The City of Ember

What a great little book! I've been meaning to blog about it ever since we got back from NYC. This book is meant for the YA audience, so it was the perfect thing to take on a trip. Call me shallow, but I find it hard to concentrate on meatier stuff when I'm enduring the discomforts of a plane ride. This book was the perfect combination of interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking without being too dense.

The City of Ember (no I'm not getting Amazon kick-backs) is the story of a small underground city lit by electric lights, but otherwise lost in a void of blackness. The city is meant to be a comfortable refuge for its people, but it soon becomes clear that life is getting harder and harder as the years go by. The primary means of support for the city is the massive generator and the huge stockpile of canned food and other essentials. Little by little the generator is giving out and the supplies are being depleted. People try to get by through recycling, repairing, and reusing everything, but this becomes more and more difficult. Most frightening of all are the sudden blackouts that occur when the generator fails. The people desperately try to repair the crumbling city, but it soon becomes clear to some that it cannot be fixed. The search for the origin of the city and a way to save its people is on.

This book is, by no means, perfect. The embedded puzzle is a bit silly, and you do have to wonder why the people are so good at some things while being so incredibly stupid about others. The villains are pretty weak as well (in fact I think she should have left out the villains all together and made time and darkness the only enemies). However, the over all story is quite well worth the read. Especially if you are planning on a few hours in an airplane seat.