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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780375855719
ISBN number: 0375855718
Label: Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: August 26, 2008
Publishing house: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age index: Ages 9-12
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 441
Studio: Random House Books for Young Readers
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Product Description:
It’s been several months since Lina and Doon escaped the dying city of Ember and, along with the rest of their people, joined the town of Sparks. Now, struggling through the harsh winter aboveground, they find an unusual book. Torn up and missing most of its pages, it alludes to a mysterious device from before the Disaster, which they believe is still in Ember. Together, Lina and Doon must go back underground to retrieve what was lost and bring light to a dark world.
In the fourth Book of Ember, bestselling author Jeanne DuPrau juxtaposes yet another action-packed adventure with powerful themes about hope, learning, and the search for truth.
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Rated by buyers -
In the fourth book of Ember, we enter with the newly unified town of Sparks preparing for the winter, a few months after the city of Ember's emergence from underground. Supplies are growing sparse and sickness becomes abundant in this town, as they question their sustainability for the harsh cold of wintertime.
Protagonists Doon and Lina set off on another adventure, based on a prophecy from a book stating their is something left "for the people of Ember" that will aid them through the winter. They venture back to their old town of Ember to seek out supplies that their old community has left behind, where they meet an unlikely foe and seek out this mysterious, perhaps magical device to "bring light to a dark world."
Through the motif of hope, DuPrau illustrates an exciting page-turner that had me up all night so I could finish. Though lacking as much thought and depth as the initial book in the series, the author creates an interesting storyline along with introducing peculiar side characters such as Washton Trogg.
The end of the book seems a bit anticlimactic, as their adventure ends sort of to a nothingness, with DuPrau feeling a look to the future as sufficient hope for the sucess of mankind and their moral triumphs. Otherwise, THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD should not disappoint avid readers of the series. In order to grasp full meaning of the story, I would highly suggest reading at least books one and two (three is a prequel to the very first and has little overlap).
Overall, Duprau succeeds in this installment and I would recommend it to those who have enjoyed the very first of her books.
Reviewed Author name: Andrew S. Cohen
Rated by buyers 
-
There are few books that I give this low of a rating. I almost hate doing this because I loved the very first two books so much, but there are three reasons I'm giving this book only two stars.
The very first is it felt like the book was talking down to it's young audience. The very first two books were so contemporary and edgy, but if felt like this one spent half the time defining big words and inserting placeholder dialogue. The writing style lacked a quality I know Duprau is capable of.
The second is that the book is a rewind of The City of Ember. It seemed like the characters hadn't really developed since the very first book and had to learn all the old lessons over again. Plus it just played the same plot tricks as the very first book, only instead of escaping Ember, Lina and Doon are going back. And it totally ignores all of the information from The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember) (which wasn't that good to begin with) until the last ten pages--and even that tie-in seems forced, like it's an afterthought.
The final thing that made this book just not work for me is that the ending is moral driven rather than character driven. Rather than letting the characters actions speak for themselves, there is a LONG epilogue that tells word for word all the lessons Lina and Doon learned. After all they go through together, the reader should be able to tell what lessons were learned without if being spelled out for them--literally!
This book could have been hot with all the potential in the very first two books. The premiss for this one is fantastic and the already-established characters are amazing, but this book just doesn't pull it all together in the end. I wish the series would have ended after The People of Sparks (Books of Ember).
Rated by buyers -
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 very 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, October 25, 2008
Rated by buyers 
-
My eleven year old daughter and I read this book together, aloud over the course of about ten days. We both loved it and eagerly awaited each successive night's installment. I had read City of Ember and People of Sparks, but started and didn't finish Prophet of Yonwood. My daughter had read all three prior books. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I thought that several of the minor characters were quite well developed, particularly Troggs and Maggs. Not quite the meticulously thought-out masterpiece I found City of Ember to be, but a good page turner, with some carefully tucked away lessons for young people.
Rated by buyers -
This book helps wrap up the series. It answers some of the questions that were left open in the other books. My daughter and I had great fun reading this series together and debating all the possibilities.
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