My Thoughts on Ember’s End by SD Smith
It was a conclusion to the series. There is no doubt about that. And, as I expected from a series of children’s books, it was a happy ending.
There are a lot of takeaways I had from this story, but my initial thought after closing the book was, “I’m not sure what I think about that ending.”
My children loved the final book start to finish.
Please do not mistake me, this book was just as well written as the other books and short stories in the Green Ember series. The character development was spot on, the actions and reactions of all of the characters were true to personalities (or so I thought.) I guess I just didn’t like book 4 as much as I enjoyed book 3.
But I will say this, I loved seeing how Smith allowed his characters to control the plot. I have read some books, and have attempted to write some others, where the main characters (both protagonists and antagonists) were forced by the author (or script writer/movie director) to act and react to situations in ways that go against the character’s personality. At no point in the series did I feel that way from Smith. His characters moved the plot while allowing me the reader to always feel like no matter how bad things get around me, there is always hope for a brighter future.
James Quinlan Meservy - Author 