Book
The Hill of Cinders
The Lamplighters of Gloamhaven, Book Four
- 15 chapters
- 4 hr 12 min read
- Accessible Reading difficulty
- Ages 9–12
Free to read·No account needed
Three Roads Inland
About this book
The Hill of Cinders is the fourth book of The Lamplighters of Gloamhaven, an adventure series by James DeGreef and Ochorus for readers aged nine to twelve. It follows on from The Glowstone Bargain, and is best read after the first three books.
This is the turning of the whole series: a book about a hill where the light was put out, an old book that tells what really happened there, and a friendship that seems past mending. It is about betrayal and forgiveness, about a love that lays down its life, and about being given your work back after you have failed at it. It begins in the deepest grey of the series and ends in morning. Like the books before it, it never preaches; it lets the story 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.
“You’d have said hm,” said Wren. “Wouldn’t you.” The lamp did not answer. It lay inside her coat, against her ribs, where it had lain all morning, small and low and steady; and if you had put your hand flat on the outside of her coat, the way she kept doing, you would have felt it there like a cat that has gone to sleep…
Contents
- 1 Three Roads Inland 17 min
- 2 The Scarecrow Farms 17 min
- 3 The Remnant 17 min
- 4 Tobin’s Long Walk 17 min
- 5 The Burned Country 17 min
- 6 The Workshop on the Hill 17 min
- 7 Together, Almost 17 min
- 8 The Chronicle 17 min
- 9 The Night He Chose 16 min
- 10 The Trap 17 min
- 11 The Dark Mirror 16 min
- 12 The Coward’s Offer 17 min
- 13 Scarred Hands 17 min
- 14 Breakfast by the Fire 17 min
- 15 Carry My Flame 16 min
Questions and Answers
Do I need to read the first three books first?
Yes. The Hill of Cinders carries straight on from The Glowstone Bargain, and its biggest moments answer questions the first three books ask.
What age is The Hill of Cinders for?
Readers aged nine to twelve. It opens in grief after the loss at the end of Book Three and has real danger, told without anything gory, and it ends in joy.
What is Cinder Hill?
A black, bare hill in the Burned Country where, in the old story Old Ash told in Book One, the Queen's darkness put out the Lampwright's light. A ruined workshop stands on top.
Who are the Remnant?
A hidden fellowship of ordinary people who have kept the Lampwright's stories and songs alive for three hundred years, meeting in barns and cellars, led by joyful old Sister Hale.
What is the Chronicle?
An old book locked behind an iron door on Cinder Hill. It tells how the world was made, how the curse began, and what really happened on the Lampwright's last night.
Is it a Christian book?
Yes. Like the classic Christian fantasies, it tells its truths as story rather than sermon: a death chosen out of love, a morning no one expected, and forgiveness that restores a friend who failed. It never names God or preaches.
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 Hill of Cinders. 2026. Ochorus, https://ochorus.com/books/the-hill-of-cinders/.
- Chicago
- DeGreef, James and Ochorus. The Hill of Cinders. 2026. Reprint, Ochorus. https://ochorus.com/books/the-hill-of-cinders/.
- Chicago footnote
- James DeGreef and Ochorus, The Hill of Cinders (2026; repr., Ochorus), https://ochorus.com/books/the-hill-of-cinders/.
- BibTeX
- @book{degreef2026hill, author = {DeGreef, James and Ochorus}, title = {{The Hill of Cinders}}, year = {2026}, publisher = {Ochorus}, url = {https://ochorus.com/books/the-hill-of-cinders/} }