Read Between the Wines #9: Book (Series) Review The Lunar Chronicles
Hello lovely Steemians
Its time for another episode of Read Between The Wines - Anything and everything book related and maybe a little bit of wine as well!
Don't you just love it when you get finally get through books that have been sitting on your To Be Read (TBR for the book nerds) Shelf.
The only thing is I always get a bit devastated when they are finished. It's like you can't wait to read a book but get all sad when its over.. @cryptoandzen feels that way at the end of each season of The Walking Dead.
The Lunar Chronicles was a bit like that for me.
The Lunar Chronicles (TLC) is a series of YA fantasy novels (yes I am kinda going back to my teenage years here but a good story is a good story - plus some of the stuff that passes as YA these days is positively "50 shades "of I would NEVER let my - future -12 year old daughter read that and trust me I'm not a big censorship person...)
The series, written by American author Marissa Meyer, consists of four primary books which have a futuristic new take on some of our favourite fairy tales. I love a good retelling of a classic and yes Wicked (The true story of the wicked witch of the west) is my favourite musical :)
The books - and characters are:
(Synopsis from GoodReads)
Book 1: Cinder - Cinderella
A forbidden romance.
A deadly plague
Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget.
Book 2: Scarlet - Little Red Riding Hood
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. 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.
Book 3: Cress - Rapunzel
In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Book 4: Winter - Snow White
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.
There are a number of supporting stories that have since been released including Fairest - which is the back story for the wicked Queen based on Snow White's (Winter's) step mother and Stars Above which is a collection of short stories
Traditional re-tellings often have the bad being good and the good being bad - such as those stories made famous by Gregory Macguire who wrote Wicked (where Dorothy and Oz are evil and the witches are all good and just misunderstood)
Well think about it.. How would you feel if a brat dropped a house on your sister and then stole the shoes off her feet!
TLC differs however in that the good characters are still good but the stories take place in a futuristic world full of cyborgs, androids and civilisation on the moon.
Cinder for instance is a cyborg (half human half machine) in a world where cyborgs are discriminated against. It's full of strong female characters - a theme coming though fantasy more and more over the last few years. The guys are there - but the the real heroes saving the day are definitely the girls, so this book is going to appeal to teenage girls.
With books like the Maze Runner and Hunger Games and the Divergent Trilogy - other YA fantasy dystopian series - all being made into moderately successful films, I wouldn't be surprised to see The Lunar Chronicles hit the big screen at some stage.
Til the Next Adventure Steem on With Love and Light
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very excellent post @shellyduncan
thanks so much
I loved that series!
It's pretty good isn't it :)
Ahh I would totally read those and I reckon my older two would get a kick out of them as well :) I thought the covers looked vaguely fammiliar fairy tale too XD
I don't get that post-depression thing after reading, usually the most annoying thing is having to put it back on the shelf (as it lives on my bedside table while being read) in the right spot!
Yes it probably would be right up your alley. I could see it as an animated series :)
nice post, i like your post.
I hope someday can do like you.
good luck
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