Catholicism: A Journey To The Heart of The Faith by Father Barron

In Chapter 3: "That Than Which Nothing Greater Can Be Thought": The Ineffable Mystery of God, Father Barron explores the concept and nature of God. He begins by relating Moses' encounter with God on Mount Sinai.

Father Barron explains only one of Thomas Aquinas' five arguments for the existence of God by considering the principle of contingency. Every thing in this world is "contingent" upon something else for its existence here. Every living thing and every inanimate thing begins and ends, it has a cause to start it and eventually an ending. "Such things do not contain within themselves the reason for their own existence. If they did, they would exist, simply and absolutely;they would not come and go...in regard to contingent things, we have to look outside of them, to an extrinsic cause, or set of causes, in order to explain their existence."

Documentary: Burning The Future: Coal In America

Burning the Future: Coal in America examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the Coal Industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based US energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation's help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life. Written by David Novack

With the rising price of oil, industrial nations such as the United States and Canada continue to seek other sources of energy that are both cheap and plentiful. For the United States, the coal of West Virginia is seen as a secure source of domestic fuel. Promoted by the US coal industry as a "clean" source of energy, residents of West Virginia tell the rest of the world, the effect of coal mining on their communities. The large coal mining companies such as Massey Coal, have changed their mining practices and now mine coal through a method known as mountain top removal. Mountain top removal is exactly that - the removal of the top portion of a mountain to completely mine a shallow coal seam. The mountain top is then replaced with the left over fill. However, what the rest of the United States doesn't know is how damaging mountain top removal is to the beautiful West Virginia mountains. Besides destroying the delicate Appalachian ecosystem, mountain top removal has poisoned the groundwater of countless communities, destroyed ecosystems and damaged the health of those living near the mining operations and the coal slurry ponds.

This film is an eye-opening account of how individual families have been adversely affected by the coal mining. It brings the viewer into the personal nature of the devastation that families who have lived in Coal River Mountain, West Virginia for centuries, have experienced. Maria Gunnoe, whose family has lived in these mountains for generations, shows viewers how her life has been impacted by the extensive coal mining operations. It was disturbing to see the massive environmental devastation from the open coal mines and to see that even after the mountains are "restored", the Appalachian ecosystem is changed forever. Having a background in hydrogeology, I was horrified to see how the slurry ponds and the coal waste is destroying the groundwater supplies for millions of communities in the eastern US. I did not know that 50 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated using coal.


Made in 2008, I wondered what progress activists have made in the past 3 years or so. A second documentary, The Last Mountain, was shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Activists like Maria Gunnoe are determined to save the last mountain and continue to fight Massey Coal.




 
Below is the trailer for The Last Mountain.

Movie Review: The Vow

The Vow, released in time for Valentine's Day, is definitely a tear-jerker, a romantic movie for couples and for singles alike, about staying faithful to a vow even in the most difficult situations. The movie directed by Michael Sucsy, is loosely based on the real life events which Kim and Krickitt Carpenter lived through. Ten weeks after they were married, the couple were in a car accident in New Mexico. When she woke up from a coma, Krickitt could not remember anything from the previous eighteen months. Her doctor suggested that they begin dating again and Krickitt says that since she loved him before she decided to take a second chance. The couple were remarried in 1996, three years after their first marriage. You can learn more about their story in this interview:



The Carpenter's story is about hope, perseverance and commitment, all three virtues the movie more than adequately captures. Leo(Channing Tatum) and Paige Thorton (Rachel McAdams) are a couple who have been together for five years. Deeply in love, they are supportive of one another and share a strong commitment. Leo owns a small recording studio and Paige is a sculptor who is working on a series of sculptures for the Chicago building. Out on a date one evening, the couple are involved in a serious accident that sees Paige in hospital with severe brain trauma. When she awakes, her last memory is of being engaged to her former boyfriend, Jeremy. Paige has lost five years of memories and no longer remembers nor loves Leo.

