“Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)” by Marissa Meyer

SCARLET (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Read Date: 21 April 2014
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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.

*SPOILER WARNING FOR PLOT DETAILS*

“Scarlet” Book Trailer + a short story by Marissa Meyer

The book trailer for Marissa Meyer’s “Scarlet,” the sequel to “Cinder,” is now live online as exclusive content on Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life section. Click HERE to view the trailer.

“Cinder” is a science-fiction re-imagining of the “Cinderella” fairy tale, while “Scarlet” will integrate elements from “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Tor.com also posted “The Queen’s Army,” a short story set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles. The hero of this short story, Ze’ev, will probably make an appearance in “Scarlet”. We know from the end of “Cinder” that the Queen of Luna is already preparing for a war against Earth. I just hope Meyer won’t go the predictable route again–I hope Ze’ev doesn’t turn out to be “Wolf” because I really want to be surprised. 😛 Click HERE to read “The Queen’s Army.”

I wish I can draw because the Lunar Queen is seriously giving me some “Final Fantasy VIII” Ultimecia/Artemisia vibes, and that vision is reinforced by Meyer naming the Lunar capital Artemisia. This world lends itself very well to a visual medium that I wouldn’t be surprised if Meyer lands a graphic novel adaptation deal or something; they’re already shopping around the film rights.

So anyway, I’ve said in a previous post that I really liked “Cinder” even though it was a little predictable, so I look forward to reading what happens next. Just surprise me this time, okay? The world is rich and well-conceived, and there is a lot of room to play around with the plot and characters and to exercise more subtlety or authorial sleight-of-hand.

Cinder returns trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world in Paris, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own. As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, and ignore their growing attraction to one another, they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana who will do anything to win Cinder’s beloved Prince Kai.

Cover Reveal: “Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)” by Marissa Meyer

I recently finished reading Cinder, the first book in Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles. The series re-imagines fairy tales into a sci-fi world with cyborgs and aliens from the Moon.

Cinder is a re-telling of Cinderella in which our princess turns out to be a cyborg who’s making a living as a mechanic. I enjoyed reading Cinder a lot, so I’m in for the rest of the series.

The cover for the second book was recently revealed along with a summary and an excerpt.

Book two, Scarlet, is based on Little Red Riding Hood. It continues Cinder’s story as she attempts to escape Queen Levana’s vengeance and learn more about her past. The story also introduces readers to Scarlet, a girl living in southern France whose grandmother has mysteriously disappeared. In order to find her, Scarlet seeks the help of Wolf, a street fighter with more than a few mysteries of his own.

Publication Date: 2013

There are two more books planned after Scarlet : Cress (based on Rapunzel), which is due in 2014, and Winter (based on Snow White), due in 2015.

Read the excerpt from Scarlet along with an interview with Meyer here: click! There’s also a non-spoilery prequel short story to Cinder entitled Glitches, which you can read for free here: click!