For generations (since a non-described apocalypse) the people of the city of Ember have flourished in an amazing indoor world of glittering lights, uncertain of their past and unquestioning of the future. It takes two young teens to decipher the notes left behind by 'The Builders', start to piece together the ancient mystery of the city's existence and reach the forbidden world of the outside. But time is not on their side, Ember's once powerful generator is failing, the great lamps are starting to flicker and the corrupt mayor and his cronies are in the way.