4 of 4 members found this review helpful.
“Facts: The City of Ember is the first "book of Ember" and will become a full length film on October 10th 2008. I have heard from a trusted advisor that books two and three are unnecessary and that the first book should be left alone as a complete story. From what I hear, she is right. Opinion: Somehow, though this book takes place in the small city of Ember until the very end and is written in a simple, modern style, it kept my attention well. I enjoyed it more during the read than looking back, but over all, in a nutshell it was pretty good. I hope that the movie is too. The Plot: Twelve year olds (though they seem older) Doon and Lina are schoolmates but aren't friends until after asignment day when all the twelve year olds are asigned jobs. Lina gets pipeworker and Doon gets messenger. After trading, they are both satisfied. Why? Lina loves the idea of running around Ember in a red jacket delivering messages by mouth and Doon wants to explore beneath the city where the river runs and the genorator is located. He wants to investigate the mystery of electricity. Ember is lit by street lights but beyond that their is only "the unknown" and darkness. There is no sun, no stars etc. The electricity comes from the genorator which is run by the river, that is all they know. The city was built by "the builders" and the builders left supplies and special instructions. The Instructions were given to the mayor in a box set to unlock in a certain matter of years and was meant to be passed down from one mayor to the next and so on. Well, one nutty mayor tries to break it open too soon and then, in frustration, tosses it into his closet before dying. Unfortunately, he had told no one about the secret box and there it lies for years...too many years. It unlocks in solitude until one day Lina finds it again. Is it too late to save Ember's people? When the mayor seems to become the root of the problem, Doon and Lina team up to shed light on Ember's past.”