The Green Ember: Lessons We Can Learn (Part I)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I really enjoyed The Green Ember series (or at least most of it) and I really enjoy S.D.Smith's writing. I think he did a very good job with most of the series. Furthermore, because I really enjoyed most of the series this post will mainly be focused on the later books in the series (Ember Falls, Ember Rising and Ember's End) and as such will have a lot of spoilers for the series.

A couple years after The Green Ember was released my sisters and I were given a copy. As each of the books came out, we waited expectantly. First came Ember Falls, The Last Archer, and the rest of the books.

Then, in 2020, my mom gave us a signed hardcover copy of Ember's End. Together, we savored each chapter. By the end, we were furious, heartbroken, and full of opinions about the book that were shared mainly by the four of us.

My sisters and I were fans of the Green Ember series, to say the least. We each have signed posters of the books in our rooms and we each have signed copies of The Last Archer.

So why did we react to the finale of the series the way we did? What did S.D. Smith do right, and what did he do wrong? What can we learn from the series to help us grow into better writers ourselves?

There are three main points we can take from this series (Character Deaths, Character Resurrections, and Character Arcs), and I'll be diving into the first one today.

Character deaths.

The point in a book when we either start crying, start to plot how we can kill our own characters, or just put down the book in frustration. Done right, character deaths can make us take a step back and contemplate the meaning of life. Done wrong, character deaths can make us remember a book with only a grimace.

If you're anything like most writers, you want your readers to react with the former option. With Helmer's death, S.D. Smith did this.

How did he do it?

I've thought about Helmer's death many times over the past couple years. I do think that his character arc was completed by his death. However, until a couple weeks ago, I have been confused and frustrated by the way he died.

Why did he have to die that way? Why couldn't he have died fighting Morbin, or protecting Weezie from a wolf?

Then, my sister pointed this out a couple weeks ago: The deaths that could have been avoided are the deaths that hurt the most.

If a death could have been avoided, it hurts both the reader and the characters affected. The characters will be tormented by the what-ifs and could-have-beens, and the readers will be tormented by the character's thoughts.

Because Helmer died the way he did, the other characters' development furthered.

But what do you think? Comment below!

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