Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles was a masterclass in fairy-tale reimagining — taking familiar stories and rebuilding them in a future world that honoured their original logic while creating something entirely new. Renegades moves her into different territory: the superhero genre, treated with the same structural care she brought to her previous series, and applied to questions the genre rarely asks this directly.
After an era of chaos, the Renegades — a group of prodigies (people with supernatural abilities) — established order and now govern Gatlon City as a kind of benevolent authority. Nova Artino, whose entire family was killed while the Renegades failed to act, is a member of the Anarchists — the prodigies who oppose Renegade rule — and has infiltrated the Renegades to destroy them from within. Adrian Everhart is a Renegade who believes in what they stand for, and who has his own hidden identity and his own secrets.
The Political Question
Meyer’s most interesting move is refusing to let the Renegades simply be right. They saved the world, and they now run it, and the gap between those two things — between being heroes and being a government — creates the moral complexity the series lives in. The Anarchists are not wrong that power has corrupted something. The Renegades are not wrong that someone has to maintain order.
Nova and Adrian’s relationship develops across this disagreement, which gives it real stakes. They are on opposite sides of a genuine question, not a misunderstanding.
Nova
Her ability — she can put people to sleep with a touch, and she herself has never slept — is original, and Meyer builds her interiority from it. The girl who has never experienced unconsciousness, never experienced the surrender of sleep, has a particular relationship to vulnerability that runs through everything she does.
Adrian
His power — he can bring anything he draws to life — is used inventively throughout, and his idealism is written with sympathy rather than naivety. He believes in the Renegades because he has seen what they can do at their best, and that belief being tested is the arc the series builds toward.
Why YA Readers Will Love This
For readers who love superhero stories and want one that takes the genre’s political implications seriously — who wins when the heroes take power, and what do we owe them for it — Renegades is the YA answer to that question.
For readers who love slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romances where the obstacle is structural and genuine: Nova and Adrian have to betray each other. The question is when, and which one does it first, and whether they can survive it.
For readers who loved The Lunar Chronicles and want more of Meyer’s world-building competence in a new genre: the superhero world she builds is detailed and internally consistent, with a clear logic for how prodigy abilities work and what their social implications are.
Archenemies and Supernova follow to complete the trilogy.
Published: November 2017 · Genre: YA fantasy/superhero · Series: Renegades, Book 1
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Renegades about? After an era of chaos, the Renegades — prodigies with supernatural abilities — established order and now govern Gatlon City as a benevolent authority. Nova Artino, whose family was killed when the Renegades failed to act, is an Anarchist who has infiltrated the Renegades to destroy them from within. Adrian Everhart is a Renegade who believes in what they stand for. Their relationship develops across a genuine political disagreement.
What is the central political question in Renegades? Meyer’s most interesting move is ‘refusing to let the Renegades simply be right.’ The gap between being heroes and being a government creates the moral complexity the series inhabits. The review notes the Anarchists are ’not wrong that power has corrupted something,’ and the Renegades are ’not wrong that someone has to maintain order’ — a genuine disagreement rather than a misunderstanding.
What makes Nova’s power distinctive as a character trait? Nova can put people to sleep with a touch, and she herself has never slept. The review notes Meyer ‘builds her interiority from it’ — a girl who has never experienced unconsciousness or the surrender of sleep has ‘a particular relationship to vulnerability that runs through everything she does,’ making her ability an expression of character rather than a plot tool.
How does Renegades compare to Meyer’s earlier Lunar Chronicles? The review describes the Lunar Chronicles as ‘a masterclass in fairy-tale reimagining.’ Renegades moves Meyer into superhero territory ’treated with the same structural care she brought to her previous series.’ For readers who loved the Lunar Chronicles, the review promises ‘more of Meyer’s world-building competence in a new genre’ with ‘a detailed and internally consistent’ superhero world.
What type of romance does Renegades offer? Nova and Adrian’s romance is described as a ‘slow-burn enemies-to-lovers’ where ’the obstacle is structural and genuine’ — they are on opposite sides of a real disagreement, not a misunderstanding. The review notes they ‘have to betray each other,’ with the dramatic question being ‘when, and which one does it first, and whether they can survive it.’
Further Reading from Authoritative Sources
- Marissa Meyer — Wikipedia’s Marissa Meyer article provides biographical context and her complete bibliography, including the Lunar Chronicles series the review uses as a comparison point for understanding her strengths as a world-builder.
- superhero genre conventions — Wikipedia’s superhero fiction article contextualises the genre traditions Renegades is both drawing on and critiquing, helping readers understand what Meyer is doing differently with the political implications of super-powered governance.
