The Green Ember series

***Some say it fell from the stars, from the warrior's cluster.*
Whitson Mariner, *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner*, p. 165
This article is on a subject existing outside the universe of *****The Green Ember series*****.**
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This article is about Children's fantasy series. For all other articles by a similar name, please visit The Green Ember (disambiguation).

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## Attribution information

### Illustrator

Zach Franzen
Will Smith (maps)

### Main series books

• *The Green Ember*
• *Ember Falls*
• *Ember Rising*
• *Ember's End*

### Anthology books

**Tales of Old Natalia series**
• *The Black Star of Kingston*
• *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner*
• *Prince Lander & the Dragon War: Tales of Old Natalia 3*
**The Green Ember Archer series (A Green Ember Story)**
• *The Last Archer*
• *The First Fowler*
• *The Archer's Cup*
**A Green Ember Story**
• *Potter's War* (not yet published; currently only featured at events)

## Publication information

### Genre

• Fantasy
• Children's adventure
 • Middle-grade fiction

***T******he Green Ember* series** is a succession of middle-grade noblebright fantasy books authored by S. D. Smith, illustrated by Zach Franzen (with maps by Will Smith), and published by Andrew Mackay of Story Warren, LLC.

The series is set in the land of Natalia, where rabbits with swords battle for their freedom against evil characters such as Lord of Prey Morbin Blackhawk and wolf Redeye Garlackson.

As of 2020, the series is composed of four books in the main series which were released in chronological order, *The Green Ember*, *Ember Falls*, *Ember Rising*, and *Ember's End*; three prequel books that differ from the main storyline, *The Black Star of Kingston*, *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner*, and *Prince Lander and the Dragon War*; and three midquel books, *The Last Archer*, *The First Fowler*, and *The Archer's Cup* (not including the not-yet-published *Potter's War*).

To date, ten books in *The Green Ember* series have been published since 2014.

## About

The *Green Ember* series really began a long while before the publication of the initial book, *The Green Ember*, when Smith and his children watched rabbits hop around in their front yard in West Virginia. Smith, would, for the amusement of his children, make up stories about how these rabbits had become caught up in these great adventures; and that is how the series was born. Smith decided to turn those stories into books by publishing them via Story Warren, LLC.

Smith says that he wrote *The Green Ember* to "delight [his] children", who believe it can be summarized in three words: "Rabbits with Swords". He calls the stories he writes "New Stories with an Old Soul", in order to implicate that his "new" stories retain the morality that most of the books known as "classics" do.

Smith recommends the books for middle-grade readers, although he believes the books to be readable by anyone of any age.

## Series overview

### General

The main series (*The Green Ember*, *Ember Falls*, *Ember Rising*, and *Ember's End*) follows the adventures of rabbit siblings Heather and Picket Longtreader as they find that their world is at war and join the fight for good against overwhelming odds.

The *Tales of Old Natalia series* (*The Black Star of Kingston*, *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner*, and *Prince Lander and the Dragon War*) is set more than a century before the happenings of the main series, and accounts the tales of characters such as King Whitson Mariner, Lord Fleck Blackstar, and Prince Lander as they battle struggle, betrayal, dragons, and evil from on high in their newly discovered land of Natalia.

The Green Ember Archer series (*The Last Archer*, *The First Fowler*, and *The Archer's Cup*), which falls under the A Green Ember Story series banner (which includes the exclusive *Potter's War*), is set during the main series and is written from Jo Shanks' perspective.

### Books

#### Main series

1. *The Green Ember* (December 15, 2014)
2. *Ember Falls: The Green Ember Book II* (September 13, 2016)
3. *Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III* (March 8, 2018)
4. *Ember's End: The Green Ember Book IV* (April 14, 2020)

#### Prequel series

1. *The Black Star of Kingston: Tales of Old Natalia 1* (July 13, 2015)
2. *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner: Tales of Old Natalia 2* (December 3, 2018)
3. *Prince Lander & the Dragon War: Tales of Old Natalia 3*

#### Anthology books

* *The Last Archer: Green Ember Archer Book 1* (December 28, 2017)
* *Potter's War: A Green Ember Story* (at events only)
* *The First Fowler: Green Ember Archer Book 2* (December 9, 2019)
* *The Archer's Cup: Green Ember Archer Book 3* (September 22, 2020)

### Recommended reading order

S. D. Smith recommends that the whole series be read in the following order (main series books are in bold):

1. ***The Green Ember***
2. *The Black Star of Kingston*
3. ***Ember Falls***
4. *The Last Archer*
5. ***Ember Rising***
6. *The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner*
7. *The First Fowler*
8. ***Ember's End***
9. *The Archer's Cup*
10. *Prince Lander & the Dragon War*

### Official synopses

> *Main article: The Green Ember (book)*
>
>

*The Green Ember*:
"Heather and Picket are extraordinary rabbits with ordinary lives until calamitous events overtake them, spilling them into a cauldron of misadventures. They discover that their own story is bound up in the tumult threatening to overwhelm the wider world.

