I usually put content notes at the end, but I feel compelled to warn readers up front that this is a pretty brutal read — worse than I was expecting. Violent death of soldier-children as punishment and in combat. Constant threat of torture and rape for enslaved children. See content notes at the end for more details.

"This life is not always what we think it will be," Cain says. "You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it."

"You are … full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes. That is your destiny."

In a world of no mercy and no hope, of brutality and betrayal and the iron fist of the Empire, an elite soldier in training longs for true freedom and a scared little sister wishes for the courage to save her brother. What they find is heart and soul, strength and spirit, in this magical, militaristic fantasy.

Though the violence at the beginning was off-putting, it lets you know immediately what you're in for — which is a compelling, heart-pounding tale of high stakes, high loss, high ideals, and high adventure. I read this in one evening that stretched into the wee hours of the morning and immediately made sure the rest of the series was waiting for me (the fourth and final book came out at the end of 2020). The world building is smart and interesting, weaving together a Romanesque Empire with elements of Middle Eastern folklore and culture. The writing is fast-paced and well written, with character and culture reveals perfectly place. There's a little bit of monologuing near the end that was heavy-handed enough for me to notice but didn't ruin an otherwise immersive tale.

Content notes: violent death of soldier-children by whipping and combat among peers, violent death of enslaved children by torture and suicide, torture and disfigurement of captured resistors and enslaved people, constant threat of torture and rape, sexual assault and attempted rape, merciless indoctrination and sadistic military training, merciless colonization and enslavement, child abandonment, death of parents (off screen), violent death of grandparents, evil spirits, hostile supernatural beings, supernatural possession, branding and cutting, tattooing,