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71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lightning strikes again, August 18, 2004
Although this is a very different book than The City of Ember, it is a perfect sequel, and not disappointing in the least. While The City of Ember may have been more inventive, in terms of an underground city that was on its last leg, this is infinitely more profound.
It's still inventive, though. A terrible Disaster has befallen the Earth, and the Emberites learn that they were sent to live below the Earth, in the event that the Disaster did, in fact, occur, and so that one day they could return to the surface and repopulate the world. If that isn't a terrific idea, I'm not sure what is.
The Emberites luckily find themselves in one of the more prosperous towns. As most in the town of Sparks are good and decent people, they agree to feed these strange newcomers for a certain amount of time, and while doing so teach them basic survival skills. As one can imagine, no Emberite possesses the skills to survive on the surface. All they knew was Ember, and the simple rules that governed survival in that city.
Sparks has its own governing rules, and Ms. DuPrau really shows a deft hand at creating intriguing cultures. It's obvious that she gave considerable thought to a post-apocalyptic world, and her vision of it is refreshing and true.
Sadly, greed raises its ugly head, on both sides, and the cultures have a terrible clash. But an important lesson is learned. It may seem trite to some, but it really is a powerful message. Paraphrased, it goes something like this: If someone does something mean to you, instead of doing something mean in return, try and do something good for them. The opportunity for such a deed presents itself, and we see this good faith effort in action. If I say more, it will be too revealing.
The ending of the book caused odd salty drops to fall from my eyes, because it brought the entire sequence full circle. The Emberites, we see, had something to teach the people of Sparks - and perhaps the whole world. Together, they are stronger than they are apart.
It's a heartwarming and beautiful story. I look forward to her next book with immense anticipation.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Spark of Inspiration!, June 28, 2004
EMBER was a gripping novel. As soon as I finished it, I emailed the author begging to know what happened next. She wasn't telling, of course. "You'll have to wait for the sequel," she said. Man, was it worth the wait. I rarely tell people that they have to buy a book, that they must not let another week go by without reading a particular title. Literature is very subjective, after all. What I love, another reader may find uninspiring. SPARKS is an exception to this. Three chapters in, I was literally teary-eyed at the lyricism of Duprau's writing. Six chapters in, I couldn't put it down. I lost SLEEP to finish this book - my ultimate testament to a really good read. THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS is a post-apocolyptic view of the world, after wars, plague and famine have wiped out most of the human race and the few people left are struggling for survival. In the first book, THE CITY OF EMBER, the City Builders have constructed a small city deep underground and stocked it with supplies in vast storerooms, then sent 100 couples with two children each to live there. The Builders know the wars, etc. are coming, and this is how they will save us all. After 200 years, the city infrastructure is crumbling and the city leaders are corrupt, supplies are running out, and the massive generator that keeps the lights on is failing, about to doom the Emberites to permanent darkness, but two young people find the way out, the way to the surface. This leads us to book two in the series. The kids have dropped a message back down to the people of Ember telling them the way out, but will anyone come? They do. And they inundate a small settlement, falling on the mercy of the people who live there, a bedraggled lot, starving, exhausted, unable to move on, and without the skills to be useful members of the new community, the tiny village of Sparks. The Emberites have never seen trees, you see, or birds, or large fields of cabbages, or adobe houses, and fire is a terrifying thing. What ensues is a fantastic story of generosity, deprivation, jealousy, and violence that may lead to the destruction of both communities. The lesson: there are no winners in war, and making peace means taking giant risks. This book has been haunting me for the two days since I finished reading it. If there were a world-wide cataclysmic event, who would survive? Would anyone? Will we ever learn that war only leads to war, violence only to more violence? Can we do something that will take us off the course of self-destruction? Is there hope for the human race? Buy this book. Buy a copy for your local library. Buy a class set and donate it to your kids' school. It's that good.(...)
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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy successor to City of Ember, July 27, 2004
'The People of Sparks' is an excellent sequel to 'City of Ember' although the setting is not quite as original. Jeanne DuPrau deftly avoids the trap that many new authors fall into of trying to replicate the format that succeeded in the first book. While 'The People of Sparks' presents a more familiar setting than 'City of Ember', she still manages to paint a landscape unlike any we know.
If the author had stayed with that and limited herself to showing us her vision of a post-apocalyptic world then I would have been disappointed. As it is she gives us a whole new story. What would happen if a village of 300 mostly good people find themselves faced with the challenge of taking care of 400 starving refugees without the skills and resources to fend for themselves? Tensions would build as resources dwindle and us/them divisions would be sure to arise. Is this a small-scale version of the same conflicts that brought about the global cataclysm of the misty past? It's a good story and the reader might just finish it a little wiser.
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