The City of Ember

Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Series: The City of Ember, book 1
Major Themes: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Friendship, Adventure
Synopsis: As the lights in the city of Ember falter and threaten to go out altogether, Lina and her friend Doon race against time to try to save the city from plunging into darkness forever.

Booktube can be a wonderful place to find books. It can also be a rabbit hole of its own, and produce more recommendations than I know what to do with. Recently, though, I saw a recommendation for The City of Ember, and when I saw it, I took a screenshot so I could look it up later. The “later” came sooner than expected when I needed something to listen to one day, and I picked this book up. Before I knew it, I was immersed in the story—and had a hard time putting it down! Since listening to it, I’ve introduced the book to three of my brothers, and they all enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s brought about some interesting conversations around here in the past few days!

The city of Ember is the only place 12-year-old Lina has ever known. To the city’s knowledge, they are the only ones alive in the world, such as it is, and they have one big problem: This city, which has been going for around 250 years now, is wearing out. And they have no way to fix it and nowhere to go. A river runs below Ember’s streets, running a generator that powers the large streetlights and provides electricity to use in the houses. Beyond the city limits is darkness—darkness so deep that one can almost feel it. No one has been able to find a way to penetrate the darkness, and anyone who tries comes back with wild, frightening tales of the desolation out there. As the generator occasionally falters and plunges the city into darkness, Lina and her good friend Doon are sure there must be a way to find help. They know they must act quickly, because many of the supplies the city was stocked with when it was first founded are now running out, and if they don’t find an answer soon, they’ll all die. When Lina uncovers the remnants of an ancient document and starts deciphering it, will that provide the clues they need to survive?

I’ve never read a book quite like this one before. To be fair, I haven’t read that many dystopian/sci-fi works, so I may have missed something. Regardless, I found the idea of people living in a dark world, like the city of Ember, quite intriguing. The world-building in this book was phenomenal—I almost felt like I was there as I read this story. Although there were a few things that didn’t feel quite realistic (what about Vitamin D deficiency causing depression?), overall, it was well done. The characters were relatable, funny, and adventurous—the kinds of people you could really root for. I loved the way Lina took care of her younger sister—that was so sweet. And the book definitely delivered on the premise of the story!

The City of Ember caused a lot of food for thought for me and my family. It isn’t a Christian story, and some elements almost feel anti-Christian. For that reason, I can’t recommend this book quite as highly as I would like, but what I did appreciate is that the overarching theme of human story still plays out in these pages. There are good guys and bad guys, and those who genuinely desire to bring about positive change and help to all win out in the end. In some ways, this is a good character study—the city operates on fairly strong communist ideals, and it was interesting to see how some people were willing to do their part to help the greater whole…and how others only looked out for their own good, which if left unchecked would have ended up destroying everyone.

If you or your children enjoy stories with a good dose of adventure, I’d recommend The City of Ember. It’s fast-paced, gripping, and generally just a whole lot of fun. Regardless, I’m glad I took the time for this book, and wouldn’t mind reading other books by this author one day.

WARNING: Although not overt, there are underlying themes of women being able to do the same things men can do (jobs were handed out at random, and there was the expectation that there would be no problem for either sex to do the work). Children are disobedient several times throughout the story (I noted ch. 3, but there were others). There is lying in ch. 5, 11, and 15. An old woman dies in ch. 10, and there are several mentions of stealing in ch. 11 and subsequent chapters (not condoned in the story). 

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