66 pages 2 hours read

Sabaa Tahir

A Reaper at the Gates

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 4, Chapters 46-56

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “Siege”

Part 4, Chapter 46 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Grimarr meets with Marcus, Helene, and the others and tells them to accept defeat so their prisoners will be spared. Marcus refuses, and Grimarr vows to take the city by the Grain Moon. Marcus commands everyone to defend the western gate, telling Keris that Helene will decide her duties. Helene tells Keris to defend the eastern wall and warns her not to betray them. Keris replies that Helene doesn’t know what she wants.

Hearing panicked shouts, Helene races to the wall and sees Karkaun priests chanting around pyres while Karkaun soldiers throw women and children into the flames. With a ghastly howl, the pyres stop burning, and the victims’ ghosts rise to possess the soldiers, who move with unnatural speed, jumping over the defense pikes. Seeing the Karkauns’ inhuman strength, Helene starts an evacuation. Some Karkauns fall amid a renewed attack, but most evade the assault. The Karkauns pick up flaming missiles with their hands, throwing them at the Martial army. They destroy buildings and begin climbing the walls as Helene prepares another attack.

Related Titles

By Sabaa Tahir

Study Guide

logo

An Ember in the Ashes

Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes

Sabaa Tahir

Plot Summary

logo

A Torch Against the Night

Sabaa Tahir

A Torch Against the Night

Sabaa Tahir