The People of Sparks (City of Ember Book 2)

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Lina and Doon are returning to the city of Ember, but what awaits them in the dark? This highly acclaimed adventure series is a modern-day classic—with over 4 MILLION copies sold! It’s strangely fitting then that his own art department has taken over in here, setting up some concept art from the film, to give some context to the set we’ve just seen. Rich, Katey. " City of Ember". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013 . Retrieved September 8, 2013. Seeing how I have known the story of the first Ember book for so long, I was a little nervous about whether or not I'd like the rest of the series now that I'm finally getting around to them. Thankfully, I did enjoy this second book. It was interesting to see these people who have lived underground for generations (and didn't even know they were underground) come to the surface and discover what it's like to have a blue sky, moving air, and changes in seasons. I especially enjoyed Lina and Doon's sense of wonder at things we in real life see as mundane. It had to be hard for the author to find ways to describe everyday objects from the perspective of people who have never seen them before without just taking the easy road and telling the reader what it was. She pulled it off well. I also appreciate that, for once, the Goodreads synopsis did not spoil the story, especially the fact that the people of Ember discover other humans above ground who actually survived the Disaster. This was a fun twist because it was not what I thought would happen.

This book did a really good job of capturing the tensions involved in a refugee situation, especially one where there aren't enough resources to go around -- a better job, I think, than most adult books on the topic. The tensions were clearly presented, and the emotions were well shaded and realistic. While the book did slide a bit towards having people turn out to be "good guys" and "bad guys," I think it's not any more so than any political discussion; I'm sure most readers hate certain actual political figures more than they would hate any person in this book. And this book is, in its sneaky way, about the difficulty and rewards of politics. You wouldn't want to," said Maddy. "That's what makes it hard. you do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.” The plot in this story is interesting. While still continuing with some aspects of the first book, different problems arise, and along with that comes a variety of different characters, who influence the main characters in different ways. But how could you?" said Lina. "When people have been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?" This is a sequel to New York Times bestselling dystopian The City of Ember. The first book, Ember, was a story of setting and plot, while Sparks is a story of characters and relationships. The author has done good job of capturing the tensions involved in a refugee situation, especially one where there aren't enough resources to go around--a better job, I think, than most adult books on the topic.Along with the twist I mentioned above, there were one or two other twists that I didn't expect but enjoyed. I can be pretty good at guessing story twists ahead of time so when I don't guess one that's fun for me. The water wheel will be CGI, we’ve just created our own little one, but the distance on film will be much greater than our actual stage will allow. This will be one of the last things we shoot. There will be real water; it will be about three feet high. As the water level rises they make their way up to the highest level and then they’ve [Lina, Doon and Poppy] got nothing else to do but get in their boat and take it. So that’s going to be a lot of fun.”

It's interesting/worthwhile to have a children's adventure (even if its a dull-adventure) book deal with corrupt government (C.o.E.), an amorphic Disaster, war and peace, and, to a degree, socialism... The apartment itself also has the one thing no other building in the city has; a functional roof. A scene later in the film, which second unit will be shooting part of later today when Saoirse and Harry trade places, calls for Doon to climb out of the apartment onto the ledge of the roof to get away from the city guards. Which is why the entire set is still dressed and covered with warning signs, which doesn’t stop Gil at all from showing us Loris’ breakfast machine, “something I’m unnecessarily proud of. It’s one of the contraptions that Doon’s father has built, an automatic can opening breakfast machine which I believe every good family film needs to have. So I’m perpetuating a long standing rich movie tradition of breakfast machines and I’m really, really proud of this one because it totally works. It’s amazing. It went from a sketch in my sketch book into a completely non-working, working model in a matter of weeks because we’ve got some brilliant, brilliant physical effects dudes working on this film.” At this point, Lina decides to help the people of Sparks fight the fire. As this happens, Doon sees that Torren is trapped in the burning tree by the building and saves him before he catches fire. These acts cause most of the people of Ember to gradually join the firefighting efforts, until the fire is extinguished. The City of Ember is alone in the world. Light bulbs provide the only source of light. But the city is starting to wear out and supplies are running low. Lina and Doon, 12-year-old recent graduates of school, are the only ones willing and able to solve the problem.Many readers have noticed the odd references in this book about religion. Side characters are heard wondering if there is a great Being watching over them and saying maybe or maybe not. Doon also wonders where life comes from and knows it’s a power greater than the Builders. The Believers are a group of people that aren’t in the book very much but do have the most “beliefs” of anyone. They claim to have seen the Builders coming again to “show them the way” in a dream. Now of course, in the story Lina and Doon save the day and the Builders are nowhere to be seen which is a great case for humanism, isn’t it? Except...the Builders did save them. Who wrote the instructions? Left the boats? The candles? And later in the series a few more surprises? I think it’s positing an interaction between their own efforts and what has been provided for them. It’s really not a huge theme of the book, but I would recommend some parental guidance for younger readers who are not strong in what they believe.