After a wolf raid steals their parents and baby brother, Heather and Picket go into hiding. They learn about the fall of the king and the rabbits waiting for the heir to drive out their enemies. The siblings are caught in adventure and hardship as they strive to help the true heir conquer the wolves and Lords of Prey. |
Series format: chronically
Green Ember: After wolves kidnapped their family, Heather and Picket are rescued by their uncle and taken to Cloud Mountain to hide.
Ember Falls: A challenger to the throne betrays the true heir.
Ember Rising: Both Heather and Picket find themselves behind enemy lines and resist the Lords of Prey.
Ember’s End: The final confrontation between the rabbits and the wolves and Lords of Prey.
Positive elements
Heather and Picket care for each other and their missing family. Several characters sacrifice themselves to protect loved ones. Loyalty, duty, and honor are esteemed, while they shame traitors.
Picket commits several mistakes, but instead of making excuses, acknowledges his folly.
The royal rabbits show servant-leadership.
The story shows a clear good vs evil, and while our villains have broken moral compasses, our heroes see clearly.
Character growth
Picket: Picket fears heights and cannot act in the face of danger. His love for his future king drives him to action. By the end, Picket is flying into combat with his glider.
Heather: Heather starts as a shy girl too afraid to share her writings. She gathers courage and becomes a key player for the cause, her stories inspiring loyalty.
Helmer: Helmer is a gruff man drowning in grief. He tells rabbits they have no chance of winning. By the end, his hope is renewed, and he gives all for the cause.
Authority structure
A foreign group of rabbits says, “all are free, and all are equal. All are kings and queens, if only they will grab it.” When asked why he rules, he says, “I am a bit more than a king. I am a kingmaker.” (Got an ‘animal farm’ feeling from that answer.)
In enemy occupied territory, the government runs like a communist regime: children are indoctrinated and encouraged to report on their parents. Monuments are repurposed. Banners and holidays celebrate the bird’s rule. Subjects wear outward signs of submission.When the rebels act, the birds inflect corporal punishment, often targeting children.
The king chooses the heir and may not be the eldest son.
Themes: Longing for a better world
The great king has fallen. Wolves roam unchecked. Lords of Prey keep rabbits as slaves. Everyone has lost a family member during the After Terrors. But they wait for the heir to rise, drive out the evil, and restore rabbit kind. They call this restored state “The Mended Wood,” often comforting each other after a hardship by saying “it will not be so in the mended wood.” Citadels focus on living like the Mended Wood has already come.
Religious/spiritual
The rabbit forefather and foremother are “holy ancestors, touched by divinity.”
Heather has dreams that show her glimpses of the future. An advisor claims to see the future, though it is unclear if he actually can.
A brotherhood wears a monk-like robes and their order revolves around the “old ways.”
The leader of a resistance group is called “the Tunneler and the Truth.”
Family structure/gender roles
The family unit is a father and mother raising their children.
Traditional gender-roles: men are kings, lords, and soldiers. Women are medics, nurturing, and informants. However, women serve as backups if the men fail: A princess becomes crown heir after her brother is slain. A daughter learns to fight in case the wolves break through.
The happily ever-after includes most of the main characters marrying and having children. Several characters build a veteran home and search for adoptive parents for orphans (one couple takes in fifteen children.)
The queen teases a friend about finding a husband, but the friend replies, “I don’t need to be married to have meaning…I am happy in my calling.”
Romance/sexual content
Both of our main characters have crushes that they eventually marry, but most of the romantic courting happens ‘off camera’ due to a time jump. Two engaged rabbits kiss.
One villain fell in love with a young lady, but she married his brother instead. Her refusal sent him straight to the enemy, he claims. He blames her for his evil deeds.
Instead of saying “before I was born,” the rabbits also say “before I was breached.”
Drugs/alcohol
Picket savors an emotion, “rolling it around in his mouth like a fine wine.” For a wedding, the king brews a flower-infused blue wine.
The medics use ointments and tonics.
Crude Language
“Sourpuss” (the printed book says, “sour grape” but the audio book has “sourpuss.”)
“Bird bait,” or “bird food,” or “one-armed geezer,” appear.
“By the leapers” is used (the Leapers are the rabbits’ ancestors.)
Violence
A LOOOOOTTTTT of rabbits die: whole units are wiped out. Most of the lords die in combat. Many death descriptions only include “he would never rise again” or “he was cut down.”
Wolves chase a rabbit and shoot arrows at her. One cuts her ear. A rabbit claws at the rock until “his fingernails bleed.” Picket receives bruises and cuts after training with his mentor. Wounded rabbits bleed and blood stains their fur or are “badly injured.” Arrows hit arms or legs. A hawk slices a rabbit’s back.
The description of the violence increases as the series progresses.
