Book Thoughts: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

[orangerful]

Let's get one thing straight - Scott Westerfeld is not the most eloquent writer. That's not how he rolls. He's about the action, adventure, and slipping some social commentary in while you're not paying attention.

I love the 'Uglies' trilogy. I loved the way it made me think about the culture of beauty in our society, looking at the value placed in beauty, in being perfect - and wondering how much you would give up to be that way?

Some found the writing to be frustrating. Starting out from Tally's point of view, already 15 and brainwashed by the world to think that she's Ugly and worthless until the day of her operation to be Pretty. But, if you can look past the frustration of listening to this girl talk so poorly about herself, and see the girls sitting in the library doing the same things to themselves because our culture is just as bad, maybe worse, when it comes to placing inflated value on beauty...suddenly the 'Uglies' books become so much more.

'Extras' is the "fourth" book in the trilogy (Westerfeld dedicates the book to all the people that emailed him to tell him the definition of "trilogy"). It follows the same formula as the 'Uglies' books. You see the adventure from Aya Fuse's point of view, and sometimes the reader can be frustrated by how "brain-missing" she can be. But once you look at the culture that is around her, the values they have placed on, in this case, popularity, you start to interpret her comments in a different way.

Yes, Aya lives in Post-Prettytime Japan. They have gone from a Pretty culture to a economy based on "merits" which are obtained from doing little things, like chores, to big things like being the first to "kick a big story" (which, after you read the book a bit, translates into posting a first blog post!). It's a the MySpace/Facebook/Blogger world on CRACK! Everybody is plugged in. Aya has a screen in her eye that is constantly updating her on her "face rank". She wouldn't mind being an "extra" so much if her brother wasn't so super popular. Sibling rivalry is a big part of the tale.

But, it's also a Scott Westerfeld book, so there are lots of high speed chases, the "Uglies" world slang, and bubbleheadedness.

I liked the book, I didn't think it was as strong as the other 'Uglies' books, but it made some interesting points in the same way. The end was a bit cheesy, but I enjoyed the journey from point A to point B. And it was nice to see Tally-wa, Shay-la, and other characters again.

If you enjoyed the 'Uglies' trilogy, do yourself a favor and pick up 'Extras'. It's a wild ride and it really makes you look at what sort of values we are putting forth in our new "social networking" world.