Jeanne DuPrau weaves an intricate story of the events leaading up to the City of Ember. She drops clues along the way, and then neatly tidies them up at the end. You might get anxious to come to the ending, but just enjoy the events as they unfold! Her main character Nickie is endearing, and you will feel her struggles as she tries to make sense of the troubling times plaguing the people of Yonwood, and the country as well. Mysteries abound, what secret government project is her father working on?, what's up with Mr. Hoyt and the strange lights coming from his house?, is God really speaking through Althea Towers?, and is Mrs. Beeson able to iinterpret these strange utterances? If you enjoyed the first two, this one won't disappoint you! If you go to the author's website she hints that there is a 4th book afoot!

this may not have much to do with the other books but it does help explain how the city of ember was started. I wish this were the first book

I wasn't at all annoyed by the fact it had nothing to do with the series. It was a great prequel!

I really enjoyed this book!!!

ARG!!!! I was incredibly annoyed by the fact that this book has absolutely nothing to do with the first two books. NOTHING! If the author wanted to write some sort of pre-apocalyptic novel, she should have done so after she wrapped up everything about the people from Ember. The entire time I was reading, I kept waiting for something to be about Ember. It was also poorly written compared to the first two, and was a rotten way to end a promising trilogy.

Many fans of this series of books probably cried after finishing this book. No, it is not because of an emotional ending or something like that, but it would have been for this sad excuse for a good book. The book, hmm..., how can i put this nicely?, stunk. I can't even begin to tell you how lame the opening was. This book has absolutely no connection to the other two. P.S. The second book, The People of Sparks, if the best book of the series by far.