Book
The Black Stair
The Lamplighters of Gloamhaven, Book Two
Book 2 of 4 in The Lamplighters of Gloamhaven·Next in the series: The Glowstone Bargain
- 15 chapters
- 4 hr 6 min read
- Accessible Reading difficulty
- Ages 9–12
Free to read·No account needed
The Pale Road
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About this book
The Black Stair is the second book of The Lamplighters of Gloamhaven, an adventure series by James DeGreef and Ochorus for readers aged nine to twelve. It follows straight on from Fire Against the Dark, but a new reader can begin here: the travellers are introduced again, and the story stands on its own.
This is a book about courage in the dark. Tobin, who has always been afraid of it, has to climb a thousand steps of it with hundreds of people trusting him. Wren, who has never trusted anyone, has to hand over the one thing she owns. And Mira, a girl who has never seen, believes in a light she cannot see because an old story told her it was coming. Like the book before it, it never preaches; it lets a story of faith, trust and a gift freely given speak for itself, for children to discover and for parents to talk about.
The book has fifteen chapters, about the length of a classic children's fantasy, each one a good evening's reading.
© James DeGreef and Ochorus. An Ochorus Original, free to read and share.
If you had been a bird — and there were not many birds left in Gloamhaven, so you would have been a lonely one — and if you had flown out over the Greywaste on the fourth morning after the Ring of Emberwick was lit, you would have seen a great deal of nothing.
Contents
- 1 The Pale Road 17 min
- 2 The Hollow Hunt 17 min
- 3 Mothwing Weather 16 min
- 4 Down Among the Delvers 17 min
- 5 The City of Echoes 16 min
- 6 The Elders’ Judgment 17 min
- 7 Mira’s Secret 17 min
- 8 The Whispering Galleries 17 min
- 9 Varrick in the Deeps 16 min
- 10 The Black Stair 17 min
- 11 Light in the Low Places 16 min
- 12 The Ferryman of the Gloam River 16 min
- 13 Colours 17 min
- 14 A Letter Sealed in Grey 16 min
- 15 The Lights of Vaelport 16 min
Questions and Answers
Do I need to read Fire Against the Dark first?
It helps, because The Black Stair carries straight on from it, but the opening chapters introduce Wren, Tobin, Old Ash and Cinder again, so a new reader can begin here.
What age is The Black Stair for?
Readers aged nine to twelve, and it reads aloud well to younger children from about seven. There is real danger in the dark, but nothing gory, and plenty of humour.
Who is Mira?
A Delver girl who has been blind from birth and reads the world by the echo of clicks. She is quick, funny and brave, and she believes an old story about a Warm Man who promised that one day her people would see.
What is the Black Stair?
A thousand steps of total darkness that climb from the Delver city of Deepholm to the surface. When Captain Varrick comes for the lamp, it is the only way out.
What happens to the lamp in this book?
It still cannot be bought, stolen or earned, only given. On the Black Stair Wren has to truly give it to Tobin so that he can lead the Delvers up, the hardest act of trust she has ever made.
Is it a Christian book?
Yes. Like the classic Christian fantasies, it tells its truths as story rather than sermon: faith in what cannot yet be seen, courage that trusts while it is afraid, and sight given as a gift. It never names God or quotes Scripture directly.
How long is the book?
Fifteen chapters and about forty-eight thousand words, much the length of a classic children's fantasy.
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Cite this book
Copy a citation in the style you need.
- MLA
- DeGreef, James and Ochorus. The Black Stair. 2026. Ochorus, https://ochorus.com/books/the-black-stair/.
- Chicago
- DeGreef, James and Ochorus. The Black Stair. 2026. Reprint, Ochorus. https://ochorus.com/books/the-black-stair/.
- Chicago footnote
- James DeGreef and Ochorus, The Black Stair (2026; repr., Ochorus), https://ochorus.com/books/the-black-stair/.
- BibTeX
- @book{degreef2026black, author = {DeGreef, James and Ochorus}, title = {{The Black Stair}}, year = {2026}, publisher = {Ochorus}, url = {https://ochorus.com/books/the-black-stair/} }