Medics stitch injures mid-battle, and one ties a tourniquet around a “mangled arm.” Two rabbits are impaled with mortal wounds. A nurse studies an old wound that has “gone septic.” After Heather is punched, “she tastes blood in her mouth.” A dragon claims they “break rabbit’s necks for sport and feed on rabbit young.” A wolf “tears apart” two advancing rabbits. Picket stabs the alfa wolf in the neck, killing him.
The rabbits invent weapons of war. Explosions sends shrapnel and flames into the wolf ranks, one catching several birds on fire. A blast-arrow hits a raptor-lord who comes “apart in an eruption.” Archers kill birds with arrows through the head, throat, or heart.
Several characters loose body-parts: talons are sliced off, eyes destroyed or stabbed, and a dragon is beheaded. A soldier has his arm cut off and several falling rabbits are slashed with a scythe.
Some killing descriptions require interpretation: “He fell dead with two thuds,” or “he cleaved the raptor so that the bird fell into the flood, both on the port and starboard side.”
Non-real creatures/magic
The rabbits, birds, and wolves act like humans: building cities, wearing clothes, etc.
The rabbits use a flower with incredible healing properties. Several weapons are made from strong metal that came from a meteor.
Dragons appear in the last book.
The princess is called “the scarlet witch” as an insult (she’s not a witch).
Other negative elements
A captain is forced to watch the men he trained executed. He’s then chained to a tree, given his sword, and told that if he wants to save his king from the trap, he must cut his arm off. He chooses to do nothing, reasoning he can’t save the king even if he were free, but his decision haunts him.
The Lords of Prey had no regard for bunny life and enjoy eating rabbit children for their feasts. The bird king’s lair “smelled of bones and blood.” A statue depicts a Lord of Prey crushing rabbit skulls under his talons. An evil lord burns Heather’s arm with a red-hot iron.
The king was betrayed by an ambassador. Several rabbit soldiers are plants for the enemy. A morally compromised rabbit gloats over the death of rabbit families.
Several characters host scars: a wolf with a scar instead of an eye. A lord with a bad arm. A soldier with a missing leg. Scarred and disfigured faces. One wears a mask to hide his scars.
A youngster says his medicine tastes like “dirt puddle and trash.” A nurse threatens that if they don’t clean a wound, the soldier’s arm will rot off. Two rabbits return from burial duty, looking grim.
Writing quality
The first book needed another editing session: a lot of telling and redundant sentences. The quality improves with each book. I loved how the battle tension ebbed and flowed during the last book and the series ended satisfactorily.
Final thoughts
The final two books are my favorite, and I love his concept of the “Mended Wood” as we wait for our king to come and restore all things.
Green Ember: After wolves kidnapped their family, Heather and Picket are rescued by their uncle and taken to Cloud Mountain to hide.
Ember Falls: A challenger to the throne betrays the true heir.
Ember Rising: Both Heather and Picket find themselves behind enemy lines and resist the Lords of Prey.
Ember’s End: The final confrontation between the rabbits and the wolves and Lords of Prey.
Positive elements
Heather and Picket care for each other and their missing family. Several characters sacrifice themselves to protect loved ones. Loyalty, duty, and honor are esteemed, while they shame traitors.
Picket commits several mistakes, but instead of making excuses, acknowledges his folly.
The royal rabbits show servant-leadership.
The story shows a clear good vs evil, and while our villains have broken moral compasses, our heroes see clearly.
Character growth
Picket: Picket fears heights and cannot act in the face of danger. His love for his future king drives him to action. By the end, Picket is flying into combat with his glider.
Heather: Heather starts as a shy girl too afraid to share her writings. She gathers courage and becomes a key player for the cause, her stories inspiring loyalty.
Helmer: Helmer is a gruff man drowning in grief. He tells rabbits they have no chance of winning. By the end, his hope is renewed, and he gives all for the cause.
Authority structure
A foreign group of rabbits says, “all are free, and all are equal. All are kings and queens, if only they will grab it.” When asked why he rules, he says, “I am a bit more than a king. I am a kingmaker.” (Got an ‘animal farm’ feeling from that answer.)
In enemy occupied territory, the government runs like a communist regime: children are indoctrinated and encouraged to report on their parents. Monuments are repurposed. Banners and holidays celebrate the bird’s rule. Subjects wear outward signs of submission.When the rebels act, the birds inflect corporal punishment, often targeting children.
The king chooses the heir and may not be the eldest son.
Themes: Longing for a better world
The great king has fallen. Wolves roam unchecked. Lords of Prey keep rabbits as slaves. Everyone has lost a family member during the After Terrors. But they wait for the heir to rise, drive out the evil, and restore rabbit kind. They call this restored state “The Mended Wood,” often comforting each other after a hardship by saying “it will not be so in the mended wood.” Citadels focus on living like the Mended Wood has already come.
Religious/spiritual
The rabbit forefather and foremother are “holy ancestors, touched by divinity.”
