Cinder (2012) Scarlet (2013) Cress (2014) Winter (2015)
⚡ Pace: fast · 🎭 Emotions: fun, adventurous · 🚪 Entry threshold: low · ⭐ Why read: clever retellings, dynamic plot
A city of glass domes and neon veins hums under a fractured moon. Somewhere in its mechanical heart, a girl with grease on her hands hides a secret stronger than any circuit – she’s not entirely human. The plague eats through the streets, the Empire tightens its grip, and whispers of rebellion rise like static in the air. Here, fairy tales aren’t told – they’re re-wired, each spark rewriting the old codes of destiny.
Cinder fixes machines but can’t mend what’s broken inside her. Scarlet drives through storms chasing the truth behind a vanished grandmother. Cress watches from orbit, dreaming of open skies she’s never touched. And Winter sees beauty in madness, her mind a fragile prism refracting everything her world forbids. Together they form a constellation of outcasts orbiting power, hope, and the question – what makes someone truly human?
Across planets and palaces, love becomes defiance and metal becomes flesh. The Lunar Chronicles hums with rebellion and empathy, weaving classic myths into chrome and starlight. Every page pulses with that impossible desire – to be free, to belong, to rewrite one’s own story before the system shuts you down.
📚 Did you know 📖
The first book, Cinder (2012), launched a saga blending cyberpunk with retellings of classic fairy tales.
Meyer concluded the story in the fourth book (Winter) and the novella (Fairest), though fans often point to Cress and Stars Above (#4.5) as essential additions.
The series won the Audie Award for Best YA Audiobook.
Meyer drew inspiration from the anime Sailor Moon and the old Grimm fairy tales.
The series also includes spin-offs: Fairest (2015) and Stars Above (2016).
Legend has it: in the earliest drafts, Cinderella-Cinder wasn’t a mechanic but a hacker.