A Disappointing Prequel
The Prophet of Yonwood (Book of Ember)
by Jeanne DuPrau
I was thrilled when I realized that there was a third book of Ember out since I loved the first two in this series, The City of Ember, and The People of Sparks. I’d say they fit best into the genres of sci-fi and young adult literature. I love young adult lit, but I don’t usually like sci-fi. Ember, however, had certain elements to it that were very reminiscent of Lois Lowry’s classic The Giver and I was hooked immediately. Sparks was a brilliant follow up.
The first two books basically follow a future civilization of people living underground, except they don’t know they are underground because they don’t know that anything even *exists* except underground. But as the story progresses, we learn more and more about where these people are, why they’re there, and so on.
So, obviously I was excited about the third book, and especially so because it is actually a prequel to the first two books. And I was so disappointed. The whole book felt like one big fake out with too many storylines that just never went anywhere worthwhile. What was the point of Hoyt McCoy? He had the potential to be a brilliant character but we never really got his story. And the grandfather’s journal? It was almost like DuPrau was setting up another prequel that would be pointless after this.
The Prophet of Yonwood essentially tells the story that precedes the one I really wanted to read. The story I wanted to read is summarized in an awkward tacked on ending. It feels like DuPrau was trying to be creative by not telling the story of the events immediately preceding Ember but she only defeated herself and betrayed her truly creative and fresh writing of the first two books. Instead we get a story that, standing alone is decent enough, but compared to what her readers have come to expect, is predictable and heavy handed with its all too obvious parallels to the issues of modern society.
Having said that, I do look forward to reading more of DuPrau’s future works, but I think it is time to let go of Ember and pick a new story line. Are there any other Ember fans out there who want to weigh in on this? I know a couple other people who felt the same way I do but I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to tell me what you thought!
I think the prophet of yonwood is not what we’d come to expect from DuPrau, but letting go of Ember would be too much. she just has to rethink how she tells the story.