Like his real-life counterpart, Leo meant what he said in his vows, that he would love Paige forever and prophetically that they would always find a way back to one another. When Paige's parents attempt to persuade her to come home with them, Leo steps in and convinces Paige to return home to their apartment and their life together. But things don't work out as he hoped, and Leo finds himself trying to cope with the loss of the one person he loves more than anything - his wife Paige. Will they ever be able to find their way back to the love they once knew?

Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams have a wonderful onscreen chemistry that makes this movie work. There's a strong supporting cast of Sam Neill as Paige's father Bill, and Jessica Lange as her mother, Rita. The accident scene, done in slow motion but not gory, adds drama and horror to the situation of a couple, in love, enjoying an intimate moment before their lives are shattered. The movie also does a good job of providing viewers of a glimpse of what Rachel's life was like before she met Leo and why she cut her family out of her life.

While the real-life Carpenters are thrilled to see the movie made, they wish that it reflected more the role their Christian faith had in keeping their marriage together. It was their belief in God and in his grace to help a couple through trying times that saved their marriage. Having said that, it's very apparent that the studio wanted this to be a mainstream movie and there is little if anything Christian in this portrayal of the Carpenter's real life experience. In fact Leo and Paige's marriage is a bizarre ritual, occurring in an art gallery and comprising strange vows on the part of Paige.

What impressed me most about this movie is the message of love, forgiveness and fidelity it imparts to viewers. As Rachel's parents and Leo struggle over who wins Rachel's heart, we learn that she left her family over five years ago because of a betrayal of trust. When she relearns what this was and confronts her mother, her mother tells her that she made a promise years ago to Rachel's father and that she made a decision - to forgive him and to love him. "I chose to stay with him for all the things he's done right; not the one thing he's done wrong." says Rita. It's a message worth hearing and taking to heart. Rachel must not only make the decision to love and forgive her parents, but also she learns that mainly, love is almost always a decision.

The Pale Assassin by Patricia Elliott

The Pale Assassin is the first of two books by Patricia Elliott that tell the story of an aristocratic family during the French Revolution. 

In The Pale Assassin, Elliott concentrates on developing her characters and setting the stage for what will happen in the second novel. The reader develops a good sense of what Paris and France was like before the Revolution.  The Pale Assassin works its way to a thrilling conclusion.

In this novel readers are introduced to our heroine, Eugenie Boncoeur, a fourteen-year-old aristocrat and her older brother, Armand, a royalist who is intent on helping King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette escape from Paris. Armand is part of a secret group who are plotting to save the King. Helping him is his best friend, Julien de Fortin, whom Eugenie doesn't much like. We also meet their adversaries, the "Pale Assassin", Raoul Goullet, an evil man who is intent upon destroying the Boncoeur family, and who is determined to kidnap Eugenie who has been promised to him in marriage. He is aided in his attack on the Boncoeurs by Guy Deschamps, a two-faced scoundrel, whom the naive Eugenie is infatuated with. Deschamps goes by the pseudonym of "Le Scapel".

As the situation in Paris grows increasingly violent, the Boncoeurs realize, almost too late, that they must leave for England, where they have a wealthy uncle. Armand decides to delay their departure until the day King Louis is to be guillotined, also the day when the royalists plan to attack and save the king. Julien is part of this attack, but when things do not go as planned, Armand and Julien must change their plans. Will they be able to get Eugenie out of Paris, out of France and more importantly away from La Fantome?!!

Discussion

The Pale Assassin is a well-crafted novel which will appeal to teens who enjoy historical fiction.  The Pale Assassin evokes memories of Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel series written at the turn of the last century (1905).  It has a dashing hero, a damsel who is being blackmailed by a scoundrel all set against the backdrop of the French Revolution. The Pale Assassin has believable characters, an exciting plot line and is well written. 

Book Details:
The Pale Assassin by Patricia Elliott
New York: Holiday House 2009
336 pp.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Private Peaceful is the heart-rending telling of the life of Charlie and Tommy (Tommo) Peaceful in the hours leading up to the execution of Charlie for "cowardice in the face of the enemy". 

The story is narrated by Tommo who wishes not to think about what will happen at dawn, but to remember instead what went before. "I want to try to remember everything, just as it was, just as it happened. I've had nearly eighteen years of yesterdays and tomorrows, and tonight I must remember as many of them as I can. I want tonight to be long, as long as my life, not filled with fleeting dreams that rush me on towards dawn."

