Imagine a world without sun, without knowing a sun even exists.  Where all you know is the borders of your city, and you are told nothing else exists.  No telephone, computer, television, cars, trucks, or animals.  Ember is a city that doesn't even know it's underground -- until Lina and Doon find the long lost directions for the way out.  A traditional adventure tale with a science fiction twist, The City of Ember is engaging from the first page, and the sheer inventiveness of this other world kept me reading even when characters occasionally slipped into predictable behavior or the author fell into "telling" mode rather than "showing."

As for the audio production, listening to The City of Ember was both a delight and a torment.  A delight, because the reader did an excellent job, and the sound effects were evocative of the action.  A torment, because it took me hours longer to listen to it than it would have to read it.  I was so impatient to find out *what happened* I was wishing for a road trip to get to the end of the story!  I read the sequel, The People of Sparks, which returns to the theme of political corruption evident in Ember, but this time with the added twist of two groups of people pitted against each other.  Will the people be able to learn from the history of The Disaster, or will they repeat the mistakes made by their predecessors?  A gentle way to launch a discussion on the role of pacifism in conflict and the path to compromise, The People of Sparks does not disappoint as it continues the tale of Lina, Doon, and the inhabitants of Ember.