A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Age Rating: 14+

Star Rating: ✦✦✦✧✧

Genre: Fantasy, Suspense, Spy story, Romance

Summary:

The sequel to the acclaimed An Ember in the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night is all about the rescue of Darin of Serra from the notorious Kauf Prison. There, the Warden reigns, his rule cruel and unjust, as he conducts inhumane experiments and forces young prisoners to do slave work. Meanwhile, the journey to Kauf is just as perilous as the destination.

Laia and Elias must be separated as they race to save Darin, facing obstacles at every turn. Will they make it to Darin? Or will the Commandant and Helene stop them from achieving their goal?

Favorite Character:

Helene!!! This time, we got to see a lot more of her. I love the way that despite her inexperience, she does her best in this new position of politics and war. Helene is a good fighter, with better knowledge of fighting than leadership.

Helene’s partnership with Elias before the events of the first book seemed to be that he was the leader, and she was the one who backed him up, fighting beside him. So she’s not very used to her new role.

 At the same time, her cleverness keeps us thinking ‘she’ll win this one!’ Sadly, Helene isn’t that good at her job, shown by how she’d thwarted by the Commandant at every turn. I’m getting “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” vibes from her. 

Storyline Development:

A great novel that surpassed my expectations, we finally get to see Darin saved and reunited with his sister. However, there are problems at every turn, problems that sometimes didn’t make sense to me. After it became sure that Elias would soon die, he gets to take over the role of some Grim Reaper person?

This was a pretty confusing part of the story to me, but I didn’t pay much mind to it. Overall, romance has still taken the backseat in the book. My overall theory is that only after Keenan’s betrayal was Laia able to use her powers. Maybe her mother’s armband prevented her from using her powers?

Worldbuilding:

Set in a world inspired by Rome, the second book of the series delves into the lives of not only Laia and Elias but also Helene Aquilla. As we get a look into one of the worldviews of one of the antagonists, readers realize that there is more to Helene Aquilla than we thought.

The story also gives more context to Elias’s life before joining Blackcliff. We see and interact with Tribesmen and their way of life, and see how the peaceful culture and nomadic way of life impacted Elias growing up. 

My Thoughts:

Definitely a nice novel, however, some aspects such as Djinn (genies) and other supernatural elements are treated as stories in the beginning, and then slowly morph into reality. This background story is a great addition to the main story, yet it doesn’t feel important or explained enough. Clearly, the thrill and adventure of the story are what pulls in readers, and the superpowers?

Well, it sort of feels like a lazy plot device to help the characters triumph. There’s a lot of scenes where strategic thinking or perhaps desperate measures could’ve worked just as well.

The AEITA series is the prime example of a war-torn world and would’ve been better if those tales about Djinn and the Nightbringer weren’t real. On the other hand, the Augurs are future-telling guys who were vital in the first book, yet aren’t mentioned too much later on.

Perhaps making the magic business limited to a select few would make for a mysterious premise: “Where does magic come from? How do the Augurs exactly tell the future in the first place?”