Scarlet
By Marissa Meyer
February 5, 2013
Ages 12 and up
Feiwel and Friends
Reviewed: ARC from Publisher
Author’s Website
Order from Amazon
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.
You can read about why I think Marissa is a creative force to be reckoned with here. Below you will find Marissa’s guest post on writing THE QUEEN’S ARMY, a prequel to the Lunar Chronicles series:
On Writing “The Queen’s Army”
By Marissa Meyer
I suspect most novelists have vast amounts of back story living in their heads, or in random files on their computer, or jotted on scraps of paper in their story binders. We fall so in love with our worlds and characters that it’s sometimes hard to be selective over the things we include in the novel, versus those secretive tidbits that we think are fascinating, but don’t quite fit into the story. All we can do is hint at them and hope that an opportunity presents itself, someday, to share them with our readers.
Which is why I’ve loved writing the two Lunar Chronicles prequel stories for my publisher and Tor.com:
“Glitches,” which released in 2011, presents an eleven-year-old, newly-mechanized Cinder first coming to live with Adri and her family.
And my most recent short, “The Queen’s Army,” gives insight into the army of werewolf-like soldiers Queen Levana is creating in order to wage war on Earth. It focuses on one soldier in particular—young Ze’ev Kesley, or Z, who is determined to not let himself become a monster.
With writing a short story, not unlike writing a novel, the first step is to pinpoint the focus of the story. Hoping that the trend begun with CINDER and “Glitches” would continue with SCARLET, I’d already set aside some potential story ideas when the request came in. But when I sent all those ideas to my editor, “The Queen’s Army” was a clear winner. In part because it was the story I had the most fodder for, but also because it would allow readers a glimpse into a world they may not otherwise get to see (the underground army barracks on Luna and the genetic mutations that soldiers are subjected to).
With the topic decided, the second step was to go through SCARLET and note any points of reference that would relate to Z’s story and the werewolf army, to ensure the prequel was consistent with the novel.
This also helped me choose which elements of Z’s story to focus on. Novels naturally bring up a lot of questions that never get fully answered: Why do these characters hate each other so much? Where did that scar come from? What created this fear of needles or snakes or public speaking or whatever it is they’re afraid of? I chose the questions I wanted to answer and started piecing together the events of Z’s past that would answer them. I soon realized that my short story was turning into a novella (that’s a bad habit of mine), and had to cut out a few scenes to keep to the requested story length. This forced me to really focus on the important elements of Z’s story and the world-building I wanted readers to understand.
Also, like with a novel, a short story needs to have a beginning-middle-end structure that resolves at least one of the story’s main issues—for good or for bad. So that was a big focus when I was writing my outline—figuring out Z’s major character arc and how he would change over the course of the story.
Once I had my outline, the actual writing of “The Queen’s Army” was relatively easy. That’s one of the great things about prequel stories—there’s usually so much of them that I’ve already figured out in my head (setting details and character quirks, etc.) that it isn’t like being back at square one as it would be with starting a new novel. It’s also a lot of fun for me to have the opportunity to delve into these back stories, because no matter how much I thought I knew about a character or their world, I always end up learning so much more.
I hope that readers will be intrigued by Z and his choices in “The Queen’s Army,” as well as the results of those choices that begin to play out, years later, in the world of SCARLET.
The Queen’s Army can be read online at Tor.com, or download the e-book for $.99 here.
Download the additional short story Glitches for only 99 cents, here.
Follow Marissa Meyer as she goes out on tour!
(Is she visiting your city?)
Scarlet Blog Tour Schedule
Monday 1/21 Alexa Loves Books
Tuesday 1/22 Alice Marvels
Wednesday 1/23 Mermaid Vision Books
Thursday 1/24 Into the Hall of Books
Friday 1/25 Supernatural Snark
Saturday 1/26 Anna Reads
Sunday 1/27 A Backwards Story
Monday 1/28 Bewitched Bookworms
Tuesday 1/29 The Book Rat
Wednesday 1/30 Makeshift Bookmark
Thursday 1/31 Book Sake
Friday 2/1 Making the Grade
Saturday 2/2 Birth of a New Witch
Sunday 2/3 Two Chicks on Books
Enter to win a paperback copy of CINDER
*and* a hardback copy of SCARLET!
Open to US/Canada only and ends Wednesday, January 20, 2013 at midnight.
I loved The Queen’s ARmy and I can’t wait to read SCarlet. I tore through Cinder!
Ooh! Mutated soldiers? I’m so there. I bought GLITCHES but had completely forgotten about THE QUEEN’S ARMY. Going to buy it right now.
Once I finally get around to reading Cinder, I definitely need to check out the short stories. I kind of love when authors have them! =) Thanks for hosting an awesome giveaway!
Can’t wait for Scarlet! I hadn’t heard of The Queen’s Army but now I have another one to add to my TBR list!
Thank you for the giveaway!