Tommo recounts his years growing up in England with his mother, his older brother Charlie, whom he admired, and Big Joe, a older brother who was severely affected by a bout of meningitis when he was a baby. 

Thomas begins by remembering his first day of school, as he is taken by Charlie. Their brother Big Joe who is older than Charlie has never been to school. Big Joe nearly died from meningitis a few days after he was born. He had brain damage: he couldn't speak well, nor read or write but he loved everyone and everything. At school, they form two lines, with Charlie in the "Bigguns" and Thomas in the "Tiddlers". Thomas is singled out by Mr. Munnings who tells him he is his lord and master and that he better obey his "commandments". Thomas is in Miss McAllister's class where he is seated next to the teachers oldest and best student, Molly. She teaches him how to tie his shoelaces and her smile tells Thomas that he has a friend. From that point on Tommo adored Molly.

Before he began attending school, Thomas's father, James Peaceful died in an accident. Thomas was with his father the day he died. His father often took him to his work as a forester on the Colonel's estate. That day as his father was chopping away at a tree, Thomas looked up and saw that it was coming down on him. His father yelled for him to run but Thomas was paralyzed with fright and didn't move. In an effort to save Thomas, his father ran to him and tossed him out of the way. When Thomas woke up he saw his father pinned to the ground by the large tree, dead. At his father's funeral Thomas was unable to cry or talk. "...I have inside me a secret so horrible, a secret I can never tell anyone, not even Charlie. Father needn't have died that morning in Ford's Cleave Wood.  He was trying to save me. If only I had tried to save myself, if I had run, he would not now by lying dead in his coffin...I have killed my own father." 

With the death of his father, life for Thomas and his family changed. Soon after  Thomas's mother stopped singing and was quieter and sad. Then the Colonel arrived one day to tell them that with the death of her husband, she would have to leave the cottage on his estate. However, he suggested that she come work at the house to care for his wife as the two older boys would be able to look after themselves. He also suggested placing "the other one" - that is Big Joe,  in the lunatic asylum. Without much choice, Thomas's mother took the job as maid and his mother's aunt, whom they called "Grandmother Wolf" moved in. She had once worked at the Colonel's house as a housekeeper but had to leave. She quickly took charge, was strict and was harsh with Big Joe. During this time, Thomas's mother was too tired to protest Grandma Wolf's treatment of the boys and of Molly whom she often hit. 

The Colonel's wife died and Thomas's mother returned home. without much money they began to go hungry.  To alleviate this, Charlie began poaching salmon, trout and rabbits from the Colonel's land while Molly and Thomas kept watch. Finally during this time, Grandma Wolf left their home and moved back to the Colonel's house as a live-in housekeeper. Thomas's family were allowed to remain in the cottage because of a promise made by the Colonel's wife. 

Shortly after this Molly became ill with scarlet fever. Without her watching, Thomas fell asleep and Charlie was caught poaching by the Colonel's bailiff, Lambert. Charlie was made to apologize, but their mother's intervention prevented the boys being whipped. Instead they were made to clean out the Colonel's kennels for several months. Thankfully Molly recovered and visited the Peacefuls on Christmas Eve.

When Thomas turned twelve, both Charlie and Molly left school. She was fourteen and Charlie was thirteen. Charlie worked in the hunt kennels at the Colonel's  house while Molly became under-parlor maid there. For Thomas, this began the separation of the three friends. There was more trouble with the Colonel when Charlie took Bertha, one of the Colonel's foxhounds to save her from being shot by Colonel. This led to Charlie being fired but keeping Bertha who became Big Joe's faithful companion. Charlie managed to find work with Farmer Cox as a dairyman and shepherd. At this time Molly stopped visiting Charlie and they knew this was because of the Colonel. Thomas managed to meet with Molly in the trees by the brook where she revealed that her parents won't let her visit because Charlie is a thief. However, they got around this by having Thomas bring letters back and forth. 

