A really good book. It was an easy read but I did not want to put it down. I had to know what was going to happen to the citizens of Ember.It is very different from the normal Earth stories you read. There is a book 2 which i will most definitely buy! :) The movie was just as good as the book!

I picked this book up at my local library and loved it so much that I had to go out and buy the rest of the books at the bookstore because I couldn't wait for them at the library!

k, so, this booook was 1 of my favorite books ever! i have read the whole series now ans i have loved them all, if u get confused as y they are under ground, just keep reading, it will tell you everything in the people of sparks (next book) and the prophet of yonwood ( prequil)

The idea of a place like Ember is frightening. From the beginning of the book, the reader is aware of the physical seclusion and isolation of the city of Ember and its citizens. Seclusion from what, however, the reader does not know. The “Builders” of Ember manufactured the city a long time ago, but the reader doesn’t learn why until the end of the book by reading a journal left by one of the first citizens of Ember. The reader also learns immediately about the important instructions the “Builders” have left for when the city expires, that is, the calculated amount of time when Ember’s citizens are supposed to exit the city. This is because of the calculation of when supplies will run out and also how long it will take for the “new world” to be safe. Through the adventures of the books two main characters, Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet, “The City of Ember” is a prelude to something more. It details the discovery of the accidentally lost instructions and how two 12 year olds put the pieces back together to find out how to exit the city and hopefully save the people they know and love, as planned out by their ancestors. This book also addresses issues of conservation, minimalistic living, and is very much about appreciating the abundance that the world we live in has to offer. This book also ended on a great note, leaving the reader wanting answers but not feeling unsatisfied. While the writing and dialogue is simple, it doesn’t lack good storytelling. This book may have been better if written for an older audience, but is entertaining nonetheless.

It's certainly a very different world. Ember is a dying city where blackouts happen frequently and no one has ever ventured into "Unknown Regions" because it's all darkness and there's no such thing as portable light. It's hard to describe the city but it's one where everything seems to be recycled. Even scrap wood parts and pieces of yarn because they have a limited amount of supplies and it's dwindling fast (pencil crayons go for premium here!). It's certainly hard to imagine a city such as this where they don't even know what candles are (you'll see if you read this book).

There's a lot of mystery and unanswered questions, naturally as this is the first book. However I think it's a great buildup of action and intrigue that makes it a great fast read. It's certainly a quick one, as I started last Sunday and haven't picked it up until today and finished it all. It certainly was interesting enough to go through an entire evening reading. I think it's because the setting is different and there's enough plot to keep your interested. The characters are likable enough as the two main ones (Lina and Doon are very outspoken and individualistic which makes them stand out from the rest of them). I think it's rather nice to just have two central characters in this book, too many would have ruined it and would have made things all muddle and confusing.

Be sure to pick this book up if you're into something different!

The city of Ember is a one of kind book. First of the topic: they live underground and the world has ended on the surface world...how COOL! Soo anyways the books starts off on constuction day, where the 2 builders are discussing the City's future. They decide to leave instuctions in a time lock which will automatically open in 220 years. In the lock are instructions on how to exit the city. Each mayor has to keep it it a secret and pass it down to the next mayor, but when the seventh mayor tries to open it, he dies and the lock is left hidden in a closet for 240 years.
It is Graduation day in the city of Ember, and the kids have to pick out jobs, Lina pulls out the job as pipeworks labourer and Doon picks out the job as messenger. Doon trades with Lina, because in the pipeworks is the generator, and Doon has some ideas on how to fix it. When Lina finds a piece of paper with strange clues she decides it could be important. Doon and Lina discover that the paper is instuctions on how to exit the City. While figuring this out they discover the Mayor has been keeping supplies for himself. They tell the people but are wanted for "spreading viciuos rumors". Before they leave the city Lina takes her little sister Poppy with them. They leave on a boat by the river and discover the surface world. They discover that Ember was underground all along. Lina and Doon write a note and send a note with the instructions on how to leave the city with a rock. Down at Ember Ms.Murdo finds the note.....
It's the perfect debut for the books of Ember :]

This heart warming tale kept me wanting more! It's a great book indeed! I personally suggest renting the movie first, for the book is a little harder to follow, but the book is way better than the movie in many ways! For example, the book goes much more in-depth at times, and let's you image the characters rather than having a pre-selected image. In comparison to other books it is definitely one to buy! It's science fiction that would interest everybody. Unlike most science fiction, in which is extremely out there, this book stays down to earth, keeping all logic still there, and only adding somewhat unrealistic concepts on the rare occasions.

In regards to the over all plot, the story is very original! I've never seen a book with such an interesting concept! There are similar books I've read, in the sense that it is a race against time to save the human race, but this is the first time I've seen the problem being on shortages of items needed to live and not about monsters trying to kill!

