The Torch Trilogy · #1 / 3
Songlight
Star-crossed lovers, against-all-odds friendship, and a brutal post-apocalyptic world make this first in a trilogy utterly unforgettable.
We’re two songs joined. And there’s a word for that. A harmony.
Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.
Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.
Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.
From an award-winning screenwriter making her novel debut comes this powerful, page-turning trilogy perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Adrienne Young.
The series
In a world where connection itself can be dangerous, this trilogy steps into the quiet space between fear and longing and lets it burn. The story opens in a fractured society that treats empathy as a threat, where those born with the rare ability to send thoughts and emotions across distance live as fugitives. Their gift, known as songlight, is intimate and unsettling, a power that reveals what people would rather keep hidden. It is here that the heart of the trilogy takes shape.
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The narrative follows a set of characters who never asked to stand out. Lark, trying to stay unnoticed, is drawn into a conflict she barely understands when her own songlight sparks to life. Others move through the story carrying their own burdens, from those raised to fear the gifted, to those who have spent their lives running. Their voices intertwine, forming a world steeped in tension, shifting loyalties, and the fragile hope that understanding might survive even when everything else collapses.
What makes the series compelling is how it blends the grit of dystopian survival with something more human. Instead of relying on spectacle, it leans into atmosphere, the pressure of being hunted, and the strange beauty of a power that creates closeness in a world ruled by suspicion. The calm moments carry weight, the violent ones leave echoes, and the landscapes, whether forest enclaves, coastal ruins, or airborne sanctuaries, feel shaped by the people who move through them.
Recognition has already begun to gather around the first book, not because it chases grand declarations, but because readers seem to latch onto its emotional depth and the way it treats power as something both tender and volatile. The themes linger long after the plot moves on, touching on identity, resistance, and the cost of being different in a society built on fear.
For readers who enjoy atmospheric dystopian fantasy that values tension, tenderness, and slow building rebellion, this trilogy offers a world where connection becomes its own form of defiance. It invites you to step inside, listen closely, and feel the quiet spark that starts everything.
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