This is the fourth in the "City of Ember" series. In book one, The City of Ember, the residents of Ember live underground in a post-apocalyptic world. They have a generator for electricity, indoor plumbing, stocks of canned food and they have never seen the outside world. When stocks start running out, they are led out of Ember by two children named Lina and Doon.
This takes us to book two, The People of Sparks, where the newly emerged Ember people try to fit in to the rustic lifestyle of a small village.
Book three, The Prophet of Yonwood is a prequel, telling of the events leading up to book one.
This book picks up after book two, with Lina, Doon and the people of Ember and Sparks facing a harsh winter and possible starvation. The earth simply cannot produce enough food to feed both communities, and supplies of other essentials are also running low. A traveling trader or "roamer" (read: scavenger) visits the village and Doon buys a portion of an old book that the roamer was using as kindling. The few remaining pages suggest that there is a legacy left for the people of Ember, for the time when it became necessary for them to abandon the underground city.
Lina and Doon decide to return to Ember to find the item mentioned in the book, and find more than they bargained for.
Knowledge of the first two books will be an asset while reading this one. (You can forget about the third book) The book moves along pretty well and will hold your interest until the final chapters. Sadly, a reasonably good story is diminished by an ending that seems to drift away to practically nothing.
Recommended for people who have read books one and two.
Rated: 3.5 stars
Amanda Richards
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