With Europe at war the army had bought up many horses in the village. Molly's mother visited the Peaceful home to insist that Charlie and Molly stop seeing one another. Thomas was hurt by the revelation that his brother has continued to see Molly because he too loves her. Then Big Joe went missing. This happened after the Bertha was shot by the Colonel. It was Molly who determined that Big Joe, in an effort to get to heaven, has gone to the church tower. And that is where Thomas found him.

At this time, the battle on the Marne had left the British and the Germans at a stalemate. Molly and Charlie married after she showed up at the Peaceful home, pregnant with Charlie's baby and disowned by her parents. This was a struggle for Thomas to accept so he kept his distance from Molly. One day when Thomas who was now fifteen years old, was in Hatherleigh to sell Farmer Cox's rams, he watched as a military band entered the maarket. The sergeant-major began singling out young men including Thomas, to enlist. Jimmy Parsons stepped forward followed by others, but Thomas did not. Instead he fled the market in fear and shame, being labelled a coward.

At home, Charlie told Thomas he never planned to join because he has\d no quarrel with the Germans. He couldn't understand why he would want to shoot a German. However, a few weeks later the Colonel visited the Peaceful cottage and threatened Charles into enlisting as the British military needed more men. To force Charlie to enlist, the Colonel told his mother that if he didn't they would no longer be able to live at the estate's cottage. So both Charlie and Thomas pretended to be twins and enlisted together. It was a decision that was to have terrible repercussions for Charlie and Molly and change the Peaceful family forever.

Discussion

Private Peaceful is a story about World War I that explores the injustice of executing soldiers for desertion, cowardice or for merely falling asleep. The two main characters, Thomas and Charlie Peaceful are fictional, but the executions of soldiers during World War II was very real.

The novel is narrated by Thomas (Tommo) Peaceful, the younger brother of Charlie Peaceful. It is the night before Charlie's execution. However, the reader is initially led to believe that it is Thomas who is facing execution and reminiscing about his life. Each chapter is titled with a time stamp, the first chapter being Five Past Ten (the night before) and ending with One Minute To Six (the morning of the execution). In these chapters, Thomas is remembering his life with Charlie beginning with the day Charlie carried him to school on his back. Throughout the narrative Thomas portrays his older brother as someone unfraid to confront those injustice.

This is first seen when Thomas fights Jimmy Parsons for calling Big Joe a "loony" and is beaten. Charlie takes on Jimmy and gets canned by Mr. Munnings, their harsh school master. However, unlike Jimmy Parsons who cries, Charlie doesn't flinch. Later on, Charlie attempts to save the Colonel's foxhound Bertha from being shot for simply being too old. This gets Charlie labelled a thief. But it is in the army where Charlie rebels against the harsh and cruel discipline. Forced to enlist by the Colonel in order for his mother, Big Joe, and his wife Molly to stay in their cottage, Charlie is accompanied by younger brother Thomas to Salisbury Plain where they train and then travel to Etaples, France to fight. 

In France they meet Sergeant "Horrible" Hanley who is abusive and cruel to the new soldiers. He immediately singles out Charlie Peaceful. It begins with Charlie's crooked cap badge. Charlie would not give Hanley the satisfaction of intimidating him and so he is put on extra sentry duty. When he couldn't break Charlie, Hanley singles out Thomas in an attempt to provoke Charlie. He succeeds after Thomas is ordered to run five times around the parade ground with his rifle above his head and he passes out. This leads Charlie to confront Hanley, resulting in him being administered Field Punishment Number One. "All day long Charlie was lashed there in the rain, legs apart, arms spread-eagled."  Charlie wasn't the only soldier that Sergeant Hanley subjected to this treatment. "Caught sleeping one night at his post, Ben Guy, the innkeeper's son from Exbourne, on of the new recruits, was subjected, as Charlie had been before him, to Field Punishment Number One. For day after day he was strapped ther on the gun wheel in all weathers." This especially cruel form of punishment was used over sixty thousand times by the British army in World War 1. In truth it was a form of torture labelled "the crucifixion" that was eventually abolished in 1923 in Britain. 

