Torch Against the Night

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER<br>
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Book two in the New York Times bestselling series<br>
A USA Today bestseller<br>
A Wall Street Journal bestseller<br>
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“Spectacular.”-Entertainment Weekly<br>
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“Fresh and exciting…Tahir has shown a remarkable talent for penning complex villains.”-A.V. Club<br>
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“Even higher stakes than its predecessor… thrilling.” -Publishers Weekly, starred review<br>
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“[An] action-packed, breathlessly paced story.” -Booklist, starred review<br>
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Set in a rich, high-fantasy world inspired by ancient Rome, Sabaa Tahir’s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES told the story of Laia, a slave fighting for her family, and Elias, a young soldier fighting for his freedom.<br>
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Now, in A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT, Elias and Laia are running for their lives.<br>
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After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.<br>
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Laia is determined to break into Kauf-the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison-to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom. <br>
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But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene-Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike. <br>
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Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own-one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.