Westerfeld, Scott: Uglies

[calico_reaction]

Comments

[dawn_metcalf]

Weird. I *just* posted about Scott Westerfeld's first book today...

Anyway, yes, Uglies was the first book I'd read in a long time that I put down with the feeling of, "Oh, MAN, I wish *I* had written this book!" The idea of beauty, media messages, body image, and sci-fi future-culture is just my cup of cocoa. And the cover actually made me think of this one which, in itself, is somehow apropos. The rest of the series keeps upping the ante, but this one was -- by far -- my favorite.

Check out his other works, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

[calico_reaction]

Oooh, good cover comparison! I never thought of that, but I've always found the UGLIES cover to be quite compelling! :)

[bizarre_star]

Wonderful catch!

After this series, Scott Westerfeld immediately became one of my favorite authors. It amazed me how our modern day pretties are considered uglies. That honestly took me by surprised and it became one of my favorite moments in the book.

[calico_reaction]

Really makes you think about the standard of beauty, doesn't it? :) I loved that part simply because of the attention Westerfeld brought to a person's body weight. :)

[latesthero]

I read Uglies a couple of years ago and totally fell in love with the series and Scott Westerfeld as a writer. I read almost all of his books, except the Midnighter's series. If you haven't already read his Peeps books, you totally should. They are so well-written.

Also, an awesome SF YA book I read a few years ago was Shade's Children by Garth Nix, so if you're looking for anymore well-written SF, you should totally add that one to your list. Oh, and I read Life as We Knew It the other day, so thanks so much for reviewing it! It was a great book.

[calico_reaction]

Thanks for the recs!

Curious, is there a specific reason you haven't read THE MIDNIGHTERS, or have you just not gotten around to them yet?

[latesthero]

Well, I started reading the first book a really long time ago (and I think I finished it) but I never re-read it so I could continue with the series but I'm thinking I'm going to try to read them again.

[araken]

I haven't read any of Westerfeld's YA, but his Risen Empire series (The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds) is some of the best space opera I've ever read. They're out of print at the moment, I think, but at Dragoncon the Tor panel said they're going to be reissuing them pretty soon as trade paperbacks.

[calico_reaction]

They sure are! The first one is already in stores, but I haven't picked it up because I have a rule I *try* to follow when buying books: when it comes to writers I haven't read, don't pick up a second title by them if I already own one I haven't read. That way, if I read the book I already have and don't like it (or the author's style), I won't have "wasted" money on another title. :)

[kaeleighjustice]

Uglies is the best of the three, though if you liked Uglies you won't be able to resist reading the others, because you'll WANT to know what comes next. The other two are good (well book 2 is, The Specials in my opinion was the weakest of the three) and worth reading.

[briary_flower]

I agree, Specials is the weakest. Still a good adventure, still moves the plot forward, but ... hmm. I don't know if I can make my critique without spoilers, lol.

[sorcha_ruel]

I love everything Westerfeld has written and I can definitely identify with the above poster who said, "I wish I'd written that!" I am a huge fangirl. I recently finished Pretties and I thought it was a bit better than Uglies, probably because Tally's world had already been established. It just seemed to flow better.