The Oarsmen Books in Order

The Oarsmen series is Glenn Beck’s move into young adult dystopian fiction, starting with Chasing Embers. Instead of talk‑radio studios or colonial taverns, the action unfolds in a future where stories themselves have been placed under corporate control.

In this world, a powerful company called Topos, Inc. has replaced traditional governments. On the surface, Topos promises stability and progress. Behind the slogans, it has stripped away the pillars of culture—history, religion, art, even independent science—on the theory that rewriting the story of humanity will prevent conflict and chaos.

Sixteen‑year‑old Ember lives inside that system. Her parents were taken by Topos years earlier, and the only thing she has left from them is a forbidden notebook filled with real history. Owning it is a crime, but letting go of it would mean surrendering the last link to who she is and where she came from.

Sky, a seventeen‑year‑old boy raised on Topos’s carefully edited narratives, ends up on a very different path. He runs away to a remote community of Holdouts, people who refuse to live under corporate rule and cling to banned stories, rituals, and ideas. For Sky, the Holdouts force a difficult question: if everything he has been taught is a curated script, what does it mean to be “extreme” or “dangerous”?

As the book unfolds, Ember and Sky become entangled with a secret network committed to pushing back against Topos. The name “Oarsmen” hints at what that resistance is really about: rowing against a powerful current, using stories and memory as their oars. Their choices pull them into information warfare, underground meetings, and the gray zone between propaganda and truth.

The tone of the series is faster and more youthful than Beck’s adult thrillers. There are high‑stakes chases, glimpses of high‑tech surveillance, and the kind of forbidden friendships and loyalties that often anchor young adult fiction. At the same time, the books invite readers to think about who controls the narratives in their own lives—schools, platforms, governments, or families.

While Chasing Embers stands on its own as a complete story, it also opens a much larger arc. Future installments are set up to follow Ember, Sky, and their allies as they grow older, deepen their understanding of Topos, and decide how far they are willing to go to reclaim history and imagination.

For teens and adults alike, The Oarsmen series offers a way into Beck’s recurring themes—freedom, memory, and resistance to centralized power—through a fresh, character‑driven lens. Reading Chasing Embers first gives you the groundwork you’ll need for the broader conflict hinted at in the series title.