The final confrontation comes during a battle when Charlie rescues Thomas after he is buried by a shell explosion.  Charlie, Thomas, Pete, along with many others and Sergeant Hanley are trapped in no-man's land in an old German concrete dugout. They are pinned down by machine guns on three sides. Charlie believes it is best for them to stay put and wait until dark especially since Thomas is so seriously wounded he cannot stand, let alone run in an attack. When Hanley gives the order to attack and no one moves,  Charlie explains the Germans have seen them go into the dugout and are simply waiting for them to move out so they can open fire. Even when Hanley threatens Charlie with the firing squad, Charlie doesn't back down but explains that Thomas cannot run and that he's not leaving his brother. Hanley and the men go out but only he returns. "By nightfall there was still no sign of Pete, nor of a dozen others who'd gone out with the sergeant to join that futile charge. The sergeant decided it was time to go. So in the dark of the night, by twos and threes, the remnants of the company crawled back to our trenches across no-man's-land, Charlie half-dragging me, half lifting me all the way." After this Charlie is arrested. 

The result is a sham of a trial without legal representation. Charlie describes the court-martial to Thomas: "They had their one witness, Sergeant Hanley, and he was all they needed. It wasn't a trial, Tommo. They'd made up their minds I was guilty before they even sat down. I had three of them, a brigadier and two captains looking down their noses at me as if I was some sort of dirt. "  He tells Thomas that he told them everything and admitted to disobeying the order because it was "stupid, suicidal". Charlie tells Thomas that the military commanders knew that the attack was futile but that didn't matter. His record of "insubordination", of being wounded in the foot all sealed his fate. In the end, Charlie Peaceful was executed. 

Charlie Peaceful's trial and execution highlights the unethical treatment of soldiers during World War 1 court martials. This included the lack of legal representation, and the absence of witnesses for the soldiers' defense. The execution of soldiers by all countries during World War I was seen as a way to enforce discipline ensuring that soldiers obeyed orders to attack, even when the situation seemed "suicidal" to the soldiers. It was also considered a deterrent to desertion. The British often carried out these executions before major offensives for this reason. The result was three hundred and six British soldiers were executed by firing squad during World War I. 

As author Michael Morpurgo writes in his Author's Note, "That a shameful injustice had been done to these unfortunate men seemed to me beyond doubt. Their judges called them "worthless."  Their trials, or court martials, were brief, under twenty minutes in some cases. Twenty minutes for a man's life. Often they had no one to speak for them and no witnesses were called in their defense. There was, I felt, a presumption of guilt. We know now, as they knew then, that most of these men were traumatized by shell shock. When their ends came it was always at dawn, and often they were shot by a firing squad made up of unwilling friends and comrades. The youngest soldier to be executed was just seventeen."

It also frames the growing disillusionment of soldiers as the war dragged on. The initial sense of patriotism gradually waned as both sides seems to achieve little progress. This is expressed by Charlie and Thomas's friend Pete who becomes angry upon hearing that Charlie has told his mother that they are "having a fine time in Belgium".  Pete angrily responds, "So that's what we're having, is it?...A fine time. Why does he tell them that? Why doesn't he say what it's really like out here, what a hopeless bloody mess it all is, how there's good men, thousands of them, dying for nothing -- for nothing!..."

Author Michael Morpurgo effectively portrays the brutality of war in the novel. Soldiers like Charlie and Thomas and many of their school friends, are coerced into enlisting. Thomas experiences the wrath of an old woman who accuses him of being a coward while Charlie is bullied into enlisting by the Colonel. Although they are physically trained in England, it isn't until they see the huge training camp and see the wounded that Thomas and his brother begin to understand what the war might be like. Morpurgo captures the terror Thomas experiences during a gas attack even though he has a mask on. There are vivid descriptions of the rats and freezing mud in the trenches, the shelling, charges across no-man's-land, and the deaths of friends and mentors. Thomas remembers the fear, the panic and the pain of loss.

Private Peaceful is a novel of contrasts. The Peaceful family is one of love and kindness, of helping one another. Their simple tenderness and care for Big Joe is touching and its clear he has taught them to care for one another by his innocence and love for everything and everyone. In contrast to the rhythms of rural life in England is the chaos of war where the noise, fear, pain and death are ovewhelming.

