The Books of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Although I finished most of the books quite some time ago, I was anxiously awaiting my library's copy of the last book in the series, The Diamond of Darkhold. I'm almost regretting my decision to review the series as a whole now, since some of the books are of a very different tenor, but what's done is done and I refuse to write four separate reviews! 
I was immediately taken with the first book in the series, The City of Ember. Formerly my go-to dystopia for youngsters was Lois Lowry's The Giver (still one of my favorite books), but Ember can capture an even younger audience and I have to admit the basic concept is enchanting.
Ember is a post-apocalyptic city under the ground. Meant to last about 200 years, the instructions for leaving Ember are long-lost and its inhabitants know nothing about the world outside -- as in they don't even know there is one. Problem is, Ember is dying. The canned food supplies are running low, as are most other durable goods. This is slightly surmountable, since they do have greenhouses. The bigger problem is that the generator which runs the lights of Ember is going. The whole city is lit by electric light bulbs and now periodically goes dark for terrifying minutes at a time.
Into this city are born Doon and Lina, now embarking on their first jobs in Ember. Lina is a clever messenger with a keen observational eye, and Doon is down in the pipeworks and hoping to discover how the generator works so he can save Ember. One day Lina discovers her little sister, Poppy, gnawing on an important-looking piece of paper. Sadly, it is mostly destroyed. Can she and Doon piece it together. Does it contain the solution on how to save Ember?
This first novel was tense, amazing, and wonderfully detailed. The whole idea of Ember is fascinating, and the notion of a city whose doom is to go dark probably works for a lot of children, for whom the dark is still a scary thing. (I might as well admit it -- I'm still a bit scared of the dark, so the thought of a pitch-black Ember was a really visceral image for me.) The joy you feel when Lina finds those instructions for exiting Ember, then that sinking feeling as you realize Poppy has gnawed them to a pulp, and then the nail-biting second half of the novel as Lina and Doon try to figure out what it all means are fascinating. This is a fantasy with everything going for it.
Okay, from here on out, I'm going to have to give some things away as I discuss the sequels. You've been warned!
The People of Sparks picks up when Lina and Doon finally figure out how to get out of Ember and then locate one of the few surviving towns in the world. Sparks is considerably more primitive than Ember -- electricity is gone, there are no flush toilets, and the folks live a hardscrabble agrarian life. However, Doon, Lina and the rest of the surviving Emberites are amazed at the big world out here with its blue sky and greenery. They are less enamored with the work it takes to live in it.
The people of Sparks agree to shelter the Emberites for a time while they learn how to survive, but tensions grow as the Emberites tax Sparks' food supply and their hospitatlity. Soon they are on the verge of war -- the very thing people on the topside have always dreaded will happen again. When tensions overtop, how will the people of Ember and Sparks survive?
I found this book just as engaging, if not as enchanting, as the first. Again, the tensions really keep you on the edge of your seat, and Duprau has done a wonderful job of fleshing out her post-apocolypic world.
The third installment, The Prophet of Yonwood is a prequel, and one I could have initially done without. The books of Ember would read just fine without it. However, I may be being a little unfair. It was a fine story in its own right and I would recommend reading it, it's just that it's... a prequel. Yick.
The Prophet of Yonwood starts many years before the disaster that would drive a whole society underground, but the buildup and precursors to this disaster are already there. It takes place in the small town of (duh) Yonwood, where a women name Althea Tower has a had a fiery vision that her neighbors think is from God. I appreciate the way DuPrau captures the panic and terror that seize the town -- a panic that almost feels a little too close to home -- but I was disappointed in the way the tension was diffused. Knowing that ultimately society is going to annihilate itself in this storyline, it was frustrating to see this book tend toward happily ever after.
The last book of Ember is the aformentioned Diamond of Darkhold which, despite my frustrations with Prophet of Yonwood, might actually be my least favorite in the series. On the upside we are back with Lina and Doon again. On the dowside, they really are dealing with the same issues as they were the last time we saw them. A weather event has lessened the supplies in Sparks and now the tensions are mounting again. Lina and Doon decide to revisit Ember to gather supplies and also to puzzle out what a torn up book found by a scavenger might mean for them. Sound familiar?
Problem is, Ember is occupied by an unfriendly and stupid family who capture Doon and completely misue the thing meant to guarantee the future of the Emberites. Can Doon get free and figure out what the thing does?
Nothing wrong with the story except that it is really just more of the same. It ends on a completely unnecessary note about aliens and a reference to Yonwood. Totally skipable. Makes me enjoy Prophet of Yonwood a lot more, really.
Well, I've gone and reviewd all four books in one post, haven't I? Oh well. Overall, I have loved the books of Ember and can't wait to recommend them to as many folks as possible. With the books' dynamic duo of hero/heroine, the books will also have great appeal to all sexes. Good for roughly ages 10-12, it could definitely appeal to much older readers.
