The Green Ember Series by S.D. Smith

Summary

The Green Ember series, which contains 4 books-The Green Ember Book I, Ember Falls Book II, Ember Rising Book III, and Ember’s End Book IV, are written by S.D. Smith. S.D. Smith also has written the Ember Archer series which follow a supporting character from The Green Ember series. S.D. Smith states on his social media platform that the stories originated from the time he spent with his young daughter on his front porch. He loved to tell fantastic tales for her. One day, the story became about a rabbit family caught up in an epic adventure. He said, “We never expected to see our stories rise and fight, but hope is worth fighting for, and these are stories anchored in hope.” While The Green Ember is not a Christian series, S.D. Smith is a believer.

Book 1: The Green Ember
The main characters in The Green Ember series are Heather and Picket Longtreader, brother and sister. The series begins with Heather and Picket living perfectly simple lives in Nickhollow, only to have their entire world turned upside down by attacking wolves. These wolves capture their parents and little brother and almost take Heather and Picket as well! However, these two young rabbits are wiser and quicker than ever they realized. They manage to escape the wolves and collide (quite literally) with their (unknown to them) uncle and his friend, Smalls. Their uncle Willfred introduces them to an entirely different world at Cloud Mountain and explains the REAL story of the Longtreader family. One that consists of traitors that led to the death of King Jupiter. Unfortunately, just as they are becoming accustomed to their new reality and the terrible history of their family, new traitors have alerted the wolves to the whereabouts of King Jupiter’s heir! Heather and Picket work to clear the Longtreader name and save King Jupiter’s heir.

Book 2: Ember Falls
Ember Falls picks up the scene after a terrible betrayal at Cloud Mountain. The young rabbits find themselves in a very perilous situation. They receive word that Pickett and Heather’s parents and brother are at a known location, but they were not there once Smalls and Pickett arrive. Then, they are attacked by birds of Morbin’s army. Kylen, the betrayer from Cloud Mountain, is with his father King Bleston, King Jupitor’s older brother. They take control of Halfwind Citadel where Heather, Pickett, Smalls, and Emma are training for war with Morbin Blackhawk. King Bleston is convinced he is the rightful heir and not Smalls.

Pickett continues to want to go and find his family, but Smalls and the other leaders think it is unwise. While it may save them, it could have bigger consequences and result in many more deaths. King Bleston convinces Pickett to go off and find his family. Smalls embarks on this journey for Pickett, but he is killed. It is revealed that Emma is actually Smalls’ sister, and she is now the new heir to the throne.

At the end of the book, Heather puts herself in place of Emma and turns herself into Morbin Blackhawk. The heir to the throne is saved, but Heather’s fate seems dire. The story ends with hearing a beautiful tune by a slave. Heather recognizes the tune and the voice. But could it actually be who she thinks it is?

Book 3: Ember Rising
Heather finds herself in enemy territory. She is reunited with her parents and brother Jacks. However, the reunion is not a completely happy one. Jacks has been brainwashed by Garten Longtreader, the original betrayer to King Jupiter, and also Heather and Pickett’s uncle. The first half or so of the book is really setting the stage for the action to come. We learn what the slaves have been doing in secret. We hear all about the ways they are able to maintain hope and work to restore freedom from Morbin Blackhawk. Heather joins the cause here as well.

Meanwhile, Pickett and Helmer, his mentor, are on their own adventure to resist evil and fight back. We meet so many new minor characters that add immensely to the story. Emma has taken her role as heiress very seriously and works to command the armies with humility and wisdom. Prince Kylen continues to be trouble throughout this story as his army of Terralain soldiers continue to work for Morbin.

The end of the story, we are to believe the worst of Heather’s fate. When her uncle throws her into a tomb, we are to believe she will die. When she reaches the bottom, she finds she is not alone in the tomb. And the story ends.

Book 4: Ember’s End
This is the fourth and final installment of The Green Ember series. We see the resistance work together to strategize the best plan of action against the enemies. Emma continues to lead the armies with wisdom. Without spoiling it, there are many plot twists throughout this book. S.D. Smith really wraps each individual plotline well. The various traitors are either defeated or ask forgiveness and change their ways to join the resistance. It appears the Mended Wood will never be, but through many twists and turns, we come to the end still clinging to hope.

Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Read Aloud Age: 7+

Mom Thoughts

The Green Ember appeared on my Instagram feed about a year ago, and I was instantly intrigued. A story about rabbits with swords fighting against wolves and hawks? I knew it was sure to engage my boys who love a good action story! I have to be honest, I was completely caught up in this tale from beginning to end. However, I am often easily caught up in beautifully crafted stories, so I had to slow down a bit and really process whether I thought this would be a good series for my children to read.

The first, and most obvious roadblock in this series would be the violence. Yes, this is a series about rabbits with swords fighting wolves and hawks who also have swords. There is death and lots of wounds occurring pretty frequently. However, the way S.D. Smith crafts these scenes so delicately, I do not have much concern for how the violence portrayed will affect my children any more than when we read through much of King David’s life in the Bible. No, I am not comparing The Green Ember to the Bible, but I am comparing the level of descriptive violence. To give you another perspective, my husband and I do not allow superhero shows or books because of the high level of violence and crude behaviors that are depicted, but we both love The Green Ember. However, if violence and weapons (swords) are something you want to keep from your kids, I would not recommend this series. Also, if your child is sensitive, I would suggest waiting until they are a bit older.

As I am a lover of vocabulary, I immediately wanted my children to enjoy this story. Smith uses such rich language on each page. As a former teacher, this stood out to me immediately. I am always trying to get my children to use “better” words to express themselves either in writing or verbally, and Smith’s stories are perfect examples of how using “better” words can really enrich a story. Reading these stories aloud to my children has been a treat. The amount of times we’ve used the dictionary has been unreal. Alexa has gotten quite a workout by looking up definitions for us.

As I stated in the summary, the author, S.D. Smith is a Christian, but The Green Ember is not a Christian series. There is no crude language. The stories have a common thread of hope. Hope for this new “Mended Wood” to come when the rabbits would be able to live peacefully together. Even when the situation is at its worst, Picket and Heather exude a peaceful atmosphere and continue to fight for what they know to be true.

The younger rabbits continuously show great respect to their elders. The elders are often consulted when making big decisions. There is a theme of mentorship throughout where older rabbits work with younger rabbits to train for their future professions. They choose each other and work closely together for the common good of the Mended Wood to be.

There was nothing of concern sexually throughout any of the books. You do come to realize Heather and Smalls are in love. They embrace and hug, but they do this after they decide they will be married to each other. They do end up marrying and having a family in the end. Weezie and Pickett are the same. They never do anything sexual, but you come to realize they love each other very much. They also end up married at the end.

The idea of prophecies and seers does exist throughout each book. There are certain seers who are able to predict what is going to happen. They are considered to be prophets. Since this is clearly a work of fiction, it did not concern me personally when choosing to read this series.

The Green Ember has turned our morning read-aloud time into an epic adventure. Each morning we travel along with Heather and Picket. We sit at the edge of our seats wondering what will happen next. My sons continue to remind me, “it’s ok mom, Heather has hope for the Mended Wood, she believes.” While it isn’t a perfect parallel to the Christian life, it has been able to open conversations about pain and suffering and where our hope is found: in Jesus Christ.

This review was written by contributor, Tricia. To learn more about Tricia, click HERE.