Morpurgo has crafted believable characters in Charlie and Thomas, and in many of the secondary characters. The two brothers are friends and competitors with Thomas looking up to his older brother. Charlie is protective of Thomas and is a role model. Both Charlie and Thomas love Molly but it is Charlie who marries her. Knowing he will die, Charlie asks Thomas to take care of her and their little boy, Tommo. And as a final gift to Thomas, Charlie tells him that he was never responsible for their father's death. 

The novel concludes with a Postscript about the World War 1 court martials and that the men who were executed were likely suffering from shell shock or what is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It also mentions that these men are still not pardoned. Morporgo's novel was published and 2004 and these men were "conditionally" pardoned in 2006.

Book Details:

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Toronto: Scholastic Press 2004
208pp.

Between by Jessica Warman

Between is a story about two ghosts/spirits who spend time "between" Earth and the afterlife solving the mystery of how they died, so they can find eternal peace.

It is the eve of Elizabeth Valchar's 18th birthday and she's spending it on her family's boat with friends, drinking and doing recreational drugs. Elizabeth is attractive and popular, part of the "in" crowd in her high school. She has it all; beauty, a cute boyfriend, a flashy car, and plenty of money. Early in the morning, Liz is awakened by an annoying, persistent, thumping noise outside the boat. When she goes to investigate she makes the shocking discovery that it is her body, face down in the water. Liz soon discovers that while she can see and hear the living, she cannot touch or interact with them in any way.

However, Liz is not alone for long. Her spirit is soon found by another spirit, that of Alex Berg, a boy from her school who was killed a year ago by a hit and run driver. His death was never solved with the identity of the driver unknown. Alex can see and touch Liz and communicate with her. Because Alex lived in another part of town, wasn't wealthy or popular, Liz and her posse ignored Alex. Now in death, Alex can barely contain his contempt for her.

Liz finds that she has no memory of what happened on the night she died, nor of many other details of her life. But she learns that she can slip back into memories, which begin to help her piece together the final months leading up to her death. Together Alex and Liz begin through a series of flashbacks to uncover the truth about what happened on the eve of Liz's eighteenth birthday.

Jessica Warman does a good job of retaining the reader's interest throughout the novel with a well paced narrative that paints a picture of a group of selfish, spoiled teens concerned only with looking good and being popular. There are several mysteries to be solved, and these serve as the hook drawing the reader in. A few examples will suffice. What is the connection between Liz and Alex? Was Liz's death an accident or the result of something more sinister? Some readers may solve these mysteries sooner than others but as the story begins to come together it's not hard to piece together what happened.

As the narrative progresses, we see Liz undergo a process of self-discovery that transforms her from a self-absorbed, spoiled teenager, concerned only about money, looks and status, to a more caring person who is sorry for some of the things she did when she was alive. So the book opens with most of the characters being being genuinely unlikable, including Liz. That changes by the end with Liz having redeemed herself as much as is possible for a ghost.

Between is a book with themes of redemption, loss, love and forgiveness. The premise of the book is what caught my attention and I wasn't disappointed. Some readers might be put off by the length of the book (slightly over 450 pages) but the story is well told in Liz's voice, which is authentic, full of angst and regret at some of her poor choices.

Book Details
Between by Jessica Warman
New York: Walker & Company 2011
454 pp.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is a unique mash-up of fairytale and science fiction.  The fairytale is an underlying theme until the end of the book where it rears up in full force.

The story is set in post World War IV Earth, during which whole cities were been annihilated, including Beijing. Cinder is set specifically in New Beijing which is part of the Eastern Commonwealth, ruled by Emperor Rikan. Many generations ago, Earth colonized the moon. The descendants of the colonists became known as Lunars. Lunars are not considered human but a different race that is greedy and violent. This is partly due to the fact that they have developed the unique ability to manipulate what humans see and feel through the use of bioelectrical energy. For this reason, they can easily control humans and are considered very dangerous to "Earthens". However, not all Lunars have this ability and these are known as "shells".