In conclusion, I highly suggest this book! I think it deserves a full 5 star rating! I, indeed, LOVED this book! Thanks for reading, and I hope that you enjoy the book as much as I did if you ever read it!

I reread the book and this time payed very close atention to the words. I found I got much more out of the book this time. So if you decide to read it make sure you take your time.

I enjoyed the book throughly. It had a very good plotline. Tho very interesting it was quite perdictanble. I had read the second book before I read this so I had an idea of what was going to happen. I found this book to be a bit more childish than the second. I would recomend it to people from the ages of 8-12. ( But I'm not a book cridict I'm just a person who enjoyed the book).

This was an amazing book about some cool kids in a genesis society. I really enjoyed it because it is an amazing story about mystery and poverty and pain. But also happiness, triumph, and valor. But I would not reccomend the movie because it is absolutely foolish, and does the book no justice. This is a great book, though, and I highly reccomend it.

The City of Ember has a good plotline, and was written quite well, and I found it to be enjoyable. But I did find the story to be more for a younger group of people, and that the majority of the story was quite predictable, although the story still had some curveballs to throw the reader off. If you have a child or a young relative or friend, I suggest this book as a gift. I think the book does not do well to make it appear as a good book, despite the great characters. I think a passage of the writing on the back cover would make more people pick it up. Overall, this book was quite good.

this was an ammazing book!!! i jsut recently watched the movie and it did no justice whast so ever. i eman tehy didn't even get the ending right. so if you;ve watched the movie and have'nt read the book i suggest the book cause its a million tiems better :)

Doon and Lina have just graduated from their final year of school at the age of 12, and consequently experience the right of passage bestowed upon all the people of Ember at this stage; Assignment Day. They receive their jobs from the mayor and set out to do their civic duties as many others before them, but when Lina stumbles across a message that appears to be from 'the Builders,' creators of the City of Ember, it is clear that theirs is a much more burdened fate.

The City of Ember is a fascinating tale of a dystopian society, where a young boy and girl in all of their bravery and desperation, work together to try and save their beloved people from a looming eternal darkness. This being the first Book of Ember in a series that currently consists of four, all questions were not answered by its completion, but I look forward to moving on to the second book and unravelling more of the saga.

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This was so good! It may not look very good and if my English teacher hadn't made us read it....I would have never read it. The cover is so dull and the description on the back wasn't that capturing. But the book was just amazing! I love the characters, Doon and Lina and the setting in Ember. Some parts of the book was sort of predictable and some parts just came like...BOOM! I had no idea it was coming. My favourite part was when Doon and Lina was decoding the letter on chapter thirteen. It was so cool and I was decoding some of the message myself and guessed sometimes very similar to what Lina or Doon guessed, and sometimes I was way off. But if you ever have no book to read or you're bored, READ THIS BOOK! You will not regret it for sure!!

In the city of Ember,the people have always thought their city was the only light in the world. There's a boy and girl called Lina and Doon. As the lights of the city begin to flicker on and off,everyone becomes desperate. Later in the book,Lina finds a piece of paper with holes that seems to be the only way out of the city.Doon and Lina then works hard to decipher it. But as they plan to announce it to everyone,some unexpecting things happens......

Doon and Lina, start working at the age of twelve...All the kids start working at that age in the city of Ember. They were once great friends but not anymore until Lina finds something she thinks is important to save the city of Ember from dying out quickly. They have to work together to decipher the mysterious words...Will Ember die off so easily? This book will take you on a magical and wondrous journey and tell you all about life worth consuming anything...nothing is wasted.

The cool thing about this book is that as readers if we read the blurb about the book we pretty much know that these people are living in a city underground but the characters in the book don't know that! Ember has been around for over 200 years so the people alive today don't know anything different. The sky is black all the time. You only know it's day time when the clock strikes 6 am and the lights get turned on. But Ember is starting to run out of things - food, pencils, even lightbulbs!! The story follows two 12 year olds - Lina (girl) and Doon (boy) (and they each get their own chapters so boys and girls would enjoy it) as they try to help Ember. Lina finds a secret message and they set out on a gigantic adventure. And we the reader learn a little bit more about their lifestyle every step of the way. It is a fabulous book and I can't wait to read the next one.

i thought it was a good book!

This book is a very well written book. It has an original concept and has a lot of events leading up to the concluson. The author does a great job making the book like a ladder and each rung has a seperate event. I would recomend this book to anyone that is in grade 4 or higher.

Even if you don't find the cover attractive, unlike me, don't hesitate to pick it up from the shelf.
This is an absolutely amazing book. The characters are interesting, and it is written in a very new way, descriptive but simple.