Kings fall and kingdoms totter. Tyrants ascend and terrors threaten. Betrayal beckons, and loyalty is a broken road with peril around every bend.

Where will Heather and Picket land? How will they make their stand?"

> *Main article: Ember Falls: The Green Ember Book II*
>
>

*Ember Falls*:
"The stage is set. It's war. Morbin Blackhawk, slaver and tyrant, threatens to destroy the rabbit resistance forever. Heather and Picket are two young rabbits improbably thrust into pivotal roles.
The fragile alliance forged around the young heir seems certain to fail. Can Heather and Picket help rescue the cause from a certain, sudden defeat?

My Place Beside You

My Blood For Yours

Till The Green... **Ember Falls**

> *Main article: Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III*
>
>

*Ember Rising*:
"A harrowing adventure inside enemy territory. Heather and Picket are plunged into the darkness of Morbin’s shadow, fighting to bear the flame of the cause and light the way for rabbitkind’s upright insurrection.

Hope for a Healing

Work for the Mending

Fight for the Rising"

> *Main article: Ember's End: The Green Ember Book IV*
>
>

*Ember's End*:
""The end is here. Heather and Picket face off for the last time with their tyrannical foes in this final installment of the main Green Ember Series. The Mended Wood flickers dimly in the vision of the rabbits of Natalia, as they battle bravely for their survival and a hopeful future beyond.

My place beside you,

my blood for yours,

till the Green Ember...ends."

## Reception and popularity

*The* *Green Ember* series was positively received by readers, and has enjoyed particular popularity with Christians and homeschooling families. The publication of each of the three initial main series books was aided through Kickstarter projects, with each book receiving more backing than the last: $21.9K for *The Green Ember*, $55.5K for *Ember Falls*, and $81.4K for *Ember Rising*. *Ember's End* is the only main series book to date that has not been funded via Kickstarter.

The series has featured prominently in many of Amazon's Bestsellers Lists, including Christian Fantasy, Children's Christian Action & Adventure Fiction, Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Children's American Folk Tales & Myths. *The Green Ember* has been nominated for multiple awards, including World Magazine's Children's Book of the Year 2015, and the West Virginia Fiction Award.

As of June 2019, the series (including the prequels and anthology books) has an average rating of 4.46/5 on the book review website Goodreads, based on 10,419 total user ratings and reviews, and a 4.87/5 average rating on Amazon based on 2,855 user reviews.

S. D. Smith initially feared that the first 1,500 copies printed wouldn't sell. As of 2020, over half a million copies of the series have sold since 2015 after passing the 500,000 mark sometime in 2019. *The Green Ember* series has virtually never been out of print since the first book's publication.

## Distribution

While the books are available directly from Story Warren, LLC in the U. S., in Canada, they are distributed by Classical Education Books. In Australia, they are available through The Wandering Bookseller.

Regarding possibly shipping products from Smith's store to Canada, Smith says that's something "we're working on." The reason they are unable to do so currently is because of high shipping costs.

## Future

Regarding the series' future, S. D. Smith said the following:

After the release of *The Archer's Cup*, Smith stated: "Yes. There's more coming... (Lord willing.)"

### Film/television adaptation

In late 2016, Carrie Hodousek of West Virginia MetroNews reported how S. D. Smith had related that he had spoken with Hollywood filmmakers about a possible "movie version" of *The Green Ember*: “[i]t’s a little bit surreal, but it’s also what people do every day. Meeting all these people, I’m hopeful that at some point down the line we’ll have a movie[.]”

In response to an interview question regarding a possible future TV/movie adaptation of *The Green Ember*, Smith said:

He says he would prefer computer animation as the medium to creating a potential series, in contrast to CGI live-action and traditional animation.

On April 26, 2021, S. D. Smith revealed via social media that "we are in serious talks about a Green Ember feature film."

