Cinder (YA)

Cinder. (The Lunar Chronicles #1). Marissa Meyer. 2012. Feiwel & Friends. 400 pages.

The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. 

Cinder is an outcast. Not just a hardworking orphan with a horribly mean stepmother who 'owns' her, but a teen girl whose very humanity is in question. After her parents' death, Cinder was adopted, but the accident that killed her parents left her adoptive father little choice but to 'make' her a cyborg. Since he died too, Cinder has found little comfort in human companionship. No, she's a cyborg and a mechanic. She may not be popular; she may not be planning to attend the ball. But she's a clever, resourceful girl who doesn't really mind not going to the Prince's ball. Especially since there are more important things on her mind. Like her stepsister, Peony, who's caught the deadly plague, letumosis. Like repairing the prince's android. Like trying to help Kai, the prince, outwit the evil Queen Levana so that the Lunars don't invade Earth.

Cinder is very, very futuristic. If you don't like science fiction, then this one probably isn't for you. If aliens, cyborgs, and deadly plagues that threaten humanity's very existence, don't thrill you, then Cinder won't offer you much. But if you're looking for more than just a romantic, familiar retelling of Cinderella, then I think Cinder will surprise you. It is a very original retelling!

Read Cinder

• If you like, no, love, science fiction
• If you like futuristic stories
• If you like Cinderella retellings, but if you don't at least like science fiction, it may not be enough for you

Listen to Chapter One,



© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Time for the Stars

Time for the Stars. Robert A. Heinlein. 1956. Tor. 244 pages.

According to their biographies, Destiny's favored children usually had their lives planned out from scratch. Napoleon was figuring on how to rule France when he was a barefoot boy in Corsica, Alexander the Great much the same, and Einstein was muttering equations in his cradle. 
Maybe so. Me, I just muddled along. 

At last, I have a FAVORITE Robert Heinlein novel. There have been a handful of novels that have been almost-love for me. Novels that I've enjoyed for the most part, and in places even loved. But for me, Time for the Stars is the BEST. I just love, love, love this one. It had everything I wanted. And nothing I didn't! The premise of this one is simple and it works well for the most part.

Earth is sending out a dozen spaceships to explore the galaxy, to find potential planets to colonize. Each spaceship has a dozen or so mind-readers/telepaths on board. Almost all of the telepaths are twins. One twin stays on Earth and receives transmissions from the ship, from his or her partner; the other twin goes into space, has the adventure, and sends all the messages to Earth. Almost all the telepathic pairs are young adults or children--they have to be because they know that aging will be an issue. (One twin will stay young, one will age normally.)

The hero of Time for the Stars is Tom Bartlett. His twin is Pat. Used to being bullied--or bossed around--by his twin, Tom never thought he'd be the one to go on the ship Lewis and Clark, or "Elsie". But when his brother has a skiing accident, the twins switch places...for better or worse.

So. This novel is all space adventure. But I think for the first time, perhaps, Heinlein's characters were ones that I really, really CARED about. It was the first time I recognized Heinlein of having the ability to create interesting, well-developed characters. So this book was more than a premise. It actually had substance too.

Read Time for the Stars

• If you've been disappointed by Heinlein in the past and are looking for a book that satisfies
• If you're looking to try Heinlein for the first time
• If you're interested in a science fiction book with young(er) characters/narrators
• If you're a fan of science fiction, particularly science fiction that focuses on space exploration and colonization
• If you're looking for some adventure with your science fiction

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Puppet Masters

The Puppet Masters. Robert A. Heinlein. 1951. Del Rey. 340 pages.

Were they truly intelligent? By themselves, that is? I don't know and I don't know how we can ever find out. I'm not a lab man; I'm an operator. 

I honestly don't know which Heinlein is my favorite, but it would definitely be either The Puppet Masters or The Door Into Summer. At least of the ones I've read so far. The Door Into Summer is about cold sleep and time travel. The Puppet Masters is about an alien invasion--where the aliens are parasites that take on human hosts. Both books are good--really, really good. Though if you hate science fiction, I doubt either would change your mind. (Connie Willis might change your mind though!)

So. The Puppet Masters is a novel that I think you should definitely try. I am SO SO glad I bought myself a copy.

