from a girl's hair?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
While guiding Laia and Izzi through the catacombs after a raid, Elias plucks pins from Laia's hair and snaps open the grate in seconds. Both girls trade a glance, unnerved by the sheer competence of the soldier leading them.
- Near the end
In what book does a rebel leader sneer "it's nothing personal, girl" while confessing his betrayal?
✓ Answer
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Mazen tells Laia he placed her at the school expecting the Commandant to kill her within days. He needed to appease a rival faction without spending men on Darin's rescue.
