Review of The Green Ember Series by S. D. Smith

My younger brother seems to have inherited the book-loving genes just like I did, so he has an extensive library of fantasy and sci-fi on his bookshelves. Because I'm stuck at home for the forseeable future, I eventually ran out of books to read on my own shelves. While I waited for more books to arrive in the mail due to my tendency to shop online as a form of self-care, I thought it would be a good idea to dive into some of my brother's favorites. That was what led me to pick up The Green Ember.

I was instantly sucked into S. D. Smith's story of a pair of rabbits who are forced to discover their past and their destiny to right the wrongs in their family's history. They battle wolves and birds of prey in order to reinstate the king of the rabbits to rule over the Mended Wood, a utopia world that they believe will follow once King Jupiter's descendants reclaim their throne.

It has been a long time since I have been sucked into a series so quickly. I finished reading the first book the day I started it, and immediately picked up the second book to keep going. I couldn't get enough of Picket and Heather's adventures to bring about the Mended Wood. Putting down the last book left a huge hole in my heart that I don't know if I will ever recover from. I guess that means I need to reread the series again, or even read the four short companion books that add context and extra details to the story.

That being said, there are a few things that left me wanting more out of the story. I was so sad to not give the series a full five stars on the books's respective Goodreads pages, but even though there were a couple disappointments in the books, it is still a high-quality fantasy series that I hope to come back to again soon.

Be warned: This review contains spoilers!

Book I: The Green Ember

Like I said before, I finished this book the day I started it. I have never read action that was this heart-racing and fast-paced. I couldn't hardly breathe because things happened one right after the other in succession so perfectly. One moment, Heather and Picket were enjoying an innocent game of Starseek, and the next moment wolves are chasing them and hunting them down. It was exhilarating to read, and I was invested in the story right from the very first pages.

Smith tells the story in the third person, but he switches between perspectives quite frequently, mostly between Heather and Picket. While I'm usually wary of books that are written in this way, I think it the perspective switching worked perfectly, and it sets up the style for the rest of the books, where Picket and Heather inevitably get separated but must keep telling each of their stories. It worked so well that I didn't even notice it was happening until halfway through the book!

The Green Ember is the perfect beginning to the series, and so it receives a 5 out of 5 stars from me!

Book II: Ember Falls

I have to be honest and say that Ember Falls is probably my least favorite in the series. I still absolutely loved it, but looking back on the series as a whole, this book was almost forgettable. It almost felt like a filler book, or like it could have been split and divided between the book before and the book after. The story started out very slow, so it was difficult to get back into it at the beginning

Despite all that, I still very much enjoyed this book. There were several new plot points added, including Prince Bleston's appearance and the wrench it throws into their fight for the Mended Wood. There's also the news that Prince Smalls is supposedly dead, which wasn't something I saw coming at all. I like to take pride in being able to figure out what's going to happen in a story, but Smith's writing was completely unpredictable for me, and I love when a book can do that.

I loved this book, and it gave a lot more detail and background to Heather and Picket's story, even though it did feel like a filler book for me. While I wish I could give it a perfect score, I have to deduct one star for the slow beginning and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Book III: Ember Rising

I can easily and confidently say that Ember Rising is my favorite book in the series. It is full of all kinds of twists and turns and new, more perilous situations for Picket and Heather. First Heather gets transported to a slave city directly under the enemy's eye, then Picket attempts to storm the most fortified enemy city in the world. This book is full of so many new plot points and presents a completely new exciting level to the story.

One thing Smith does a lot throughout the series is make it seem as if a character has died in battle only for them to only sustain injuries that heal surprisingly quickly. Every time this happened, I would have to stop reading to mourn a beloved character before continuing to read only to find out in the very next chapter that they had survived. I lost count of how many times Picket or his mentor Helmer faced near-death experiences.

Everything that happens in this book is so exciting and exhilarating, which give me no choice but to give Ember Rising 5 out of 5 stars!

Book IV: Ember's End

What an end to such a fantastic series. My heart was racing during the last battle, which lasted almost half the book. While I didn't read this all in one day like the first book, I still devoured this book in two very short sittings. Smith truly pulled out all the stops on this final epic book, from Picket's fight against despair and hopelessness against so many enemies, to Heather and Smalls's almost deadly fight against restless cave-dwelling dragons.

The battle scenes really made this book great. The way Smith writes action and battles scenes is just flawless and so engrossing to read. However, I have just one complaint about this last book. I didn't like the ending. The whole series is named after the Green Ember, the gemstone that signifies King Jupiter's heir, but in the end, it's barely even mentioned. I so badly wanted to see the coronation of King Smalls when he is finally crowned with the Green Ember. It would have provided a strong and very well-deserved ending to the series. Instead, we get far too many pages about Picket's mundane life as a farmer, and Heather's equally mundane life as a mother. After the intense battle scenes, my mind and heart were both racing so fast, and the fifty ending pages all about farming were just too much. It was altogether unsatisfying, and I think an ending coronation scene would have worked much better.

Because the majority of this final book was so well done, I wish I could give it a perfect score. However, I have to dock one star for the ending and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overall, I give this series a solid 4.5/5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire reading experience, and I will definitely come back to this series at some point in the future!

Dear S. D. Smith: If you ever read this, and if you make it to the end, I have one question for you. How does Morbin hold his scythe? Does he hold it in his wings? Does he hold it in his talons? If he holds it in his talons, how does he pick up Picket in the final battle?