To Read & To Write

In Marissa Meyer’s “Cinder”, older literary versions of the “Cinderella” story are thrown into a future science fiction world, where Cinder is about half-human and half-cyborg (machine), and is also something else… something mysterious that only one person on Earth knows. Other than being a mechanic fixing pretty much any technological object in New Beijing, she thinks she is nobody but a dirt covered, grease stained abomination. But looks can be deceiving. What is really underneath the metal and flesh? As New Beijing collapses under a plague called letumosis, Cinder discovers the truth about her history, and perhaps the fate of the Earth. “Cinder” is a real page-turner. Much of Meyer’s writing reminds me of William Gibson (author of “Neuromancer”), but unlike his heavily stylized and conceptual writing (which is amazing), Meyer manages to tell a sharp, straightforward sci-fi tale that doesn’t have the reader reaching for meaning but rather, (hopefully) has the reader desperately ...