The ramblings of a bibliophile.
This short story made me feel sick. To be fair, it could have been me getting car sick. Because I was reading this in the car. On windy roads. Late at night. But, I’m pretty sure that I felt sick because this story kind of freaked me out.
Death is always considered such a horrifying and exacting end. But, in the case of Mort, it’s really just a beginning… and an apprenticeship. With Pratchett’s unique and entertaining take on it.
There is an incredibly poignant and obvious message in this novel – that we are all equal and entitled to equal rights. That’s not to say that this tale isn’t filled with Pratchett’s (I hesitate to say) typical sense of humour. There is the satirical humour scattered throughout that draws you into his world, whether you want it to or not. Luckily, for me, I was ready and happy to be swept along in his chaotic, entertaining realm.
There is no surer way to end a conversation with me or get me ragey than to start commenting on my looks. I was lucky with the genetics, whilst I'm not a stunner, I have a good figure, hair and skin tone that means absolutely zero work and I'm good at pretending to have an amazingly sunny disposition (sometimes whilst imagining a multitude of ways to get rid of you...) But all of that doesn't mean that I don't have other good attributes. Something that often gets forgotten.
I haven’t been single in a very long time. And I haven’t had the misfortune of too many horrible dates. Which makes it extra enjoyable (and kind of foreign) to read about dating. And horrible first dates. And one night stands… putting what I assume is a zombie apocalypse and the end of the world as we know it into the mix just made it all the more fascinating and enjoyable.
Levanna’s army is shown in Cinder and it seems kind of scary. Which is why a short story about one of the young men who are placed into this situation and created as a soldier worked in quite well. It’s the story from behind enemy lines that is not only introducing a character that will (I’m sure) appear in the next novel, but helping to highlight the horrors which Levanna inflicts upon her own people.
Cinderella is a fairly well known fairy tale. After all, it’s the perfect rags to riches tale. The story of someone overpowering their bad situation and finding a good one. The fact that there is a handsome prince, and a pretty dress and a ball…that just makes it all the more appealing and sweet… at least normally, Cinder gives this tale a very different spin. And one that I personally love to pieces.
This is an alternative view at a great scene in Cinder. And it’s something that I enjoy in a series – looking at another character’s point of view. The fact that it is Kai, the other half of the love match in the first full Lunar Chronicles novel, made it even more captivating. And, it was enlightening as to why Kai fell for Cinder. After all, she is constantly described as being very plain. So I found it a little difficult to really understand their connection in this scene. Until I read The Mechanic, then everything fell into place.
The harsh critiques of editors and readers is something that I think we all fear. So what happens when there is a horror of a writer and the editor is forced to constantly deal with her ghost?
The idea of shells is introduced in Cinder and it is a great reminder that even if you don’t have superpowers, you still have powers. The beginning of the Rapunzel story starts off kind of sad. It’s an unwanted girl in a place where she is told that she is unwanted and not needed. Actually, this is the saddest of the short stories in The Lunar Chronicles that I have read so far. There is no light on the horizon, but rather it just ends with a young girl being locked up by herself, orbiting the earth.
