By the time I read the 4th installment of the "City of Ember" series, I was a little tired ot the story line. The 1st book, City of Ember, had the most original concept of an underground city, and the follow-up books relied upon the novelty of the 1st book to carry readers further. The 2nd book was ho-hum and forgettable, but the 3rd (prequel) book took a step in the right direction. This 4th book is ok, but I am glad that the story-line is limited to 4 books. Any more and it would be quite tired indeed.

While not as original (or suspenseful) as The City of Ember or The People of Sparks, it's an enjoyable book in its own right - certainly better than The Prophet of Yonwood.

Overall, a satisfying conclusion to the series.

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 success 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 first and has little overlap).

Overall, Duprau succeeds in this installment and I would recommend it to those who have enjoyed the first of her books.

Reviewed by: Andrew S. Cohen

There are few books that I give this low of a rating. I almost hate doing this because I loved the first two books so much, but there are three reasons I'm giving this book only two stars.

The first is it felt like the book was talking down to it's young audience. The 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 first book and had to learn all the old lessons over again. Plus it just played the same plot tricks as the 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 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).

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, October 25, 2008

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.

I liked this book a lot more than book 2, really enjoyed book 1, and I'm planning on skipping book 3. I hope Jeanne Duprau stops writing more Ember books. I think she has a great story but I'm not a big fan of the way she writes. Book 1 felt like it was lacking somethings, book 2 just felt empty, and book 4 to me didn't seem like doon and Lina would of acted the way they did, to me they did grow up, they just asked the same. I just can't wait until the movie comes out. I'm hoping that the movie has added stuff that wasn't in the book.

Unlike in the potter books and movies, I didn't want any part changed. To me Rowling added and added the the characters all 7 books.

But this is just my opinion.

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.

I'm not sure why DuPrau chose to gradually lower the reading level of this series, but this book reads much more like a book for children than the first three in the series, even though the characters and subject matter remain on a young adult level.

Be that as it may, this is still quite a good book. In the third book, the people of Ember and the people of Sparks are just barely managing to live together harmoniously, but conditions have not improved over the hard winter. Food is scarce and tempers are running short. When Lina and Doon discover a book that describes something left behind for the people of Ember, they decide to go back to their city and try to find this mysterious item, as well as see what supplies may have been left behind when the people left.

What they discover allows DuPrau to end her series on a very hopeful note. She does not disguise the fact that life continues to be hard, but she makes it clear that by working together, the people of Ember and Sparks are able to come together and make a bright new future. As cheesy as that sounds, she writes it so well that you can't help but smile and feel hopeful yourself.

My 12 year-old daughter liked this book. While book #3 (Prophet of Yonwood) departed substantially from the City of Ember plot (with very little overlap), this one goes back in to the City of Ember and reveals more of the intentions of the Builders. I only read the beginning aloud to her, and she took off! So I don't know how it turns out. I may have to borrow it from her...

We read all three of the previous "Ember" novels and enjoyed them all. Waiting for this one was hard, but it was well worth it! We were afraid that the story would resolve with this novel, but it appears there is opportunity for future segments of the story. The author writes so well that it is a pleasurable read in addition to an enjoyable storyline. We hope the first movie does it justice!!

Jeanne Duprau needs to leave the story of Ember and Sparks alone. It was a dynamic duet that worked and was a sophisticated and well written two book story that was finished. Book three was bad enough and probably one of the worst books I've ever read, so I was leary about trying yet another Ember story. Diamond of Darkhold is not as bad as Yonwood but it is very lame. This installment does not add to the original story in any significant way, and there are just pages and pages of fluff and filler that say and do nothing. I can wrap up the whole plot to this story is a minute. Very black and white and straightforward, no suspense or mystery, no action and the author's writing has certainly declined. She is riding high on the success of the first two books which have now turned movie and she is trying to eek out all she can out of a story that is simply done. I felt this book a waste of money and time and would not recommend this book. I gave it a generous two stars only because she does bring back the creative element of electricity once again at the end of this novel, the one key creative element that made the first two books wonderful. After the last two books, I doubt I'd pick up another book by this author ever again.

Jeanne DuPrau has written beautiful and poignant conclusion to the story of the City of Ember. As always,
the writing is perfect, with just the right combination of adventure and thoughtfulness. In this last book we
see what the future holds for Lina and Doon and while we are left with a feeling of hopefulness, there is also
a certain sadness as we see Ember fade in the distance. I hope to see more books from this creative and
talented writer in the future and recommend all the books of Ember to readers of any age.

Ever since they emerged from the City of Ember, I have been waiting for them to go back and see what has become of their city. This book finally takes us back to the City of Ember. Perhaps others may have been waiting too.


The first book of Ember presented with an amazing world unlike anything that we had experienced before. A city of hope, created with love, reflected with a greatly crafted amount of detail, suspense, sorrow, and expectations. You will not find any of that here. Darkhold's Ember is nothing like the City of Ember of book 1.

This time the story is not satisfying, despite offering a reasonable explanation about the fate of those who wandered into the Unknown Regions. Other than that, the journey felt rushed and not well developed. I doubt this was intentional to indicate that Ember is now irrelevant.

There is an entire subplot of minor characters that could be dropped to save at least 20% of the book and nothing would be lost at all.

The author also continues to explore themes of alternate energy that she touches on in her other books, especially Car Trouble.

The problem with sequels is that they get compared to the previous installments. In that department the Diamond of Darkhold is clearly the 3rd best in the series, after City of Ember and People of Sparks. Unfortunately, this also makes it the 2nd weakest.

Without question, this book is an enjoyable read for the Ember faithful and serves as a reasonable conclusion for the series. Sadly, compared with past glory, this ember glows dim...

A note of caution for new readers:

Despite the quick summary in the first few pages, new readers to the series will be lost. They will most likely not enjoy this book as it really assumes that they had read the previous three books - which really should be read as they are quite good!

Ever since they emerged from the City of Ember, I have been waiting for them to go back and see what has become of their city. This book finally takes us back to the City of Ember. If you are reading this review, you too may have been waiting.


The first book of Ember presented with an amazing world unlike anything that we had experienced before. A city of hope, created with love, reflected with a greatly crafted amount of detail, suspense, sadness, and expectations. You will not find any of that here. Darkhold's Ember is nothing like the City of Ember of book 1.

We finally go back to Ember, but the journey is not satisfying at all. Thankfully, the book offers a reasonable answer about the Unknown Regions and the fate of those who attempted to cross them. Other than that, the journey was rushed and not well developed. Perhaps that was intentional to indicate that Ember is now irrelevant.

For example, I did not care much for the minor characters here. There is a particular segment that could be dropped to save at least 20% of the book and nothing would be lost at all. The author also continues to explore themes of alternate energy that she touches on in her other books, especially Car Trouble.

The problem with sequels is that they get compared to the previous installments. In that department the Diamond of Darkhold is clearly the 3rd best in the series, after City of Ember and People of Sparks. Unfortunately, this also makes it the 2nd weakest.


A note of caution for new readers:

Despite the quick summary in the first few pages, new readers to the series will be lost. They will most likely not enjoy this book as it really assumes that they had read the previous three books - which really should be read as they are quite good!

Without question, this book is an enjoyable read for the Ember faithful and serves as a reasonable conclusion for the series. Sadly, this ember glows dimly compared with past glory...





Potential SPOILER:


My favorite lines:
"We won't see Ember again."
"No. But it's all right. I said goodbye."

I wish this book had had more depth to it. There are too many different points of view from minor characters that are not developed well. We're supposed to believe that the people of Sparks are "struggling" through a harsh winter, but I saw no description or details that made me believe there was any real danger. In fact, there was hardly any description of anything or anyone. I never felt a part of the world, and therefore didn't really care what happened to Lina and Doon (or any of the other POV characters). The book relies too much on setting and character development from the previous novels and gives us nothing new.

The ending seems to indicate that we will see more of this world, probably farther into the future. Let's hope she spends more time on setting, plot, and character development in future installments.