The Diamond of Darkhold: The Fourth Book of Ember (Books of Ember)
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
Average Rating: 4.0
List Price: $16.99
Offer Price: $10.11
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Product Description
Product Description
It’s been several months since Lina and Doon escaped the dying city of Ember and, along with the rest of their people, joined the town of Sparks. Now, struggling through the harsh winter aboveground, they find an unusual book. Torn up and missing most of its pages, it alludes to a mysterious device from before the Disaster, which they believe is still in Ember. Together, Lina and Doon must go back underground to retrieve what was lost and bring light to a dark world.
In the fourth Book of Ember, bestselling author Jeanne DuPrau juxtaposes yet another action-packed adventure with powerful themes about hope, learning, and the search for truth.
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Customer Reviews
An ok ending
Rating: 3 (2008-12-05)
City of Ember of People of Sparks, the first 2 books in this series were excellent. Prophet of Yonwood was a waste of time and had no business being in the middle of the series. The appears to be the final book in the Books of Ember.
Here we revist the City of Ember now empty of life. A book is found with pages missing that hints of something amazing for the people of Ember. Doon and Lina embark on an adventure to thier old city to discover just what this book is talking about. Upon arriving at Ember they find a family has taken refuge and is living there. When they finally escape the city and family a new discovery is taken with them. A diamond, but is it?
I enjoyed how this book hit on solar energy, how Lina and Doon have seemed to grow a bit. I was glad to have closure to the old City of Ember. However, the beginning of the book recaps everything as if you were just starting the series. Perhaps this is because after reading the terrible Prophet of Yonwood the author was worried the reader forgot all the good stuff from the first 2 books. I didn't care for the recaping. There are very stong morals in the ending of the book. And it felt as if it was for a younger reader than the first 2 books.
I'm also wondering what this alien twist is that was touched on in Prophet of Yonwood and the ending of this book. It really has no place in the story and doesn't seem like it should even be mentioned.
All in all it was a good end to the series. It could have been better, and it could have been worse (example Prophet of Yonwood). I recommed this series, excluding Propeht of Yonwood, to young and old readers alike.
rides the coattails of the Ember trilogy, but still has some of the same ol' magic
Rating: 4 (2008-11-24)
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.
Worthy follow-up
Rating: 4 (2008-11-23)
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.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Rating: 4 (2008-11-18)
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
A disappointing ending for two books that were on fire
Rating: 2 (2008-10-28)
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 its young audience. The first two books were so contemporary and edgy, but it 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. Instead of 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).