The narrator of The Puppet Masters is an agent named "Sam." (His real name is revealed, but most people do call him Sam, so that's what I'll call him too.) When the novel opens, he's getting a new assignment. He'll be working with two other agents--his Old Man, and his "sister" "Mary" (that's not her real name either) to investigate the landing of a flying saucer in a small town in Iowa. What they discover changes everything...but it may take some convincing to be believed.

Read The Puppet Masters

• If you're a fan of classic or vintage science fiction
• If you're a fan of alien-invasion novels
• If you're a fan of Robert Heinlein
• If you like reading about how different authors have envisioned the future. (The novel is set in 2007, I believe).

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Door Into Summer

The Door Into Summer. Robert A. Heinlein. 1957. Del Rey. 300 pages.

One winter shortly before the Six Weeks War my tomcat, Petronius the Arbiter, and I lived in an old farmhouse in Connecticut.

There were many, many things I really just loved about this science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. I loved the opening--the first few pages--which introduce the concept of a "door into summer." If you like/love cats, I think you'll appreciate it!

While still a kitten, all fluff and buzzes, Pete had worked out a simple philosophy. I was in charge of quarters, rations, and weather; he was in charge of everything else. But he held me especially responsible for weather. (2)

I found it interesting to see TWO visions of the future. Written in 1957, Robert Heinlein has primarily imagined two years: 1970 and 2001.

The hero of The Door Into Summer, Daniel Boone Davis, is an engineer who is down on his luck. He has been cheated in love and business. And it's the business loss that seems most traumatic. He wants justice; he wants revenge. But at the same time he just wants to escape the mess his life has become. So which does he want more? To escape the pain and stress and confusion of his current life, he considers entering the cold sleep. (In fact, he completes the paperwork.) Thirty years may be just long enough to sleep. The world will have to be better in 2000 than it is in 1970, right? But the choice of revenge or escape may be taken out of his hands--after an encounter with the two people who did him wrong. (He's having second thoughts at the time.)

When D.B. Davis wakes up in December 2000, he learns just how much has changed...some of these changes are good. But there are a couple of things that just don't make sense. Things that don't have any easy answers...unless time travel IS possible.

The Door Into Summer is an interesting read with a fun premise. I definitely enjoyed it. I think it may be one of my favorite Heinlein novels so far.

Read The Door Into Summer

• If you are a fan of science fiction with a particular interest in vintage or classic science fiction
• If you are a fan of Robert Heinlein, or if you're looking for a good introduction to Robert Heinlein
• If you enjoy reading about how different people envisioned the future
• If you are a fan of time travel
• If you like cats
• If you don't mind slightly creepy 'romantic' endings

Have you read this one?! What did you think? What did you think of the ending? Of the "romance" in this one? Did you find it merely slightly creepy or is it very creepy?


© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Double Star

Double Star. Robert A. Heinlein. 1956. Del Rey. 245 pages.

If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he's a spaceman. It is a logical necessity. His profession makes him feel like boss of all creation; when he sets foot dirtside he is slumming among the peasants. As for his sartorial inelegance, a man who is in uniform nine-tenths of the time and is more used to deep space than to civilization can hardly be expected to know how to dress properly. He is a sucker for the alleged tailors who swarm around every spaceport peddling "ground outfits."

"The Great Lorenzo" has been hired to impersonate a prominent politician--a Mr. John Joseph Bonforte. This job will take him to Mars and beyond. When he accepts the job, he doesn't really know all the facts. He doesn't know what the job will require--beyond an impersonation at a public/social event. And he doesn't know how long the job will last. He hopes not too long, since he doesn't really like politics, and he doesn't really like the political viewpoints of the person he'll be playing. Even if he asked before leaving Earth, I doubt he'd been told the truth.

So. I'm not quite sure what to think of Double Star. On the one hand, it was relatively clean. (I stopped reading the last two Heinlein novels I picked up from the library because they were, well, perhaps Vir says it best: "That's...that's quite all right, I get the idea. I don't really need to know more than you've told me. In fact, I wouldn't have been upset to know less." The titles of those two were Friday and I Will Fear No Evil.)

And Double Star wasn't exactly boring...it just wasn't thrilling. It was one of those books were the beginning is better than the middle and the end. I'm not sure if that's because of my expectations or his writing. (Is it wrong for me to expect science fiction novels to have developed characters?)

Read Double Star

• If you're a fan of Robert A. Heinlein
• If you're a fan of vintage science fiction
• If you're interested in reading Hugo winners
• If you're interested in politics
• If you're interested in space travel

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews