Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau

 
The final book in the Ember series is The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau.  I had to wait a bit for it to come in at the library, but I read it very quickly once it was finally in my hands.  In this final installment, Lean and Doon travel back to Ember to see if there is anything there waiting for them.  Doon is convinced that the Creators left something specifically for the people of Ember to help them once they emerged from their home into the real world.  Lena is doubtful that they will find anything like that, but hopes to bring back any leftover food, clothing or medicine that can be scavenged from the town.  Of course, their trip does not go smoothly.  It seems someone else has discovered the city of Ember and laid claim to all that it contains.  Lena and Doon  have once again gone out to save the world on their own and this time they need help. 
 
While far better than The Prophet of Yonwood, this finale to the series was a bit of a let down.  After the excitement of the first book and the interesting social parallels in the second book, the third felt like a huge miss to me and this fourth book, though much better, still felt like it was missing something.  The story was good, but I think the first book is still my favorite.  This series was a wonderful introduction into the world of dystopian literature for a younger reader.  It wasn't too scary or dark (no pun intended) and the stories all resolved nicely.  The best part of this series was reading it along with my son and discussing it with him.  That, you just can't beat.

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