BOOK ONE: THE LUNAR CHRONICLES. 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.
I am amazed by the wonderful talents emerging in the past year with first novels that are a bang up job! Huzzah to the agents and publishers willing to take a shot at a newbie that is pure gold.
I LOVE the idea of Cinderella getting an older audience with a brand new spin. Cinder has the perfect balance of our own reality mixed with some imaginary steam punk (robotic mixes). But if steam punk in general is ‘not your thing’ you will still find this story revolves around human conflict. Cinder was completely normal until a horrific accident in her youth. To save her life, she is given the mechanical wiring and prosthetics necessary to appear normal. Cinder does not remember much prior to the accident and of the incident itself, she only has vague nightmares filled with unimaginable heat that startles her awake crying and twisted in her bed sheets.
As in the Cinderella story we are all familiar with, there is the wicked step-mother – or rather, in this case, misguided, misinformed and self-righteous. There is one evil step-sister who is a mirror of her mother. Then the last step-sister is refreshingly different and is the only fully human friend to Cinder. Beyond that, the mouse friends take on the form of a helper robot, Iko. As for the Fairy Godmother, I thought perhaps the elderly Doctor in the palace’s research lab might be this character, but he does not ‘help’ Cinder get to the ball, per say. These are some of the examples of the subtle twists to the tale that Marissa chose to make her story unpredictable in a good way.
Marissa has written a set of memorable characters I can't wait to follow, has a well thought out world for us to explore, and a mystery rife with hurdles that will be our joy to jump over as the series progresses, not to mention the sparkly tension between Cinder and Prince Kai. You can bet I'll be hitting some high opera notes when Scarlett, the second in this series, arrives February 2013.
As an extra to this review, I contacted author Marissa Meyer to let her know about my review here and in our local paper, The Springwater News. My quick comment was, "My daughter (aged 11) and myself (aged to perfection) loved your book, please keep writing forever!" This was her reply:
Dear Ginger,
I just wanted to say thanks for your kind message. I'm thrilled that you and your daughter enjoyed Cinder, and I really appreciate your taking the time to review it for your paper! That means a lot to me. I sincerely hope you'll like the rest of the series just as much.
All best,
Marissa
P.S. I'm totally stealing that aged to perfection line. :D
- Miss Gevious
- Mon, 07/02/2012 - 16:24
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