My Latest Obsession

My Latest Obsession: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I have a bad habit of becoming obsessed with different book series.  I find a book and then devour the rest of the series in days.  The first time it happened was during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college; I finally read Harry Potter (averaging about a book a day) and was devastated that the series was not yet complete.  I followed Harry Potter a few years later with Twilight and Uglies during my student teaching.  Once I started teaching I discovered and became promptly obsessed with The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent.  There are other series I enjoy, but it takes something unique get me to the point where I anxiously watch the calendar for the next release in the series.

I had avoided reading Cinder for a long time.  Even though I like science fiction, something about a cyborg Cinderella didn't appeal to me.  When my school librarian recommended it to me, I finally broke down and gave it a chance.  I wasn't disappointed.  I quickly fell into the world of cyborgs, princes, and aliens and I could not put the book down.  Marissa Meyer has done an excellent job of weaving her narrative with the classic story of Cinderella.  It is another story with a futuristic setting you could imagine being real, if not in our lifetime.  The most fantastical element is the existence of the Lunars, an advanced telepathic race that lives on the moon and whose leader has designs on controlling the earth.  The few students I had time to share this series with before school let out for the summer quickly became just as addicted as well.

The Lunar Chronicles is a planned series of four novels, each introducing a new fairy tale story.  Cinder and Scarlet (Red Riding Hood) are currently released, Cress (Rapunzel) is scheduled to be released in 2014 and the finale Winter (Snow White) is scheduled for winter 2015.