I was immediately taken with the first book in the series, The City of Ember. Formerly my go-to dystopia for youngsters was Lois Lowry's The Giver (still one of my favorite books), but Ember can capture an even younger audience and I have to admit the basic concept is enchanting.
Ember is a post-apocalyptic city under the ground. Meant to last about 200 years, the instructions for leaving Ember are long-lost and its inhabitants know nothing about the world outside -- as in they don't even know there is one. Problem is, Ember is dying. The canned food supplies are running low, as are most other durable goods. This is slightly surmountable, since they do have greenhouses. The bigger problem is that the generator which runs the lights of Ember is going. The whole city is lit by electric light bulbs and now periodically goes dark for terrifying minutes at a time.
Into this city are born Doon and Lina, now embarking on their first jobs in Ember. Lina is a clever messenger with a keen observational eye, and Doon is down in the pipeworks and hoping to discover how the generator works so he can save Ember. One day Lina discovers her little sister, Poppy, gnawing on an important-looking piece of paper. Sadly, it is mostly destroyed. Can she and Doon piece it together. Does it contain the solution on how to save Ember?
This first novel was tense, amazing, and wonderfully detailed. The whole idea of Ember is fascinating, and the notion of a city whose doom is to go dark probably works for a lot of children, for whom the dark is still a scary thing. (I might as well admit it -- I'm still a bit scared of the dark, so the thought of a pitch-black Ember was a really visceral image for me.) The joy you feel when Lina finds those instructions for exiting Ember, then that sinking feeling as you realize Poppy has gnawed them to a pulp, and then the nail-biting second half of the novel as Lina and Doon try to figure out what it all means are fascinating. This is a fantasy with everything going for it.
Okay, from here on out, I'm going to have to give some things away as I discuss the sequels. You've been warned!
The People of Sparks picks up when Lina and Doon finally figure out how to get out of Ember and then locate one of the few surviving towns in the world. Sparks is considerably more primitive than Ember -- electricity is gone, there are no flush toilets, and the folks live a hardscrabble agrarian life. However, Doon, Lina and the rest of the surviving Emberites are amazed at the big world out here with its blue sky and greenery. They are less enamored with the work it takes to live in it.
The people of Sparks agree to shelter the Emberites for a time while they learn how to survive, but tensions grow as the Emberites tax Sparks' food supply and their hospitatlity. Soon they are on the verge of war -- the very thing people on the topside have always dreaded will happen again. When tensions overtop, how will the people of Ember and Sparks survive?
I found this book just as engaging, if not as enchanting, as the first. Again, the tensions really keep you on the edge of your seat, and Duprau has done a wonderful job of fleshing out her post-apocolypic world.
The third installment, The Prophet of Yonwood is a prequel, and one I could have initially done without. The books of Ember would read just fine without it. However, I may be being a little unfair. It was a fine story in its own right and I would recommend reading it, it's just that it's... a prequel. Yick.
The Prophet of Yonwood starts many years before the disaster that would drive a whole society underground, but the buildup and precursors to this disaster are already there. It takes place in the small town of (duh) Yonwood, where a women name Althea Tower has a had a fiery vision that her neighbors think is from God. I appreciate the way DuPrau captures the panic and terror that seize the town -- a panic that almost feels a little too close to home -- but I was disappointed in the way the tension was diffused. Knowing that ultimately society is going to annihilate itself in this storyline, it was frustrating to see this book tend toward happily ever after.
The last book of Ember is the aformentioned Diamond of Darkhold which, despite my frustrations with Prophet of Yonwood, might actually be my least favorite in the series. On the upside we are back with Lina and Doon again. On the dowside, they really are dealing with the same issues as they were the last time we saw them. A weather event has lessened the supplies in Sparks and now the tensions are mounting again. Lina and Doon decide to revisit Ember to gather supplies and also to puzzle out what a torn up book found by a scavenger might mean for them. Sound familiar?
Problem is, Ember is occupied by an unfriendly and stupid family who capture Doon and completely misue the thing meant to guarantee the future of the Emberites. Can Doon get free and figure out what the thing does?
Nothing wrong with the story except that it is really just more of the same. It ends on a completely unnecessary note about aliens and a reference to Yonwood. Totally skipable. Makes me enjoy Prophet of Yonwood a lot more, really.
Well, I've gone and reviewd all four books in one post, haven't I? Oh well. Overall, I have loved the books of Ember and can't wait to recommend them to as many folks as possible. With the books' dynamic duo of hero/heroine, the books will also have great appeal to all sexes. Good for roughly ages 10-12, it could definitely appeal to much older readers.
February 9, 2009 8:33 PM
Great summary! I haven't read the series at all and you've perfectly piqued my interest.