Heather has dreams that show her glimpses of the future. An advisor claims to see the future, though it is unclear if he actually can.
A brotherhood wears a monk-like robes and their order revolves around the “old ways.”
The leader of a resistance group is called “the Tunneler and the Truth.”
Family structure/gender roles
The family unit is a father and mother raising their children.
Traditional gender-roles: men are kings, lords, and soldiers. Women are medics, nurturing, and informants. However, women serve as backups if the men fail: A princess becomes crown heir after her brother is slain. A daughter learns to fight in case the wolves break through.
The happily ever-after includes most of the main characters marrying and having children. Several characters build a veteran home and search for adoptive parents for orphans (one couple takes in fifteen children.)
The queen teases a friend about finding a husband, but the friend replies, “I don’t need to be married to have meaning…I am happy in my calling.”
Romance/sexual content
Both of our main characters have crushes that they eventually marry, but most of the romantic courting happens ‘off camera’ due to a time jump. Two engaged rabbits kiss.
One villain fell in love with a young lady, but she married his brother instead. Her refusal sent him straight to the enemy, he claims. He blames her for his evil deeds.
Instead of saying “before I was born,” the rabbits also say “before I was breached.”
Drugs/alcohol
Picket savors an emotion, “rolling it around in his mouth like a fine wine.” For a wedding, the king brews a flower-infused blue wine.
The medics use ointments and tonics.
Crude Language
“Sourpuss” (the printed book says, “sour grape” but the audio book has “sourpuss.”)
“Bird bait,” or “bird food,” or “one-armed geezer,” appear.
“By the leapers” is used (the Leapers are the rabbits’ ancestors.)
Violence
A LOOOOOTTTTT of rabbits die: whole units are wiped out. Most of the lords die in combat. Many death descriptions only include “he would never rise again” or “he was cut down.”
Wolves chase a rabbit and shoot arrows at her. One cuts her ear. A rabbit claws at the rock until “his fingernails bleed.” Picket receives bruises and cuts after training with his mentor. Wounded rabbits bleed and blood stains their fur or are “badly injured.” Arrows hit arms or legs. A hawk slices a rabbit’s back.
The description of the violence increases as the series progresses.
Medics stitch injures mid-battle, and one ties a tourniquet around a “mangled arm.” Two rabbits are impaled with mortal wounds. A nurse studies an old wound that has “gone septic.” After Heather is punched, “she tastes blood in her mouth.” A dragon claims they “break rabbit’s necks for sport and feed on rabbit young.” A wolf “tears apart” two advancing rabbits. Picket stabs the alfa wolf in the neck, killing him.
The rabbits invent weapons of war. Explosions sends shrapnel and flames into the wolf ranks, one catching several birds on fire. A blast-arrow hits a raptor-lord who comes “apart in an eruption.” Archers kill birds with arrows through the head, throat, or heart.
Several characters loose body-parts: talons are sliced off, eyes destroyed or stabbed, and a dragon is beheaded. A soldier has his arm cut off and several falling rabbits are slashed with a scythe.
Some killing descriptions require interpretation: “He fell dead with two thuds,” or “he cleaved the raptor so that the bird fell into the flood, both on the port and starboard side.”
Non-real creatures/magic
The rabbits, birds, and wolves act like humans: building cities, wearing clothes, etc.
The rabbits use a flower with incredible healing properties. Several weapons are made from strong metal that came from a meteor.
Dragons appear in the last book.
The princess is called “the scarlet witch” as an insult (she’s not a witch).
Other negative elements
A captain is forced to watch the men he trained executed. He’s then chained to a tree, given his sword, and told that if he wants to save his king from the trap, he must cut his arm off. He chooses to do nothing, reasoning he can’t save the king even if he were free, but his decision haunts him.
The Lords of Prey had no regard for bunny life and enjoy eating rabbit children for their feasts. The bird king’s lair “smelled of bones and blood.” A statue depicts a Lord of Prey crushing rabbit skulls under his talons. An evil lord burns Heather’s arm with a red-hot iron.
The king was betrayed by an ambassador. Several rabbit soldiers are plants for the enemy. A morally compromised rabbit gloats over the death of rabbit families.
Several characters host scars: a wolf with a scar instead of an eye. A lord with a bad arm. A soldier with a missing leg. Scarred and disfigured faces. One wears a mask to hide his scars.
A youngster says his medicine tastes like “dirt puddle and trash.” A nurse threatens that if they don’t clean a wound, the soldier’s arm will rot off. Two rabbits return from burial duty, looking grim.
Writing quality
The first book needed another editing session: a lot of telling and redundant sentences. The quality improves with each book. I loved how the battle tension ebbed and flowed during the last book and the series ended satisfactorily.
Final thoughts
The final two books are my favorite, and I love his concept of the “Mended Wood” as we wait for our king to come and restore all things.