BOOK ONE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES ? One of Time Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy and 100 Best YA Books of All Time ? People's Choice Award winner ? Bustle's Best Young Adult Book

"This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human -- and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear." -- The Washington Post

The beloved and bestselling fantasy series that "glows, burns, and smolders." (Huffington Post).

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire's impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They've seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia's brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire's greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school's finest soldier -- and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he's being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined -- and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR FROM The Wall Street Journal ? Buzzfeed ? LA Weekly ? Bustle ? Paste Magazine ? Indigo ? Suspense Magazine ? The New York Public Library ? Popsugar ? Hypable

• We started tracking this book on September 26, 2014.
• This book was $9.78 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 52 times in the past 3,857 days.
• The current price of this book is $8.99 last checked one day ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $1.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on April 6, 2025.
• This book has been $1.99 6 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $10.99 last reached on August 31, 2015.
• This book has been $10.99 4 times since we started tracking it.

• Teen & Young AdultLiterature & FictionAction & AdventureSurvival Stories
• Teen & Young AdultLiterature & FictionPolitics & Government
• Teen & Young AdultScience Fiction & FantasyFantasyEpic
• Teen & Young AdultRomanceParanormal & Fantasy

• Publication Date: April 28, 2015
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 456 Pages
• File Size: 116 KB