Author Country United States Series The Lunar Chronicles | Cover artist Michael O Language English | |
Genre Young adult, Romance, Science fiction, Dystopian | ||
Cress is a 2014 young adult science fiction novel written by American author Marissa Meyer and published by Macmillan Publishers through their subsidiary Feiwel & Friends. It is the third novel in The Lunar Chronicles series and the sequel to Scarlet. The story is loosely based on the fairy tale of "Rapunzel", similar to its predecessors Cinder and Scarlet which were loosely based on "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood" respectively.
Contents
Plot summary
The novel begins with an introduction to Crescent "Cress" Moon Darnel, a sixteen-year-old girl living in a satellite in space that has been her prison for most of her life. She has been contacted by Cinder, the main protagonist of the first novel, and her crew on Thorne's spaceship, the Rampion. After communicating with Cinder's crew, she asks them to rescue her from her satellite which they say they will do. However, an unexpected visit from Thaumaturge Sybil Mira, who is Cress's guardian/imprisoner, throws a wrench into the plans as she discovers Cress' intent to run and plans a trap for Cinder's crew. The trap results in the capture of Scarlet, the protagonist of the previous novel and love interest of Wolf. Jacin Clay, a pilot who brought Sybil to Cress's satellite decides to join Cinder's side, the almost fatal wounding of Wolf rendering him unconscious, and Sybil sending Thorne and Cress to their certain deaths via one of Cress's satellites pods.
The crew has now been separated from one another and Cinder is sure that not only are Cress and Thorne certainly dead but Scarlet will soon have the same fate as will Wolf if she doesn't get him medical attention. Cinder decides to land the Rampion in Africa where she was to meet Dr. Erland. She speaks with him as he reveals through his own perspective that Lunars are able to contract a mutated version of the virus that has been killing many Earthens for more than a decade.
After an accidental safe landing in the Sahara Desert, Thorne has been blinded after hitting his head during the fall and Cress must get him and herself out of the desert and somehow communicate with Cinder and the crew of the Rampion. They nearly die of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and starvation, but are saved by a traveling group of people who sell wares, who are eventually revealed to be Lunar traffickers. They kidnap Cress and take her to Dr. Erland, her father who doesn't know Cress is still alive, and Thorne comes after her. Once the entire group is reunited, Cinder plans an infiltration of the castle to stop the royal wedding between Earthen Emperor Kaito and Lunar Queen Levana, even though she knows it will start a war. While Cress and Wolf dismantle the security operations for the wedding site, Cinder and Iko (an android in the form of a human-escort droid) kidnap Emperor Kaito. Dr. Erland manages to repair Thorne's vision, but diagnoses himself with the fatal disease letumosis. After stopping the wedding, Cinder plans to take the crew to Luna, declare herself as the missing Princess Selene, and get the Lunars to rally around her to dethrone Levana.
Dr. Erland dies after realizing he has been infected with a mutation of Letumosis and quarantines himself, telling Cress before he dies that he loves her and never wanted to abandon her. Before the party can leave, they are stopped by Sybil Mira and Lunar soldiers. Cinder and Sybil Mira battle it out and Cinder succeeds in breaking Mira's mind, driving her insane which leads to her jumping off the roof to her death. They fly the Rampion en route to Luna, and Queen Levana retaliates by openly declaring war on Earth.
It is also revealed that Princess Winter has Scarlet in her zoo-like palace. She is mentally unstable due to the fact that she refuses to use her Lunar gifts, but tells Scarlet that she is on Scarlet's side.