The Torchbearers satisfyingly finishes the Darkdeep mglit trilogy series

That headline sounds likes like a backhanded compliment. It isn’t meant to be but does require a little history. The Darkdeep, the first book in the series was a perfect example of mglit escapism. It set up a world where the kids felt real and the dangers they eventually discovered were equally as scary. The Beast was good but was muddled at times. There was so much happening that the broader world that the kids and the Darkdeep created was confusing and felt like too much. Ironically, in The Torchbearers, authors Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs say hold my drink; amp up the action, widen the book’s scope and end the series in a way that’s fun to read for ages eleven and up.

Let’s be clear, the second book in the Darkdeep series, The Beast, was still a good and entertaining read. It’s just that the first book was a fabulous, scarier version of Stranger Things or The Goonies. It wasn’t a curse of the sequel not being as good as the original, rather, the second act wasn’t as good as the first. In its totality, the three books make up a great story that’s simply been cut up into three books.

Because of that, it will help readers if they’ve read the first two books. Jumping into The Torchbearers and trying to discover the personality quirks of the titular characters and the immediacy of their quest won’t be as much fun. Readers will still be able to do it, but they’ll want to read the first two books in the series to discover what made them the way that they are. Motivating readers who jump into a story late is a goal that most series in their third entry can’t attest to.

The Torchbearers, in this book, represents the title and the name of a group of teens who are brought together. They’ve fought monsters, created monsters, and seemingly been to another universe. When the book starts we learn that one of the key members of this group is moving to a town that’s far away. As this group of friends has bonded together due to their lineage or sworn duty to protect their hometown from monsters, this presents a huge problem. It’s also not encouraging that more scary things are appearing in town. They concocted a series of stories that provide some cover, but as the monsters get bigger the cover gets less apparent.

The book blends the behavior of real teens as they would act in a group of friends, some of whom have nothing in common. Think The Breakfast Club, but instead of a Saturday in detention they’ve been put in charge of a houseboat that’s near a shallow pool that brings their inner thoughts and monsters into this world.  

The inner workings of The Torchbearers have been laid in the first book. Essentially, the friends are bonded through a wrecked ship and a small pond near it that possess strange powers. The first book has a scarier vibe, the second book blends in more science-fiction, and this, the third book goes into an action motif, with teen angst and science-fiction.

This is one of the series that middle-grade readers will share from friend to friend. We have all three of them in our forever library, as we’re confident that both of our boys will want to read them once they’re just a bit older. Our eleven-year-old tried to read one of the books but found it too scary. Once he’s thirteen he’ll be headlong into all of them and thank us for saving them.

The Torchbearers, A Darkdeep Novel is by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs and available on Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

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