The release date for the English version of 'An Ember in the Ashes' by
Sabaa Tahir is Feb 2016. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
▶ EDITION #1 of the Alternative Cover
A slave is Laia. It's a soldier, Elias. Both aren't free.
Failing to obey the Martial Empire might result in death. People who refuse to pledge their bodies and blood to the Emperor run the danger of seeing their loved ones put to death and all they own destroyed.
Laia lives with her grandparents and elder brother in this harsh environment that was modelled after ancient Rome. The family struggles to make ends meet in the destitute backstreets of the Empire. They make no opposition to the Empire. They are aware of the consequences for those who do.
However, Laia is forced to choose after learning that her brother has been incarcerated for treason. She will risk her life to spy for rebels from inside the best military institution in the Empire in return for their aid in rescuing her brother.
There, Laia meets Elias, the best soldier at the academy but, in reality, the least eager. Elias's main desire is to escape the oppression he has been indoctrinated to uphold. He and Laia will quickly come to understand that their decisions will affect the destiny of the Empire as a whole and that their fates are linked.
taken from the hardback copy.