Friday, January 11, 2008

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Published in 2006. 372 pages.


Specials is the third book in the young adult science fiction Uglies trilogy. The storyline nicely completed the saga of Tally Youngblood, but I found the telling to be a bit uneven. Some of it was fast-moving and exciting, and, like with the other books, I thought the social commentary - which included not only society's obsession with appearance but also the concept of choice and the idiocy of war - was superb. But other parts seemed too much of the "same old thing," and I thought maybe the series was continuing on too long. The ending was great, however, and I've heard good things about the fourth book - Extras - so I'm eager to read more.

Before I read Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, Scott Westerfeld was an "unread author" for me. With Extras, that'll be four of the six books required for the Unread Authors Challenge. I am going to also count Specials for the Winter Reading Challenge, the Young Adult Challenge and my "Oh, To Be Young Again!" category of the 888.

2008.3

5 comments:

  1. I've never read anything by Westerfeld. A lot of other bloggers seem to like the first book too. Maybe it's time to take the plunge.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have Westerfeld on a list somewhere, but I think as an alternate.

    The cover says that Specials is the "final volume" of the trilogy. Has there been a change to that by adding Extras, or is Extras a standalone? Thanks! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Uglies was my first novel by Scott Westerfeld -- I got hooked on his books afterwards. I believe I've read every one but his Midnighters stuff, and Extras.

    And Extras is an accompanying book, but it doesn't follow Tally and her life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am really looking forward to starting this series. My dad got me the first two for christmas and I picked this one up at the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Specials is my favorite of the series, and I was disappointed bY extras

    ReplyDelete