The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

[katekintailbc]

The City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
(Audio)

So I finished one series and immediately jumped right into another :-) This one should be pretty manageable, however, since the books are rather short. I like this sort of book usually (a world similar to ours, set aside from ours; post-apocalyptic societies; hero's journey), and the movie looked beautiful (I have it rented; I'll watch it soon) so I wanted to give Ember a try.

The main character, Lina, is curious and brave. But I kept confusing her in my head with Lyra since their names are similar-sounding. She doesn't have any unique character traits that stood out in my head, apart from the fact that she loves running :-) I liked Doon a lot, however. I liked his desire to figure out how to fix the city. They're so young yet so sure they can save their world-- and even when they realize the problem is much bigger than supposed, they don't lose sight of their goal or get discouraged for long. And I liked how the two of them were moral compasses for each other-- much needed in their society. It was sort of a typical adventure, but what made it magical and unique were the details of the strange society in which they lived.

I was also very glad that even the audio version had a copy of the message full of holes Lina found. I loved staring at it, trying to make sense of the words, trying to solve the puzzle before the characters. I was totally on Doon's side more than Lina's as far as interpretation, but it was interesting to see them try to figure it out together. If I hadn't had a copy to look at, the book wouldn't have been as interesting, that's for sure.

It ended a bit abruptly for me, but at least it answered all my immediate questions to my satisfaction. I really loved the city-- the setting and workings of the underground city lost/frozen in time was what I enjoyed most about the book. If the subsequent books veer too far from that, I don't know how much I'll enjoy them. But I'll certainly give book 2 a shot.