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luminouslumity · 4 years

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THOUGHTS ON THE LUNAR CHRONICLES

So, I'm re-reading The Lunar Chronicles, and my feelings on it remain the same: great plot, great characters, but there are still issues that need to be addressed. For starters, the countries. Why the monoliths? I get it's meant to be the future, but still...

Then there's Cresswell. Don't get me wrong, I love both Cress and Thorne and their dynamic, but the idea of them as a couple just makes me uncomfortable. Cress is sixteen throughout the series while Thorne is twenty; granted, Scarlet and Wolf have a gap as well and it's in fact a little bigger, but at least Scarlet was an adult by the time they met and eventually got married. I don't think there was really any reason for Cress to be the same age as Cinder anyway. Not only that, but Cress and Thorne also had completely different life experiences before meeting. Or if the gap is still kept, I actually would've loved it if Cress ended up viewing him as an older brother instead, and vice versa with him viewing her as a little sister.

Side note here, there's a really great post by @sskinner155 that points out that the plague may have played a part as to why being in a relationship so young seems to have become the norm, and I think it makes sense (ex: Adri wanting Pearl to find a husband when she's only seventeen, or no one being disturbed that Levana wants to marry someone who's significantly younger than her; I think the closest thing we get to any critique regarding the age and romantic relationships thing is from the seamstress at the beginning of Cinder). Mind you, this doesn't make things less uncomfortable, but it would at least explain some things if it's true. This does however make me wish the series had delved more into just how letumosis had affected everyday life in general.

And while we're still on the topic of relationships, and this is a problem I had even back then, why is everyone paired off? Seriously, even Iko gets into a relationship (not that she doesn't deserve it, but I think my point has been made and I think she deserves better than Kinney anyway). Would it really have been too much to ask for a main pairing to just be friends (again, looking at Cresswell here)?

Then there's also the poor LGBT+ rep. I know there was Constable Dubrovsky in Fairest and MM confirmed that Torin was gay, but one is a really minor character and the other's sexuality is never even mentioned. Even the casual mention of Torin having a husband or something would've been nice.

And this is something I thought recently, but part of me wouldn't have minded if Thorne hadn't gotten his eyesight back. Of course it's great that he can see again and it's also keeping with the fairytale, but you rarely see blind protagonists in media, much less literature, so I think it would've been interesting if he had at least been left partially blind. This is just me, though.

I also wish we'd gotten more interactions between Cinder and Winter. Obviously Cinder doesn't remember her, but a few more scenes would've been nice.

Also, not that I didn't enjoy the confrontation between Cinder and Levana, but when I first read Cress, I thought Levana was going to die of letumosis herself by the end of Winter after it was revealed that the disease had mutated and I still kinda wish this had been the case. Again, just me. The confrontation is still one of my favorite scenes in the entire series, though.

Now onto the good stuff! Like I said, great plot and characters, which is saying alot coming from me because I'm generally not that big of a sci-fi fan. I love the relationships, but I adored Cinder and Thorne's friendship the most.

Levana was also a great villain, and her book is still one of my favorites in general. The thing I loved about it the most is how well it's able to make Levana look sympathetic without excusing her actions. And I love redemption arcs as much as the next person, but also speaking as someone who's tired of villains getting unearned ones just because of a sad backstory or even just making out said villain to be too sympathetic while everyone else is a jerk, I'm really glad neither was the case with her. Same goes for the other antagonists in the series, actually.

Another thing I love about this series is how it subverts tropes. In any other series, there might've been a complicated romance between Kai, Cinder, and Thorne (there's even a brief scene where Kai gets jealous of Thorne after Cinder escapes with him), but this never once comes to pass. Wolf also doesn't fall under the bad boy stereotype (this excellent post by @scarlet-benoit-is-my-rolemodel explains why), and Channary most certainly wasn't a tragic queen that Cinder should miss, just to name a few. I like how she genuinely seemed to care for Selene, but that's really the only good thing about her.

As for the books themselves, I've already said that Fairest is my favorite in general, Winter is my favorite out of the main four, Something Old, Something New is my favorite of the short stories, and I like the graphic novels just fine for the most part.

Overall, despite its flaws, this still remains my favorite book series ever.

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