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Torchfire: The Torch Trilogy, Book 2
The hugely anticipated second instalment in the hottest dystopian fantasy trilogy of the decade! Who will triumph? Those with songlight, or those without?
Welcome back to a world where songlight - or telepathy - is either your greatest power or your greatest curse.
Elsa is on the run and is urgently seeking a safe haven.
Nightingale is being held captive and forced to use her songlight against her own people.
Piper has been promoted up the ranks of the Airmen, where nothing but bloodshed is demanded of him.
Rye has stumbled across an incredible airship, the likes of which has never been seen before ...
All four are united by their desire for peace.
But peace between the Aylish and Brightland feels more fragile than ever.
And there is a new threat, not just to Brightland, but to Ayland and the world beyond. The airship that Rye has discovered is owned by the Sealanders, a race of elite Torches, recently returned to Earth.
The future of civilisation is on a knife edge, with those from Brightland wanting to stamp out songlight, those from Ayland wanting harmony and those from Sealand wanting songlight to rein, whatever the costs ...
A sequel to rival all others, proving this to be the most exciting trilogy to have been published for decades!
Welcome back to a world where songlight - or telepathy - is either your greatest power or your greatest curse.
Elsa is on the run and is urgently seeking a safe haven.
Nightingale is being held captive and forced to use her songlight against her own people.
Piper has been promoted up the ranks of the Airmen, where nothing but bloodshed is demanded of him.
Rye has stumbled across an incredible airship, the likes of which has never been seen before ...
All four are united by their desire for peace.
But peace between the Aylish and Brightland feels more fragile than ever.
And there is a new threat, not just to Brightland, but to Ayland and the world beyond. The airship that Rye has discovered is owned by the Sealanders, a race of elite Torches, recently returned to Earth.
The future of civilisation is on a knife edge, with those from Brightland wanting to stamp out songlight, those from Ayland wanting harmony and those from Sealand wanting songlight to rein, whatever the costs ...
A sequel to rival all others, proving this to be the most exciting trilogy to have been published for decades!
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Published August 26, 2025
2 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Moira Buffini
36 books181 followersMoira Buffini (born 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.
She was born in Carlisle to Irish parents, and studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths. She subsequently trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play Gabriel was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award. Her 1999 play Silence earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. Loveplay followed at the RSC in 2001, then Dinner at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Buffini wrote Dying For It, a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, The Suicide, for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with Marianne Dreams, a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, A Vampire Story was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008.
Buffini is said to advocate big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber.
Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's Tamara Drewe was released followed by her adaptation of Jane Eyre for BBC Films and Ruby Films in 2011. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini also adapted her play A Vampire Story for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film Byzantium released in 2013.
She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six for which she wrote a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
- Wikipedia
She was born in Carlisle to Irish parents, and studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths. She subsequently trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play Gabriel was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award. Her 1999 play Silence earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. Loveplay followed at the RSC in 2001, then Dinner at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Buffini wrote Dying For It, a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, The Suicide, for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with Marianne Dreams, a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, A Vampire Story was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008.
Buffini is said to advocate big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber.
Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's Tamara Drewe was released followed by her adaptation of Jane Eyre for BBC Films and Ruby Films in 2011. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini also adapted her play A Vampire Story for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film Byzantium released in 2013.
She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six for which she wrote a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
- Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2025
This is the second book in the dystopian YA series by screenwriter, Moira Buffini, and it does not disappoint.
From the promising beginnings of Songlight, Torchfire picks up almost immediately where we left off, continuing the heroic tales of Elsa Crane known as Lark, along with Rye Tern, Nightingale, and Kingfisher, as they battle for freedom, equality, and understanding. We are also introduced to some very interesting new characters, the Sealanders, who consider themselves to be a superior, separate race.
Torchfire has an amazing cast of characters, some of whom I felt were slightly under-served in this novel as they were mainly used as a prop for world-building. Nonetheless, Buffini’s talent at creating interesting and believable character arcs is very apparent, and I thought the intertwining storylines were beautifully told.
Where the author really excels is in writing political intrigue. The chapters set in Brightlinghelm are incredibly dynamic, full of the machinations of a despotic leader and his followers, some of whom are loyal, and more interestingly, those who have their own agendas. One such person is Zara Swan, in whom Buffini has created a deliciously complicated and dangerous character. Mistreated from childhood, Swan is the ultimate survivor and I found myself reading with glee whenever she made an appearance.
This sequel is a very timely tale of power, oppression, and discrimination, where we observe some characters blindly following orders, and others bravely considering their actions with humanity and empathy. We are constantly challenged to put ourselves in their shoes and consider what we would do in similar circumstances. I’m already looking forward to the third and final instalment in the series.
