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The Lunar Chronicles is a series of science fiction YA novels written by Marissa Meyer. The books caused quite the buzz when it was first announced that Marissa would attempt to paint classic fairy tales in a new light.
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Order of Lunar Chronicles Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cinder | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Queen's Army / L'armée de la reine (Short Story) | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Scarlet | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Cress | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Fairest | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Winter | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Stars Above | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Cinder's Adventure | 2022 | Description / Buy |
Some readers were skeptical because various authors had attempted the same feat on multiple occasions.
But Cinder, the first novel in the Lunar Chronicles series, immediately proved that the author wasn’t just out to tweak the classic fairy tales. She wanted to rework them into an entirely new story, one that would adopt the concepts of the original fairy tales and then augment them with a science fiction façade.
The world to which Cinder takes readers is alien and futuristic. Earth isn’t quite what audiences remember. Most of the countries of the world reorganized and restructured to form alliances, empires, and kingdoms.
Mankind also colonized the moon. Those individuals that eventually came to call the moon home were labeled Lunars. The name was designed to highlight the fact that they were no longer quite human, what with their ability to control the bio-electricity of the people around them.
Cinder, the protagonist of the first novel, is essentially Cinderella. A cyborg that lives in the Eastern Commonwealth, Cinder spends her days tolerating the abuse of her cruel stepmother and stepsisters.
Her life takes a fortunate yet dangerous turn when she draws the attention of a Kai, a prince whose affections for Cinder eventually put his kingdom and the world at large in jeopardy.
Most retellings of classic fairy tales are normally collections of standalones, with the individual novels in the series telling separate stories.
Cinder, the first novel in The Lunar Chronicles books, initially threatens to take that same approach. The heroine is drawn down the same path that Cinderella, the character after whom she was modeled, took.
But along the way, Marissa Meyer begins to flesh the story out. She gives even more depth to the people of the moon, their evil queen and her desire for conquest. Some attention is also given to a mysterious disease that has ravaged the earth, and Cinder’s role in the unfolding political intrigue.
It eventually becomes clear that the author is asking far more questions than she could ever answer in a single novel. It is at that point that readers come to the understanding that the Lunar Chronicles is actually a connected series of novels and that they must read every book in the series to fully appreciate the story that Marissa wants to tell.
Each installment in this series focuses on a heroine from a classic fairytale. For instance, the second novel follows a version of Little Red Riding Hood while the third book looks at Rapunzel.
However, all the stories always lead back to Cinder and Kai and their conflict against the Lunars.
These novels are classified as YA and, as such, feature all the tropes you would expect to encounter from the genre.
The Lunar Chronicles Awards
The Lunar Chronicles books have won accolades such as the Grand Canyon Reader Award and the Colorado Blue Spruce Award.
Best The Lunar Chronicles Books
These novels have been praised for their inventive adaptation of old and largely exhausted fairy tales, with some of the best books in the series including:
Cress: The future of humanity rests on the shoulders of Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolfe. But they are all fugitives on the run. If they are to successfully overthrow Queen Levana, they must rely on Cress.
Cress spent her childhood a prisoner, sealed away in a satellite. Her time in captivity made her an unrivaled hacker. However, when Levana asks her to find Cinder and her accomplices, Cress dares to dream of escape.
Winter: Winter hates her stepmother. Levana has always been jealous of Winter’s beauty which is why she undermines her at every turn. Levana spent so many years thinking that Winter was weak.
She never thought that the princess would ever dare to ally with Cinder and the other rebels. Now, Winter might be the one person who can bring about a revolution for the Lunars.
Other Book Series You May Like
Another great read is the “Beyond the Four Kingdoms” series by Melanie Cellier. These novels are a retelling of classic Brother’s Grimm Fairytales. They follow the adventures of the princesses from those classic tales as they fight to protect their homes and kingdoms, and the people they love.
Be sure to check out the “Saving Mars” series by Cindy Swanson. Jessamyn Jaarda is a teenage pilot living in a human settlement on Mars. When food supplies on her world begin to dwindle at a time when Earth-Mars relations have disintegrated, Jaarda takes drastic measures to keep her people alive.
What Is The Next Book in The Lunar Chronicles Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Lunar Chronicles Series. The newest book is Cinder\'s Adventure and was released on March, 15th 2022.