Typical young adult fantasy in that the ‘big twist’ was obvious from the start, but this story still has some charm. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic who wants to go to the ball, but she doesn’t have the time or money to do so. She lives in a world where cyborgs are despised, but tolerated. Humankind is suffering from a plague, one which strikes without warning and leaves the affected dead within days. There’s a draft for cyborgs to be tested upon in order to find a cure for this disease but Cinder is lucky in that her number hasn’t been drawn yet.
Unfortunately for the citizens of New Beijing, the emperor has been struck down with this disease. His son, Kai, is not ready to take the throne, but he doesn’t have time to prepare because an evil Queen from Luna is headed to the planet, presumably to marry Kai and extend her holdings from the moon to earth. Queen Levannah is a member of the race called Lunars who, though once regular settlers from earth, have evolved the ability to control their bio-electric energy and can make others do their bidding. The stage is set for an epic show down between prince, cyborg, and moon queen and it’s all going to happen at, of course, the ball.
Which, like in the original Cinderella tale, was my favorite part. Meyer’s plot very slowly winds itself towards this pivotal moment and I loved her take on the ‘slipper’ left on the stairs. I listened to this audio book on my commute to work but, when I got to the ending, I had to finish it in one night rather than waiting for the next day. That says something, I think, about the power of the story once it gets going despite my lukewarm feelings for the first part of it. Also, I’m on the hold list for the next digital audio book which also says something about this tale. I grew fond of Cinder as the story progressed but not of much else.
Other than the true magic of the ball, readers will find much of Cinder predictable and slow. Only recommended for the serious connoisseur of young adult novels and similar to: Splintered, Ash & Bramble, or The Girl of Fire and Thorns.
This book was very strange. It reminded me of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. Moers writes page after page of strange creatures, worlds, and circumstances that are only connected because Bluebear passes through them. And, like in Dahl’s book, I felt like the author was always hinting about a greater truth behind the story, as if The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear was more a gigantic allegory than a children’s book. I enjoyed the fantastic nature of it but I didn’t like the long lists of creatures that read more like crazy encyclopedic entries than an actual story with characters.
Sometimes life kills you before you die. It’s not a death of the body but a slow wearing away of the spirit that you carried from your birth through your childhood until wherever it is that time finds you now. That flickering flame of beliefs and dreams that you somehow knew was a true vision of reality but you had no real reason to believe so, except that inner feeling in your chest that would incline its head in quiet acknowledgment when you consult it. I thought that life had devoured my romantic streak but then this little book of poetry made me cry and I realized that my flame still burns. Some things can never be lost. That’s what this collection made me feel. I suppose all good poetry should make you feel like that.
Tin Star is the story of Tula Bane, a teenager who joined a space colonizing cult from Earth. She is abandoned on a way station near the edge of the known universe on the way to her new home.
Aza Ray Boyle can’t breathe. It seems like she has always been sick- inexplicably short of breath and weak.
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