Winter (novel)
 | |
| Author | Marissa Meyer |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Lunar Chronicles |
| Genre | Young adult, Romance, Science Fiction, dystopian |
| Publisher | Feiwell & Friends |
Publication date | November 10, 2015 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 832 |
| ISBN | 978-0-312-64298-3 |
| Preceded by | Cress |
Winter is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling novel and the final entry in Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles.[1][2] The book was first published on November 10, 2015, by Macmillan Publishers through their subsidiary Feiwell & Friends.[3] The story is loosely based on the fairytale of "Snow White", similar to is previous book Cress which was loosely based on "Rapunzel".[4]
Of the book, Meyer has stated that it is "the most action-packed and complex book of the series".[5] Macmillan and Meyer promoted Winter by asking readers to print and display "Join the Resistance" flyers that encouraged people to support the series' heroines as they prepared to confront the character of Levana.[6]
Synopsis
We are introduced to a new character, Princess Winter, who is loosely based on Snow White. It is revealed that due to her refusal to use the Lunar gift, the ability to manipulate what others see and do, she has Lunar sickness, a state of mental illness that causes occasional hallucinations. Despite having scars on her face (suspected to be the work of Winter's evil stepmother, Queen Levana), Princess Winter is known for both her stunning beauty and the kindness she shows towards her people. Her relationship with her stepmother Levana is strained at best, especially as Winter is secretly in love with her childhood friend Jacin, who is a member of the royal guard.
After Queen Levana orders Jacin to murder Winter, Jacin finds Winter in her personal 'zoo'. He explains the queen's orders, kisses Winter, and then stabs WInter's favourite pet--a wolf named Ryu--all so Winter can escape unharmed, and Queen Levana will believe she is dead (seeing the blood on the floor). Winter rescues Scarlet, an important protagonist who was captured by the now dead thaumaturge Sybil Mira and brought to Luna as prisoner, and the two manage to escape with the help of Cress, another protagonist who hid in a crate on its way to Luna to rescue Scarlet. However, this results in Cress being trapped in the palace. Luckily, the rest of our protagonists Cinder, Captain Thorne and Wolf arrive at the palace at just the right time, saving Cress and picking up Jacin after an uneasy encounter.
They head down to a secret bunker where Levana creates wolf-like mutations of human soldiers, to recruit more mutineers for Cinder's rebellion. After succeeding, they head back up to the surface where an old crone offers Winter a petite, an apple-like sweet. However, the petite is laced with poison that brings down a mutated version of letumosis (currently the most serious and incurable plague) on Winter. After Scarlet tries to help, she gets infected too. Many soldiers are also infected just by being around them.
Meanwhile, Prince Kai has been sent back to Earth after being kidnapped and recruited by Cinder and is now part of the plan to overthrow Queen Levana. During Kai and Levana's 'wedding', the mutineers intervene and steal a bottle of letumosis cure from Levana. Cinder is almost caught, but jumps out a window and lands in a pond. She almost dies (being a cyborg) but her friends save her. Immediately afterward, they cure Scarlet and Winter of letumosis.
Cinder starts a revolution. During the battle, Scarlet is attacked by Thaumaturge Amery and Winter, in a moment of life-or-death, uses the Lunar gift to cause Scarlet to stab Amery nine times. Winter, overcome with guilt, is driven almost insane, whispering that she 'does not know if even a sane person could recover from this. So how can I?'
Cinder proceeds to kill Queen Levana in an enormous battle at the end. Cinder becomes queen of Luna, being the proper heir to the throne. Scarlet and Wolf are reunited, and Winter and Jacin admit their feeling for each other. Cinder has a meeting with the other rulers of Earthen continents, and places her conditions for agreeing to a peace treaty with Earth. They mostly consist of cyborgs and humans being treated equally. One of the leaders, however, makes a point, wondering how they can trust that Lunars will no longer have the desire to possess humans, as this has been a problem between Earth and Luna for decades. Cinder reveals that her late 'stepfather', the husband of Linh Adri, had invented a machine that Lunars could use to disable their Lunar gift without causing Lunar sickness. Similarly, an Earthen could use it to immunise themselves to the Lunar gift. It is also revealed that the blueprints to this machine were hidden inside Cinder faithful companion, the android who had stayed with Cinder the whole series--Iko. In the final chapter, at the pond where Cinder almost died, Cinder tells Kai that she has decided to make Luna a republic, so that there won't ever be another ruler like Levana. Kai says that once she abdicates, she can come live in his palace, to show that Lunars and Earthens can live peacefully together. The book ends with Kai asking Cinder if someday, she would consider being empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. Cinder tells him that she would, and drops the foot she had lost in the first book (Kai having returned it) in the lake.
Development
Winter took Meyer two years to complete and at times she thought that she "would never be finished" and that she "would be stuck in this book for the rest of my life."[7] Part of the reason for this was due to Meyer putting the book to the side while she worked on the novel Fairest, which she wanted to work on in order to further develop the character of Levana.[6]
While the character of Winter was initially planned to physically resemble the typical image of Snow White, she chose to make her black after seeing a photo of a "beautiful black model biting into a red apple" and thinking "That’s her! That’s my princess!"[8]
Reception
Critical reception has been positive and Winter has received positive reviews from the School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.[9][10][11] Booklist gave Winter a favorable review, praising Meyer for inserting "just enough veiled references to the original stories to spur intellectual and emotional connections."[12]
References
- ↑ "USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "WALL STREET JOURNAL-BEST SELLERS". SF Gate. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ Bell, Amanda (2015-11-10). "‘Winter’ Author Explains How She Stuck Disney Princesses In An Intergalactic Battle". MTV. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
- ↑ White, Caitlin (2015-02-20). "The Lunar Chronicles' Marissa Meyer Opens Up About 'Fairest,' 'Winter' And Everyone's Favorite Evil Queen — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO". Bustle. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
- ↑ Truitt, Brian (2015-03-12). "Read an excerpt from Meyer's Winter". USA Today. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
- 1 2 Lodge, Sally. "Macmillan's 'Join the Resistance' Campaign Rallies Meyer's Troops". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ Brodeur, Nicole. "YA author Marissa Meyer reaches for the stars with her ‘Lunar Chronicles’". Seattle Times. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ Maggs, Sam. "Interview: Marissa Meyer on Winter‘s Woman of Color Snow White & YA Representation". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "'Winter' is in the air for hot new romances". USA Today. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "Winter (review)". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "Winter (review)". School Library Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "Winter (review)". Booklist. Retrieved 20 November 2015.