I’ve nothing against that, but authors from marginalized groups deserve the same respect. 'How many vampire books written by white authors? Dozens. 'Over and over, authors from marginalized groups are told, 'We already have a book like this,' or 'We already have an author like you.' But books by marginalized authors shouldn’t be a quota you fill,' she says. It was the first in a long line of YA fantasy novels from South Asian and Muslim authors, hitting store shelves ahead of Roshani Chokshi's The Star-Touched Queen, Swati Teerdhala's The Tiger at Midnight, and Hafsah Faizal's We Hunt the Flame.īut according to Tahir, there's still much work to be done to diversify YA publishing. But as an #OwnVoices novel, written by a Pakistani American woman and starring multiple characters of color, Ember was unlike most of its peers. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses - were at their height. So when I wrote the final words on the final page of the final book, I felt as though I was saying farewell to my best friends, to a piece of me.'Īn Ember in the Ashes launched at a time when multi-doorstopper YA fantasy series - think Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen and Sarah J. They are a part of me, as familiar to me as my hands or my face.

'I have spent more than a decade of my life writing, breathing, laughing, mourning and celebrating with my characters. 'I began writing Ember 13 years ago,' she tells Bustle. A Sky Beyond the Storm finishes the story Tahir began in her 2015 bestseller, but the journey has been much longer for author herself. Five years after she debuted with An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir is finally bringing her beloved story to a close.

A sky beyond the storm series order