The Diamond of Darkhold

by Jeanne DuPrau
PRMS hardcover 285 pages

For the most part, I really enjoyed this fourth installment in the Ember series. Doon and Lina head off to Ember to see if they can get at any supplies that will help them stave off starvation in Sparks. Adventure, danger, mystery - there's a little of everything.

I'm baffled by the ending, though. Other than the requisite happy-ever-after, the author's tie-in to Yonwood left me confused. It doesn't help that book three felt like a disconnected pre-prequel to me. I should go online and play detective. Or maybe I'll ask kids who've read it what they think the ending was about. The connection feels tenuous to me, but I'm glad that Doon's and Lina's story resolved.

 

<Above posted 11.10.2009. Below added 1.28.2025.>

 

Libby audiobook / read by Katherine Kellgren

Libby eBook 

 

I listened to this book to "finish" the series. I don't plan to re-read the prequel . . . I vaguely remember disliking it and feeling that it didn't set up the City of Ember trilogy very well. (Also, why is Book 3 the prequel and Book 4 the storyline that follows Book 2?)

 

After I had listened to almost half of this, I had to get an ecopy to finish reading. Why? 

 

Because the part where Doon was forced to help Trogg and his family find things in the deserted city made me so frustrated. I understand that for people who can't read, books just seem like handy fuel for fires. But to smash things and trash rooms is so very short-sighted. You're already living in a post-disaster world where resources are scarce. Why wouldn't you be careful in case something is needed in the future? 

 

Chapter 16: "He's old, and it's hard to be happy when you're old."

 

Maggs answers Lina's comment about the horse Happy not looking very happy with this comment after saying "he used to be happy." Ouch! I want to grow old AND be joyful.

Chapter  26: "Edward became known to the roamers in the area as someone who would buy books of almost any kind. After a roamer's visit, the library was sometimes actually crowded with people stopping in to see what was new."

Yay for libraries and the people who curate them!

Chapter 27: "'You know, son, I don't think there's such a thing as an easy life. There's always going to be hard work, and there will always be misfortunes we can't control lurking out at the edges - storms, sickness, wolves. But there is such a thing as a good life, and I think we have one here.'"

I really liked Doon's father, Loris Harrow, and wished he'd been a more prominent character throughout the stories.