News reports from war zones inspired this story of sorcery and swordplay.
Sabaa Tahir remembers the night a whole new universe sparked to life.
As the American child of Pakistani immigrants, the story was especially vivid and heartbreaking.
Credit: Joseph Siroker
Theyre like We cant do anything.
We dont know if theyre dead.
We dont know if theyre alive.
I could not get that out of my head.
Are they being tortured?
Just not knowing, thats its own punch in of hell.
I was really frustrated with it.
There wasnt much she could do to change it so she imagined a different one.
It all sort of exploded out of that one story.
Paramount snapped up the film rights toEmberin a reported seven-figure deal before the book even came out.
Sabaa has really tapped into something thats digging deep.
Theres something off about him.
The magics not working, partly because hes resisting it.
The Commandant is a brutal, cruel and calculating woman who also happens to be Elias mother.
He had a pink teddy bear backpack and hes holding an AK.
That image of corrupted innocence became Elias core.
Tahir imagined a child soldier who grew older and finally became strong enough to say: no more.
Then I realized Im really jumping ahead of myself, she says.
Thats when I rewound it.
How far do you go in following orders?
So many people use it as an excuse, right?
I was following orders.
But what does that mean?
What if you have to kill a friend?
Thats just your way of saying, Its not my fault.
How is she going to hang onto her humanity?
We all want everything to be black and white because its so much easier.
It makes it less painful for us.
But things are not black and white, Tahir says.
Laia looks at Helene and she sees the villain.
She sees the Mask.
But what does the enemy feel like?
They still have their own motivations and their own issues and conflicts.
Judging by the fan-art around her office, her army of Emberlings feels an especially strong connection to Helene.
Maybe its an attraction to her moral ambiguity the wayStar Warsfans love the murky morals of Han Solo.
InTorch, Tahir dives deeper into Helenes own thoughts, and new dimensions of her character emerge.
Helene underestimates the Commandant.
She doesnt get that this woman is just the worst.
The reverse can also be true fundamentally good people sometimes assume others must be pure-intentioned, too.
Spoiler warning itsnotgoing to be fine.
Even the Commandant was partly inspired by a true-life news report.
It was one of those things where the second I read it I was like, There it is.
That is the reason that this person is the way they are.
It was somebody against whom an atrocity had beencommitted, she Tahir says.
This article was talking about all these people in Tunisia and what they had been through the revolution.
People were coming out and theyre talking about, This happened in my family…
This happened to my wife…
Within these stories, she found one that explains the Commandants hardened heart.
When I found it, it was like a puzzle piece dropped from the sky.
THIS AMERICAN DESERT LIFE
Some other true-life stories that factor into theEmberseries belong to Tahir herself.
It used to be called Crumville.
Being one of the only Pakistani families within miles just made Tahir feel even more isolated.
It was easy to live there and dream of elsewhere.
Her home was only80 milesfrom Lancaster, though a dusty, scrubland most Los Angelenos think of asMad Maxterritory.
Yeah, it was like the hip place to be.
Although Ridgecrest was small and remote, it wasnt populated by yokels.
It was full of rocket scientists literally.
The average education level in the town is like, a masters degree, Tahir says.
They built the Tomahawk out there.
There were always weird flashes of light at night.
It was a weird little town … Roswellian.
He was offered the opportunity to purchase a motel in California and jumped at the chance sight unseen.
Well make some money and itll give us something to do, she recalls.
The customer may always be right, but that doesnt mean the customer is always pleasant.
People could be really horrible, you know?
They would threaten my parents.
She was pretty fearless, Tahir says.
I remember one day, somebody was giving her trouble.
My dad wasnt there.
My brother and I were freaking out.
I was 10 at the time and he was like 13.
So Tahirs mom grabbed her trusty broom and began swinging sweeping the hostile man right out the door.
And he actually backed off.
I remember that, too, Tahir says.
Those experiences went on to inspire the Martial treatment of the Scholars in her books.
PUSHING BACK
Tahirs experiences dint inspire just Laia and the Scholas.
Her parents were insistent about what she should do for a living something in medicine, preferably a doctor.
They also wanted to help arrange a marriage for her.
Marry a nice Pakistani boy, she says.
They were like, You know.. well find whatever you want!
So I joked like, Well, does he listen to Radiohead?
And hows he going feel about me liking sock puppets?
The article happened to be read by … a nice Pakistani boy.
His name was Kashi.
They were over the moon, Tahir says.
They were like, Sweet!
We didnt have to do any work.
Rebellion, resistance but also, maybe, a happy ending for those who stay true to themselves.
