Lu, Marie
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of Chinese-born author Xiwei Lu (1984- ), in US from early childhood. She remains best known for her first series, the Young Adult Legend sequence beginning with Legend (2011), set in a moderately distant Near Future balkanized Dystopian America with a geographical focus on Los Angeles (see California). Three loci of narrative interest are conspicuously present in the central three full-length tales: an hierarchical system based on deadly agonistic Games whose winners rise to power and perilous romance, clearly influenced by The Hunger Games sequence by Suzanne Collins; a chase scenario based, Lu has stated, on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (1862; best translation Julie Rose 2008) (see Crime and Punishment); and the recurrent presence of a deadly Pandemic.
The Young Adult Young Elites sequence beginning with The Young Elites (2014) is set in a world distorted by the consequences of what – in retrospect – seems clearly to have been a Pandemic. The young protagonist, who has been gifted or cursed with Psi Powers as a consequence of her survival, must work to heal her nation, becoming Empress en passant. The Warcross sequence beginning with Warcross (2017), focuses Lu's Young Adult toolkit on a Near Future world dominated by the obsession-creating eponymous Videogame. The Skyhunter sequence beginning with Skyhunter (2020) places its young protagonist in a mutation-damaged world (see Mutants); the action evokes clan-based Military SF.
In The Kingdom of Back (2020), a singleton, the historical Nannerl Mozart (1751-1829) finds that any career as a composer – despite the support of her brother Wolfgang – is refused her, as she is female (see Feminism; Music; Women in SF). A fairy in Mysterious Stranger guise offers her access to the eponymous fantasy kingdom, where she will be able to fulfil her destiny. The tale is written with unconstricted conviction. [JC]
Lu, Xiwei
born Wuxi, Jiangsu, China: 11 July 1984
works
series (selected)
Legend
- Legend (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2011) [Legend: hb/Lori Thorn]
- Life Before Legend (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2013) [ebook: Legend: na/]
- Prodigy (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2013) [Legend: hb/Lori Thorn]
- Champion (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2011) [Legend: hb/]
- Rebel (New York: Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2019) [Legend: hb/]
The Young Elites
- The Young Elites (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2014) [Young Elites: hb/]
- The Rose Society (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2015) [Young Elites: hb/]
- The Midnight Star (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2016) [Young Elites: hb/]
Warcross
- Warcross (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2017) [Warcross: hb/Cream]
- Wildcard (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2018) [Warcross: hb/]
Skyhunter
- Skyhunter (New York: Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2020) [Skyhunter: hb/Novans V Adikresna]
- Steelstriker (New York: Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2021) [Skyhunter: hb/Novans V Adikresna]
individual titles
- Nightwalker (New York: Random House, 2018) [tie to the DC Comics Batman overseries: universe: Batman: hb/Jacey]
- The Kingdom of Back (New York: G P Putnam's Son, 2020) [hb/David Curtis]
links
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