### Radio theatre/audio dramatization

In response to a fan question on his Goodreads Q&A page, S.D. Smith said that he has “schemed on” the idea of a Green Ember radio/audio dramatization.

## Trivia

* The series is named after an emerald gem which was passed down from each king to his successor to signify the successor's future kingship. After the defeat of King Jupiter and Morbin Blackhawk's rise to power, The Green Ember became to The Resistance a symbol of the freedom they fought for, as they rested in the hope that King Jupiter's heir would someday arise to defeat Morbin and bring to being the Mended Wood.
* The series is written from a third-person perspective in the past tense.
* *The Green Ember* was the first book S. D. Smith had ever written.
* S. D. Smith told his children the stories that became *The Green Ember* series eight to ten years before the publication of *The Green Ember*. The stories were inspired by the rabbits in their own yard. Smith also based the main characters, Heather Longtreader and Picket Longtreader, on his oldest children, Anne and Josiah, respectively.
* *The Green Ember* series resides in physical form on all seven continents, even Antarctica, which received the series via a donation made by a friend of Story Warren, LLC, to a library which is used by researchers.
* Smith says that if *The Green Ember* hadn't gotten the extremely positive reception it had, he probably wouldn't have written the rest of the series very quickly.

## Media

The Green Ember Series IntroThe official intro to The Green Ember series.Green Ember Author S. D. Smith “Gimme 5?”S.D. Smith on "Gimme 5".Ember Rising S. D. Smith's Green Ember Series Forges AheadHistory on S.D. Smith and The Green Ember series.Green Ember Stories To Make Us BraveA promotional video for The Green Ember series.Hopeful, Hospitable Stories For Families The Green Ember SeriesA promotional video for The Green Ember series.Book Signing - Behind The Scenes - S. D. Smith, Author of The Green EmberA behind-the-scenes video of S. D. Smith signing books from The Green Ember series.Why My Kids Books Are Not Safe, But They Are Good—And Intentionally DangerousA promotional video for The Green Ember series.
## References

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ YouTube | The Green Ember Video
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 What Do I Mean By “A New Story With An Old Soul?” | SDSmith.net
4. ↑ YouTube | The Green Ember Video
5. ↑ Rabbit Room | Top Eleventy Reasons You Should Back The Green Ember
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `End`
7. ↑ SDSmith.net | FAQ: Green Ember & S. D. Smith
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 [2]
9. ↑ [3]
10. ↑ The Green Ember by S. D. Smith, illustrated by Zach Franzen - project by Story Warren on Kickstarter.com
11. ↑ Ember Falls by S. D. Smith, Author of The Green Ember - project by Story Warren, on Kickstarter.com
12. ↑ Ember Rising: S. D. Smith's Green Ember Series Forges Ahead - project by Story Warren on Kickstarter.com
13. ↑ Bestsellers in Christian Fantasy | Amazon.com
14. ↑ Best Sellers in Children's Christian Action & Adventure Fiction | Amazon.com
15. ↑ Best Sellers in Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy | Amazon.com
16. ↑ Best Sellers in Children's American Folk Tales & Myths | Amazon.com
17. ↑ Children's Books of the Year | World News Group
18. ↑ The Green Ember is Five Years Old | SDSmith.net Newsletter - January 16, 2020
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Green Ember is Spreading Worldwide! (Canada and Australia Now Stocking The Green Ember...UK Next?) | SDSmith.net
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Q&A with S. D. Smith | New Seddleton - YouTube
21. ↑ Ember's End: An Interview with S. D. Smith | Story Warren, LLC
22. ↑ [4]
23. ↑ WV MetroNews | Best selling author has roots to West Virginia
24. ↑ Q&A with S.D. Smith - New Seddleton Official - YouTube
25. ↑ If "The Green Ember" series ever has the chance to become a film/television series, would you prefer it to be an epic live-action CGI film ("The Lion King 2019"), a computer-animated feature ("The Guardians of Ga'Hoole"), or a mix of CG and traditional animation ("The Wingfeather Saga: A Crow For The Carriage")? — S. D. Smith Q&A | Goodreads
26. ↑ [5]
27. ↑ https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1818318-would-you-consider-doing-a-radio-theatre
28. ↑ Rabbit Room | Isn't The Green Ember Like Watership Down
29. ↑ S.D. Smith Local author works to foster imagination in young readers | Michelle James, The Register Herald in Beckley, WV

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*This article has received The Green Ember of excellence.*