Reading Cinder right now and enjoying the unique story! Can’t wait to see what Scarlet is like. Sounds very interesting! Thanks for the chance to win!
Loved Cinder, Glitches, and Queen’s Army – Can’t wait for Scarlet!!
I can’t wait to read Scarlett! I’ve been dying for it to come out ever since I finished reading Cinder. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
I find it interesting that so many authors of YA fiction seem to be releasing prequels (often, as novellas, and/or for eReaders only). I wonder if this is a reflection of our current share-everything, know-everything culture. I don’t have an issue with having questions answered, but I also appreciate having some things left to my imagination.
I haven’t actually had a chance to read Cinder yet even though I REALLY want to! I got Glitches but I want to read Cinder before I read it. This one sounds quite interesting as well :) Thanks, Jenna! You always have the best giveaways! :)
I admit, I’m not the biggest fan of short stories, but I never put it together in my head that they would be a great way to learn more about the world/characters/etc. I think it’s because I’m greedy and would rather have another novel than a short story…
I haven’t read Cinder, but have been wanting to read it. Thanks for the giveaways :)
I confess I haven’t read glitches or the Queen’s Army, but I LOVE all these extra snippets authors are giving us nowadays. It makes the wait between the books easier. Also, thank you very much for this giveaway. I was fortunate to be included on the blog page in the paperback of CINDER, so I’d love a copy, and I am dying to read more SCARLET!
Happy February!
Both Scarlet and The Queens Army sound wonderful. Cinder and Scarlet are both on my TBR list (or To Be Bought & Read list in my case). Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I am so excited to read Scarlet! I really enjoyed Cinder and I kept hearing that this one is even better. I love fairy tale retellings!
I haven’t read The Queen’s Army, but I definitely need to.
Thanks for this post, and for the giveaway!
I have both books on my wishlist and I can’t wait to have them both to start reading ;D
I’ve read Glitches, but I didn’t know about the Queens Army. I will have to add it to my wishlist.
I love this series and I can’t wait for Scarlet!! The Queen’s Army was AWESOME!! =)
I havent read Cinder yet but im dying to!! Thanks for the giveaway!!
I absolutely loved Cinder! I was a little wary when I first picked up the book but I was not disapointed in the slightest by the time I turned the final page. So excited for Scarlet!
Such a nice giveaway – thank you!
This has been on my wishlist since I finished Cinder. I loved it!!! Plus, The Queen’s Army has me SO bloody eager for Scarlet :D
Queen’s Army on my Kindle – TBR as is Scarlet! Can’t wait!
I haven’t read Cinder yet, but these books sound SO amazing! Thanks for the giveaway :)
Thanks for the chance to win. I haven’t read Cinder yet, but I’m looking forward to the whole series!
Thanks for the awesome Giveaway. I really can’t wait to read the sequel. Hope I win. =]
I haven’t read Cinder yet but have really wanted to. I planned on buying Cinder when Scarlet came out so I could read them back to back but if I won that would be super cool as well. Thank you so much for the awesome giveaway!
Interesting information about short stories.
Thank you so much for this giveaway! I cannot wait to read this book! I loved the first book in this series! I am so excited for this to come out! THANKS AGAIN!
I haven’t read Glitches yet and I still need to get The Queen’s Army. I loved Cinder though and can’t wait to read Scarlet!
I love short stories that give added insight into a character’s world.
Thank you so much for the giveaway! I am incredibly excited to read Scarlet!!!!!
Cinder has been on my wishlist for a long time. Thanks for the opportunity to win it!
Thanks for the giveaway! I’ve had both these books on my to be read list. :)
I have to admit, I was so skeptical of The Lunar Chronicles Series. I have friends whom absolutely adored it, but Sci-Fi is so far from my thing it is not even funny.
Finally, I gave in to the hype, and BOY I have not regretted it for a moment! I’m still a bit away from finishing Cinder [if i weren't so tired I'd finish tonite!] but I already adore the world and characters that Marissa Meyer has created! I thank her for making me see that sci-fi isn’t so bad afterall :-D
Everyone keeps talking about this series. I really want to read them both now!
I have heard all good things about these books!!!!!
I loved Cinder and can’t wait to read Scarlet! Is there a link for Glitches? it sounds interesting.
I can’t wait. I have heard nothing but good things about both books.
This is an awesome giveaway. I have been intrigued by what I have heard about this series!!! Thanks for offering it :)
I loved Cinder and have read good things about Scarlet. Can’t wait to read it. And I’m excited that I found your blog.
Cinder was an amazingly unique fairt tale retelling…can’t wait for Scarlet!
I read the sample of Cinder and I was hooked, when I got the complete book I
could not put it down. I can’t wait to read Scarlet!
EEK! I’ve been positively dying for Scarlet ever since I finished Cinder! It’s such a fantastic mashup of dystopia, steampunk, fairy tale, and romance!~
My daughter is reading Cinder right now, and we are both so excited for Scarlet! These two books are definite must haves for our book shelf! :D Thanks for the giveaway! :D