Tomasino rated An Ember in the Ashes: 2 stars
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. …
This is a terrible ending to the epic. The pacing is terribly drawn out. The plot twists are obvious. The brilliant characters are suddenly idiots who don't have backup plans. The resolution between the enemies is utter nonsense.
I know they claim this is based upon Frank Herbert's notes for the series but the heavy leaning on the butlarian jihad reads like Brian and Kevin trying to make their prequels meaningful. If that was really the direction being planned Frank would have had some sign in an earlier story.
The Ghola plots we're a cheap way to get readers in with familiar characters despite having no real purpose. In the end, the action of the main characters was irrelevant. The plans and plotting had no bearing on the outcome at any level. The extended Hollywood ending was trite as well.
If you, like me, loved the Dune books so much …
