Monday, March 4, 2013

The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder & Scarlet) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)
By Marissa Meyer
Published by Square Fish, 2012
448 pages (hardcover)

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. (from barnesandnoble.com)


I normally am not a fan of fairy tales. They are either too sugary sweet or too creepy/odd for me. HOWEVER, Cinder is a whole other story. It is SciFi meets a classic tale meets the dystopian future meets a strong female character who is quite tech savy. While Cinder uses elements from the classic Cinderella tales, Meyers makes unique and compelling in her own way. And don't think that this book is just for girly-girls. There is plenty of action, humor, emotion, sarcasm, and treachery for all types of readers.

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Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
By Marissa Meyer
Published by Square Fish, 2013
456 pages (hardcover)

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.  (from barnesandnoble.com)


When I heard that The Lunar Chronicles would be adding the ideas of Red Riding Hood to the already established plot of Cinder/Cinderella I was a bit skeptical about how it would all come together. But never fear folks… Scarlet is just as interesting and well constructed as Cinder. Not to give anything away, but I loved how the storylines worked together and came together. Mixing classic fairy tales together and throwing them into the future is a creative way to tell this story. Now I just have to wait for Cress to come out next winter and Winter to come out the following, um, winter. I dislike waiting.

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