Thank you to #netgalley and #faberbooks for the ARC.
From the promising beginnings of Songlight, Torchfire picks up almost immediately where we left off, continuing the heroic tales of Elsa Crane known as Lark, along with Rye Tern, Nightingale, and Kingfisher, as they battle for freedom, equality, and understanding. We are also introduced to some very interesting new characters, the Sealanders, who consider themselves to be a superior, separate race.
Torchfire has an amazing cast of characters, some of whom I felt were slightly under-served in this novel as they were mainly used as a prop for world-building. Nonetheless, Buffini’s talent at creating interesting and believable character arcs is very apparent, and I thought the intertwining storylines were beautifully told.
Where the author really excels is in writing political intrigue. The chapters set in Brightlinghelm are incredibly dynamic, full of the machinations of a despotic leader and his followers, some of whom are loyal, and more interestingly, those who have their own agendas. One such person is Zara Swan, in whom Buffini has created a deliciously complicated and dangerous character. Mistreated from childhood, Swan is the ultimate survivor and I found myself reading with glee whenever she made an appearance.
This sequel is a very timely tale of power, oppression, and discrimination, where we observe some characters blindly following orders, and others bravely considering their actions with humanity and empathy. We are constantly challenged to put ourselves in their shoes and consider what we would do in similar circumstances. I’m already looking forward to the third and final instalment in the series.
Thank you to #netgalley and #faberbooks for the ARC.
August 11, 2025
There is a lot going on in this dystopian fantasy. A lot of characters and plot lines, which are disparate but connected. Read book one before this one if you can, as otherwise you may miss the continued tangled plot. The world created by the author is not a pleasant place to be for many of the characters. Woman are subjugated to men’s whimsy, and the worse for it. Those with songlight, telepathy, are persecuted, killed or forced into hunting others like themselves. Some of the cast are just trying to survive, some though are waiting for rebellion against all this cruelty. We also learn more about the surrounding countries, who might have a part to play in overthrowing the despot in charge. However some of them are no better at all. Who will have the strength to stand up for truth and right, and for the protection of those in need?
Sometimes the story got a bit bogged down, but would then liven up as peril stocks the characters. Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
Sometimes the story got a bit bogged down, but would then liven up as peril stocks the characters. Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
October 9, 2025
It's always hit or miss with the second book in a series, and this one was right on target. I really appreciated the balance of the storyline/ideologies that I didn't even know I needed with the introduction of Petra and the ex-simians (sp? I listened to the audio). The audiobook cast was, once again, fantastic, and my only disappointment is that the third book hasn't been written yet and I'll have to wait indefinitely to find out how the story ends.
August 9, 2025
Torchfire
Firstly let me just start by saying this is absolutely a 6 star ⭐️ book/series for me it’s soooo underrated honestly!!
So torchfire starts where we left off in Songlight. This book has so much character development and depth different locations and lots of terminology along with mutiple POVs to get your head around but non the less every page was full of much needed detail. The plot is always moving with such good pace. Lark Elsa Rye Kingfisher & Nightingale and now Petra I love love love the character cast in this book! Absolutely killing me with the cliff hanger ending this is an absolute amazingly executed YA dystopian fantasy book that will stay with you forever. The Rye and Wren scene has me a a broken woman🤯 Faber I need book 3 like now please! ♥️
Firstly let me just start by saying this is absolutely a 6 star ⭐️ book/series for me it’s soooo underrated honestly!!
So torchfire starts where we left off in Songlight. This book has so much character development and depth different locations and lots of terminology along with mutiple POVs to get your head around but non the less every page was full of much needed detail. The plot is always moving with such good pace. Lark Elsa Rye Kingfisher & Nightingale and now Petra I love love love the character cast in this book! Absolutely killing me with the cliff hanger ending this is an absolute amazingly executed YA dystopian fantasy book that will stay with you forever. The Rye and Wren scene has me a a broken woman🤯 Faber I need book 3 like now please! ♥️
October 7, 2025
I’m not a YA. I bought for my teenage goddaughter. But I read as well and I loved this book. A brilliant sequel to Songlight that deepens the story and characters and delivers a page turning narrative. A richly rewarding read.
October 15, 2025
This series is becoming a fast favourite, book 3 is needed now!
rich characters, immersive storytelling & a dystopian world that is scarily sometimes to similar to ours/what it could become so easily.
A must read for everyone.
rich characters, immersive storytelling & a dystopian world that is scarily sometimes to similar to ours/what it could become so easily.
A must read for everyone.
September 4, 2025
Fully in my feels over book 2.
Piper was still a Massive D word
But I’m here for Elsa!
Piper was still a Massive D word
But I’m here for Elsa!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews