Our score
Outstanding
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An Ember in the Ashes Audiobook by Sabaa Tahir— narrated by Fiona Hardingham and Steve West
Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes drops two teenagers on opposite sides of a Rome-inspired slave state and hands them the same impossible arithmetic: obey and survive, or resist and lose everyone you have left. It is fast, mean, and far more interested in what oppression costs than in how its magic works.
Why the audiobook wins
An Ember in the Ashes alternates first-person chapters between Laia and Elias, and the audiobook splits them between two narrators, Fiona Hardingham and Steve West. On the page you check the chapter heading to know whose head you are in. In the recording you know inside three words, which is a real gain for a book whose entire design depends on hearing the same empire described from a slave's position and from a soldier's.
Tahir writes short chapters that mostly end on a drop, so this listens well in commute-sized pieces rather than demanding a long sit. The Commandant's scenes are worse out loud than they are in print, and that is the correct outcome. So is Blackcliff itself: the war drums that carry orders across the school are a sound cue on the page and an actual one here.
Fifteen and a half hours inside the Martial Empire, on a single Audible credit.
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Audiobook questions
- Who narrates the An Ember in the Ashes audiobook?
- Fiona Hardingham and Steve West narrate the audiobook edition of An Ember in the Ashes.
- How long is the An Ember in the Ashes audiobook?
- The audiobook runs 15 hr 22 min.
- Is the An Ember in the Ashes audiobook worth listening to?
- We scored An Ember in the Ashes 4.6 out of 5. An Ember in the Ashes alternates first-person chapters between Laia and Elias, and the audiobook splits them between two narrators, Fiona Hardingham and Steve West. On the page you check the chapter heading to know whose head you are in. In the recording you know inside three…
- Can I listen to An Ember in the Ashes free with an Audible trial?
- Eligible new Audible members can use a free-trial credit to listen in the Audible app. Eligibility and current offer terms are set by Audible.Listen to An Ember in the Ashes free with an Audible trial
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- How much does An Ember in the Ashes cost?
- On Amazon: Kindle $7.99. Prices as of August 26, 2026 at 3:46 AM EDT and may change.
