tiny pink books

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2009

In Leviathan, a steampunk alternate history of World War I, Scott Westerfeld has created a wonderfully imaginative world with characters as likable as they come.  Telling the stories of Deryn Sharp, a spunky and tough girl posing as a boy soldier in the British army and Aleksander Ferdinand, son of the Archduke and on the run from his own country of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  In Westerfeld’s world, the British, known as The Dawinists, have followed Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories with a twist of genetic engineering to create animals for battle and transport.  The Germans, known as the Clankers, use engine powered iron machines (think steampunk meets mecha) to do their bidding.  The result is a spectacular adventure–fun, imaginative, and meticulously detailed (yet never dry).

If you can tell already, I loved this book.  I’m a fan of Westerfeld’s previous work with the Uglies series and Leviathan has surpassed my expectations.  I should also mention that the illustrations, by Keith Thompson, are excellent and really contributed to the feel of the story.  I guess the thing that I was most impressed with in Leviathan, was Westerfeld’s ability to create a world with so many details, both historical and fantastic, yet still have lifelike characters and an exciting plot with much drama.  Go Scott!

I’d recommend this book to, uhh, everyone.  But seriously, this book is timely in that it is decidedly steampunk, which is currently exploding on the hipster front (has anyone picked up Make magazine lately?).  I can see this book working for a lot of different audiences (the fantasy readers, the scifi readers, the nostalgic adventure readers).  I think this is be a great book for adults, teens, and tweens who want adventure, a little imagination, and a lot of fun.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Razorbill, 2005

I know, I’m a bit of a one trick pony these days: Scott Westerfled, Scott Westerfeld, Scott Westerfeld!  Anyway, after reading the Uglies books, I checked out Peeps from the library, upon recommendation from my sister, who knows/loves/reads vampire books for teens even more than I do!  That’s just what Peeps is–a vampire book for teens.  It just so happens to be a very fun, well-written, and enjoyable vampire books for teens.

Cal Thompson, the narrator and hero of Peeps, is a peep hunter and a parasite-positive.  In other words, he is a carrier for the parasite that causes vampirism and he happens to hunt down infected victims to get them off the street.  In Peeps, vampirism is caused by a parasite, which is transmitted much like an STD through sex or even kissing.  Most peeps are affected by the disease and turned into more typical blood thirsty vampires, but Cal is a rare natural carrier of the disease, which means that although he has it, he is only affected with super human strength and senses and not with the whole blood thirsty cannibal part.  Anyway, Cal is in the process of hunting down all of his ex-girlfriends, whom he inadvertently infected after he caught the disease.  When he finally reaches the end of the chain, the girl who infected him in a hazy one night only encounter, things get interesting.  He meets a new friend, the beautiful and confident Lace, and they are sucked into a mystery caper revealing horrors far more terrifying than plain old vampires.

Peeps is a very fun book.  Once the story gets going, it was hard to put down.  Every other chapter contains a gruesome description of real-life parasites in the world  (hookworms, yuck!) that is interesting and actually adds quite a lot to the mood of the story.  The characters in Peeps are all very likable and it’s nice to have Cal, a seasoned vampire hunter, contrasted with Lace, a newcomer to the concept of vampires.  Although the story is a little predictable, it moves along at a furious enough pace so as not to be boring.  This is, however, a very young adult book.  I would recommend it for 8th grade and up, including adults who like YA and/or vampires (especially a very science fiction approach to vampires) will enjoy this, but I don’t think too many other grownups will be into Peeps.

Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Simon and Pulse, 2007

In the third volume of Scott Westerfield’s Uglies trilogy, Tally Youngblood has become an agent of Special Circumstances, an elite, surgically enhanced fighting machine for the government.  Like the surgery to become a Pretty, the surgery to become a Special also comes with intentional brain alterations, this time controlling emotional responses and thoughts.

