And one of the consequences that come from growing the scale of the story is that the series has lost a little bit of the character work that made it so special. At this point, it’s difficult to explain what this series is even about now to someone that’s never read it. After all, what started out as the story of a young girl attempting to rescue her captive brother has grown into a sprawling, complicated tale about magical jinn and the potential end of humanity. Maybe it was always too much to expect for any author to wind down a series that has grown as large and unwieldy as the Ember in the Ashes universe has, and still wrap up every plot satisfactorily.

The world-building remains as rich as it ever has, as the story switches between the Tribespeople, the Marinn kingdom, Helene’s Empire-in-exile, and several other locations at a rapid clip, allowing us to see the breadth of its scope. The themes of this book – and this series really – still resonate throughout this final installment: The potency of memory, the power of love, and the beauty of serving something larger than yourself. But its attempt to do so is nevertheless an entertaining and generally worthwhile one: A massive story of war, loss, memory – and love of all kinds. Sabaa Tahir concludes her ambitious Ember in the Ashes series with A Sky Beyond the Storm, a massive tale of war, loss, memory – and love of all kinds.Ī Sky Beyond the Stormis the fourth and final novel in Sabaa Tahir’s sweeping Ember in the Ashes series and, like many series-ending conclusions before it, it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

A sky beyond the storm series order