'Cinder' - A Cyborgenic Re-Interpretation of Cinderella

[Anna]

Hi y'all!

We read this YA title over in another community I moderate and it struck me this dystopian spin on Cinderella is exactly the kind of book Space Opera Fans might like to encourage their kids or grandchildren to read. Basically it's your classic Cinderella tale, only with the spin that Cinder is a cyborg and the oppressors an alien race who watches from space. Sound space-opera-ish enough? And ... Cinder is anything but helpless here, but a smart girl who uses her wits. I think it would especially appeal to young female readers.



[*Here's your chance to entice your Twilight-loving daughters over onto the Sci-Fi side of things :-) *]

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Anybody else read this book? Or had their kids read it? And now the big question ... how can Space Opera Fans use books such as this as a 'gateway drug' to lure our young women away from the vampires and werewolves?

[Steph]

I wrote a sci-fi version of Cinderella a few years back and released it as a free short story. It's been my most popular download to date, despite the lack of cyborgs. Whether it's lured readers into the wider world of sci-fi is another question!

[Anna]

What's the name of your short story, Steph? You should post a link to it in the YA freebies section. Fairy tales generalize well to YA science fiction because what they considered 'magic' in the 16th century can today be accomplished via science, and also because fairy tales are usually metaphors for the human condition.

[Steph]

Anna wrote: "What's the name of your short story, Steph? You should post a link to it in the YA freebies section..."

I will do that, thank you. It needs new cover artwork so I'm not pushing it much.

[Anna]

Did you see our cover design tips thread in the Authors / Bloggers shop talk, Steph?

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Steph]

Anna wrote: "Did you see our cover design tips thread in the Authors / Bloggers shop talk, Steph?..."

I did indeed. It's more that there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to!

[Shannon]

Did this book just get reprinted or something? I've had it on my to read list for a couple of years, not even remembering where I heard of it, then suddenly you mention it here and then I saw it prominently displayed at Barnes & Noble yesterday.

[Anna]

I'm not sure Shannon. I came across it in my paranormal group I help moderate it and thought it was more scifi than fantasy.

[J.]

I really loved Cinder, but I thought each successive book in this series was worse.

Scarlet was okay, but nothing really happens in Cress until you've gotten a good chunk of the way through the novel. I'm also not a huge fan of how every new character introduced has a convenient romantic pairing. It makes things feel kinda cheesy, in my opinion.

I haven't read Winter yet, so I don't know exactly how everything pans out, and I'm hoping it brings the series to a solid ending, but through the first three books I think this story could've been a little stronger (or perhaps more accurately I think Meyer could've stayed focused on Cinder and not introduced more cast members to clutter things up).

[Lizzie]

I really liked Cinder and also found the subsequent books to be less rather than more. I was disappointed.