“An Ember in the Ashes” Conversation with Sabaa Tahir

The character perspectives, Elias and Laia’s, they read very differently. Usually when I read dual perspectives, I get lost and forget which character I’m reading. Was it a struggle balancing those two mindsets? Did you have a hard time switching or was it something that came naturally? Did you know these characters very well from the get-go?

I knew the characters very well, but I had to get to know them more and a little deeper. Because you really need to live in your character’s skin and inhabit them to really get to know them to some degree. Just the way an actor does, to really speak with their voice. I think what I struggled with, which I didn’t expect, was the timing, making sure the timing worked. Because it’s like, I had this big calendar with every big event of every single day, and I tried to figure out when we would stop with Laia and continue with Elias, but still understand Laia’s perspective when we come back without it having to start on the exact same day every time.

I noticed that, especially during the trials, Elias was busy with that, but at the end of it, it didn’t pick up at that exact same time, but went back a few days.

I think it says something like “seven days earlier,” and it’s Laia’s chapter. That was tricky, finding a way to do that so people understand, and I think my editor suggested let’s put “seven days earlier” so people will know that it took place a week ago, and they won’t have to try to understand.

Almost in the beginning, it felt like Laia and Elias’ lives won’t intersect. Once you find out that Laia’s going to be his mother’s slave, well then, you figure they eventually will meet. But earlier I was trying to figure out—

How their paths were going to cross?

Yeah, and what totally threw me off was the introduction of Helene and Elias’ really intense friendship with her. And her feelings for him. She ended up being my favorite character because of how complex she is, and how even though she grew up in this Martial world, all of her decisions were rooted from love. Was that a surprise for you? Why did you have him have a friend like that?

Because I think it’s very, very common for many people to have a friend who they’ve known for a long time and not realize that that person has feelings for them. Or on the other hand, having feelings for someone and that person never gets it. I don’t know if you ever experienced that, but I know a million friends, and even myself, that have experienced it. I would look and see that a friend totally likes him, and he would be completely clueless. They would be great together, but it’s not happening because he doesn’t get it. He’s always thought of her as a friend, and when you think of someone as a friend, that’s the only identity they have for you. You’ve dated other people, you’re with other people, and you come to them and you’re like, “Oh my god, that guy I was dating is such a jerk,” and that person has been in love with you the whole time; that’s like every rom-com in the world.

It’s very common, but I sort of discovered Helene’s love for him as I was writing her. I started it off with them just as friends, but then I was thinking about it, and I thought that she is very lonely in her world, and this is the only person who doesn’t look at her and think “Girl.” He looks at her and thinks “Soldier,” then he thinks “Friend,” and then he thinks “Badass,” and then he thinks “Girl.” But when does that become a problem. Do you get what I’m saying?

I also like how it confuses your emotions because he has this physical attraction to her and love for her as a friend. He loves who she is. It complicates things because you don’t know if you should root for him and Laia or him and Helene.

It wasn’t really meant to be any sort of love triangle because romance is not really the heart of this book. It’s something that happens because of the circumstances. But this, to me, is a high fantasy and an adventure story first, with romantic elements.

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