In Specials, Tally is teamed back up with Shay, but this time they are working as cruel and cut-throat agents of the government, working hard to find and squash any signs of The New Smoke or rebellion to society.  The result is a grittier story than what Westerfield has delivered before, as Tally works for the bad guys to bring down her former friends.  It takes an intense journey of cunning deception and even some violence to bring Tally to the conclusion, in which she must once again think her way out of government inflicted brain alterations and decide, once again, whether or not she is a conformist or a rebel.

Readers of the previous books will enjoy the development of the story.  Specials is darker and more intense than any of the previous books, bringing it all together for an exciting conclusion.  Of course, Westerfield later wrote one more piece to this “trilogy,” so even though Specials does reach a satisfactory conclusion, there’s still one more book to pick up for enthusiastic readers wanting more.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2005

The anticipated sequel to Uglies, Pretties picks up the story and gets running with it immediately.  Tally, having turned herself in to undergo a mandatory and brain-altering operation to become Pretty, is in New Prettytown, partying in the vapid world that all new Pretties are expected to enjoy.  Despite the constant parties, the pleasure gardens, and the acceptance into one of the cities coolest cliques, Tally isn’t satisfied.  Unfortunately, the operation has messed with her brain enough that she can’t remember that she had only turned herself in to get the operation and test out a new cure that would help undo the intentional brain damage that the government inflicted on Pretties during their operation.  Tally and her boyfriend, Zane, eventually get their hands on the cure.  Zane becomes very ill and the two must escape New Prettytown to find Maddy, the only doctor who can help them, in the New Smoke, as their minds begin to awaken.

Pretties is a little more of an adventure book than Uglies was, with a little more action and a little less explanation.  Certainly, the ideas of questioning conformity are still there, giving this tale the bite that it needs to be as interesting and original as Uglies.  All in all, Pretties delivers a fast pace and exciting follow-up that will keep the pages turning furiously for readers who were fans of Uglies, leaving them ready to jump right into the next book in the series, Specials.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2005

Uglies is the first part of a trilogy of young adult science fiction novels. Set in a futuristic society where at age 16, everyone gets cosmetic surgery to become a Pretty, a perfect, young specimen of beauty.

In Uglies, Tally Youngblood is 15 and anxiously awaiting her 16th birthday to be turned Pretty. Her best friend Peris has already had the operation and been sent to New Prettytown, a decadent city of endless shallow pleasure and partying for new Pretties. In her loneliness, Tally befriends Shay, a fun and rebellious ugly girl who is also just shy of turning 16 and Pretty. Unlike Tally and the rest of society, Shay is reluctant to be turned pretty; to look like everyone else. Shay tries to convince Tally to run away to a place called The Smoke, a rebel community where people live off the land and forgo the operation, remaining natural, and therefore “ugly,” for life. Tally rejects the idea, but finds herself the subject of some intense government investigation when Shay disappears. Tally is blackmailed into going after Shay and revealing the location of the fabled Smoke to the government’s toughest and meanest police agents, Special Circumstances. Remarkably, Tally journeys on a wild adventure to seek out Shay and the Smoke; to betray them. When she finds what she’s looking for, things grow more complicated as Tally begins to think beyond the laws of her society and becomes conflicted on whether or not life in her city, with its Pretty operation, really is the utopia she once thought it would be.

Uglies is a compelling young adult book in that in combines the right elements of fun and adventure with a thought provoking premise to keep readers engaged. The very first sentence of the book references back to the classic cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, which is sort of a good way to think about Westerfield’s trilogy. It’s cyberpunk for teens, with as much imagination and contemplation on society standards of today, interpreted through a complex dystopia. The book has the unique position of a young adult book that is tame enough for younger teens (and advanced tweens), but interesting enough for older teens and even adults (such as your’s truly!). Of course, as part one of a trilogy, Uglies leaves the reader on a cliff hanger, ready to pick up the next book in the series, Pretties.