An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, 446 pages.
Sabaa Tahir's first book, in what I assume will be a big series, works pretty well. Laia is a Scholar. Her people were conquered 500 years ago by the Martial Empire. Elias Veturias, a Martial soldier-in-training, is completing his last year at Blackcliff.
Blackcliff academy takes in 6 year-olds and trains them to be Masks, the Martial Empire's elite soldiers. They train for a couple of years, during which there is a relatively high death rate, and then they are sent out on their own with nothing for a few years, during which time there is a much higher death rate, and then they get to be the cool upperclassmen of this killing academy.
Laia's path crosses that of Elias as they are both having to choose how they will lead what is left of their lives. Neither can stand to live with the crushing oppression of the Martial Empire any longer. Laia feels she must join the rebellion and Elias feels that he must desert. There are prophecies and unexpected plot twists standing in their respective paths. Well done if not startlingly original. Read by Fiona Hardingham & Steve West. 15.5hours
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