Earth is experiencing a deadly plague called metumosis for which there is no cure. Anyone who becomes ill with the plague is automatically taken away and quarantined to die. Emperor Rikan is on his deathbed from metumosis and his son, Kai is poised to be named the new emperor. This occurs at the time that Emperor Rikan was attempting to negotiate a new alliance with the Lunars, possibly through the marriage of Prince Kai and the Lunar monarch, Queen Levana.  Queen Levana is cruel and manipulative and it is widely held that she murdered her sister to ascend the throne. Queen Levana is also believed to have murdered her niece, Princess Selene who was her only threat to rule. Because of her ability to control others, the Lunars have been unable to rise up against Queen Levana. Some Lunars have escaped to Earth and live as Earthens. This is the dsytopian world that Cinder lives in.

Linh Cinder is a cyborg and an extraordinary mechanic who runs her own repair booth at the nearby marketplace. Cinder's body was altered when she was eleven-years-old. She has a mechanical hand and foot, a heart that is partly silicon and her brain has computer software integrated into it. Cinder is ashamed that she is a cyborg.

Cinder lives with her guardian, Adri Linh, and her two stepsisters, Pearl and Peony, in New Beijing. Her stepmother is cruel to her and Cinder's only friend is Peony, whom she loves dearly. Similar to the Cinderella fairytale, Adri orders Cinder around, pushing her to do all the repairs. When they learn that there is to be a ball held by Prince Kai on the occasion of his coronation as Emperor, Pearl, Peony and Adri discuss dresses and shoes. But Adri makes it quite clear that Cinder will not be attending. She has too much to do and besides, why would an ugly cyborg want to attend anyway?

Because Cinder is well known for her mechanical abilities, Prince Kai shows up one day at her booth with a malfunctioning droid. They meet and are instantly attracted to one another. But Prince Kai is unaware that Cinder is a cyborg and Cinder knows she can never be with him.

When Peony sickens from the plague and is quarantined, Adri has Cinder sent to the research facility to be used as a test subject for a plague cure. It is during these tests at the research facility attached to the palace that Cinder is discovered by Dr. Erland, head of plague research, to have some remarkable qualities. When he questions her about her past life, all Cinder can remember is that she was injured in a hover accident and made into a cyborg. Dr. Erland promises Cinder that he will run tests to try to understand her situation better. The reader though, by this time should have a pretty good idea just who Cinder is, so that when Dr. Erland reveals to Cinder what he has learned about her, it really comes as no surprise.

Cinder also meets Kai again and he invites her to the coronation ball. Despite her repeated  refusals to attend, Kai continues to insist that she do so. Meanwhile Prince Kai must deal with the evil Queen Levana who has arrived on Earth for his coronation. Queen Levana continues to pressure Prince Kai into marriage by blackmail. Kai knows that if he marries her, his life will be over but that if he refuses, war with Lunar will ensue.

Pearl and Adri leave for the ball,  and Cinder is left at home to finish her mechanical chores. But instead of a fairy godmother showing up to provide a way to get there, Cinder learns some important information that makes it imperative that she attend and warn Prince Kai of a trap. The resulting confrontation places Cinder in great peril and brings the book to its climax.

Discussion

Cinder was an imaginative start to what will be a four book series known as The Lunar Chronicles. While the plot is complicated but interesting, there are many similarities to the first Star Wars movie story line; a prince in distress with an android carrying a secret message that must be accessed and a young girl who has a knack for mechanics, adopted by people she hardly knows, drawn into a crisis of potential planetary war against a cruel dictator with special powers! All of this is superimposed on the Cinderella fairy tale, with its potential to be a love story.

Because there was so much to be developed in this first book, the dystopian world building (Earth and Moon), the complicated story, and introduction of many important characters, Cinder is somewhat weak on depth of characterization but long on action and description.

However, it sets the stage well for the next book, which hopefully develop the complicated and conflicted characters both Kai and Cinder seem to be. This series promises either to be very very good, or a hot mess of characters and plot lines. Fans of twisted fairy tales will love Cinder!

Book Details
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
New York: Macmillan (Feiwel and Friends Book)   2012
390 pp.