An Ember in the Ashes established a world and two protagonists and a conflict worth caring about. A Torch Against the Night tests all three, and they hold. Sabaa Tahir is writing a series that understands that sequels have to do harder things than their predecessors, and this second volume obliges: it is grimmer, more urgent, and more willing to hurt its characters in ways that stick.

Laia and Elias are running. After the events of the first book, they’re outside the Empire’s walls for the first time, heading toward Kauf Prison in a race against time and pursuit. The structure of A Torch Against the Night is primarily a chase — which gives Tahir room to develop her two protagonists in motion rather than in the relatively contained space of the first book’s settings.

Three POVs

This second volume introduces Helene Aquilla — Elias’s former best friend, now Blood Shrike — as a third perspective, and the addition is the book’s best structural decision. Helene is hunting Elias under orders she cannot refuse, for reasons that are not what they seem, and her chapters are among the most conflicted and most compelling in the series. She is not an antagonist. She is a person in an impossible position, and Tahir writes her with the same care she brings to her protagonists.

The tension between what Helene is required to do and what she actually believes creates a moral complexity that keeps the series from settling into a simple rebellion-versus-empire binary.

Laia

Laia’s growth from the first book continues here — she is more confident in her abilities, more willing to trust her instincts — but Tahir complicates it rather than simply extending it. The things Laia discovers about herself and her family are not the triumphs she hoped for, and the book is honest about what that costs.

Why YA Readers Will Love This

For readers who found An Ember in the Ashes almost too intense in its violence and wanted more breathing room: A Torch Against the Night moves faster and lighter, the chase structure creating momentum that feels different from the first book’s claustrophobic tension. It is not easier, exactly, but it is differently difficult.

For readers drawn to the complexity of loyalty — what we owe to the people who own us, to the people we love, to our own conscience — Helene’s chapters in particular are a sustained meditation on that question.

The series continues with A Reaper at the Gates and A Sky Beyond the Storm, both worth following.

Published: August 2016 · Genre: YA high fantasy · Series: An Ember in the Ashes, Book 2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is A Torch Against the Night about and how does it follow An Ember in the Ashes? A Torch Against the Night is the second book in the Ember in the Ashes series, following Laia and Elias as they flee the Empire after the events of the first book. The review describes it as ‘a chase novel at heart — its structure is propulsive, and Tahir uses the relentless momentum to force her characters into impossible choices under pressure.’ The scale expands while the personal stakes remain intensely human.

What changes does A Torch Against the Night make to the series’ POV structure? The second book adds Helene as a third point-of-view character, which the review calls ‘a structural masterstroke — she is chasing Laia and Elias, which means the reader simultaneously roots for the fugitives and understands their pursuer.’ This creates dramatic irony that the single-POV first book couldn’t achieve. Helene’s voice is colder and more controlled than Laia’s or Elias’s, and the contrast deepens all three.

How does the tone of A Torch Against the Night compare to the first book? The review describes it as ‘grimmer than its predecessor — the hope that animated Ember is harder to sustain when the characters understand what they’re actually up against.’ Loss is distributed more evenly across the narrative, and Tahir ‘does not protect her cast from consequence.’ The emotional register is darker, but the pacing ensures the reader is carried through rather than overwhelmed.

What does A Torch Against the Night accomplish for the series’ world-building? The chase structure takes the characters outside the locations established in book one, expanding the world’s geography and revealing the reach of the Martial Empire. The Waiting Place — the realm of souls that becomes central to Elias’s arc — is introduced here. The review notes that Tahir ’lays groundwork in this book that pays dividends in the later volumes, trusting readers to be patient with world-building that serves character.’

Further Reading from Authoritative Sources

  • A Torch Against the Night — Wikipedia’s A Torch Against the Night article provides publication details and series context, helping readers understand this second instalment’s place within the Ember in the Ashes arc.
  • Sabaa Tahir — Wikipedia’s Sabaa Tahir article provides biographical and bibliographical context for the author, helping readers understand A Torch Against the Night within her broader writing career.