Review: Leviathan (Leviathan #1) by Scott Westerfeld

Synopsis from back cover:

Alek is a prince without a throne. On the run from his own people, he has only a fighting machine and a small band of men.

Deryn is a girl disguised as a guy in the British Air Service. She must fight for her cause-and protect her secret-at all costs.

Alek and Deryn are thrown together aboard the mighty airship Leviathan. Though fighting side by side, their worlds are far apart. British fabricated beasts versus German steam-powered war machines. They are enemies with everything to lose, yet somehow destined to be together.  

Review:

 

LEVIATHAN is a great addition to the steampunk genre. Westerfeld has created a fantastical alternate history of World War 1. Two sides are on the brink of war- the Darwinists, who use genetically engineered 'beasties' and the Clankers, who use mechanical machines. Leviathan gives an alternate history of The First World War by incorporating future technology with the past. Though humans have not yet mixed up the DNA of animals and created whole new creatures, it is an all-too-real possibility in the near future.

I was very excited to read Leviathan because I had previously read Westerfeld's Uglies series and enjoyed it to a great extent. Furthermore, steampunk is one of my most favourite genres and to top it off- parts of Leviathan takes place in London.

Alek and Deryn were very good characters. After finishing the book, I asked myself whether I liked one more than the other, but they were always quite equal in my affections. Alek is a Prince and does not know much about the real world, so it was highly interesting to observe him out of his comfort zone. He behaved how I suspected he would; unsure of how to act and making numerous embarrassing mistakes that frustrated both him and me. However, I found that he acted in a very realistic way for someone who had never really interacted with 'common' people.

Deryn was also a good character. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go out and get it. Disguised as a boy to enter the Services, I thought that it would only be a matter of time before she was caught out, as she is fifteen years old after all. Deyrn does have quite a potty mouth, what with her constant use of the swear words 'bum rag', 'barking' and 'blistering' in a lot of the dialogue. This slightly annoyed me because they occurred so often and sometimes felt unnecessary. The secondary characters were all very good. I found them entertaining, though Volger, Alek's fencing master, is my favourite because of his acerbity.

Westerfeld has created a strong, visual world in Leviathan and I was very interested in this world. The story really picked up momentum about halfway through the book, however, the first half was really good at setting up the world. I enjoyed all the action sequences because it made me sit on the edge of my seat. When describing a machine or an animal, I did, on occasion, feel myself zoning out, so the exquisite illustrations by Keith Thompson scattered throughout the book were highly usefel in furthering my understanding.

The plot was great overall, though I was expecting much more to happen. The ending was a slight cliffhanger and I confess, I did turn over the page, expecting another chapter to wrap it all up. This did not happen. I will read the sequel to find out what happens next.

Leviathan reminded me of books by Philip Reeve; The Mortal Engines Quartet and The Larklight Trilogy. I would recommend these to anyone who enjoyed Leviathan and who are looking for similar books to read. Leviathan was entertaining and action-packed and I look forward to reading Behemoth, the second in the trilogy. I would recommend this to anyone interested in steampunk, action/adventure and alternate history.

Rating: 4/5

 Concept: 5/5

Cover: 5/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Review: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

This is the fourth book in the series.


Reading Order: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras, Bogus to Bubbly:An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies and Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series .

Summary from Goodreads:

It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.

As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But that's just until she gets to kick a good story for herself.

Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

Review:

Extras was a fantastic book. I really enjoyed it. It didn’t let the series down; it was a great addition to the Uglies series. I really appreciated the fact that it was from a new character’s point of view because it was interesting to get a wider and more varied perspective. During the book, events were sometimes viewed from the perspective of Aya’s hovercam, Moggle, which added a new slant to the action.

Extras is set three years after the happenings of Specials and thus, I was able to observe the changes wrought by the cure for ‘prettymindedness’.

Whereas in the earlier three books where Westerfeld focussed on beauty, in Extras the focus was on gaining popularity and a higher reputation. Also, it was set in an unspecified city in Japan which made a change and illustrated to readers the extent that prettymindedness had travelled prior to the cure.

The characters were well rounded, 3-D and had real aspirations that people in our society have. Extras reflects the lengths that people in our society will go to for recognition. It was exciting to watch Aya’s struggle to attain fame and eminence.

Westerfeld’s descriptions were very imaginative, especially of strange body alterations. The themes of the novel were self worth in conjunction with society’s view of an individual. Extras was fast-paced and kept me enthralled. I loved the plot of the story and was surprised by the twists and turns in the novel. I was pleasantly surprised as to the deeper meaning of what it meant to be an 'Extra'.

As expected, Westerfeld thought up some super new technology to be integrated into the futuristic society and to fascinate readers. These new technological advancements included hoverball rigs, hovercams, mag-lev trains and radical honesty surgery among many other weird and wonderful inventions.

As Extras was narrated from a different viewpoint, Tally, the main character from the previous books, came across as harsh, cold and distant. This wasn’t the Tally I was used to as I wasn’t privy to her thoughts. Perhaps it would have been better if Aya had overheard a conversation or two where Tally related her thoughts, feelings and apprehensions about her new role as the enforcer of the conservation of the world.

In addition, Shay and David seemed very out of character and insignificant in comparison to their prior roles in the Uglies series. David only had a few sentences in the whole book and Shay, although disapproving of Tally’s rash behaviour, was placed in a subordinate role, rather than as an equal to Tally such as in the previous books. This may have been because Tally was now the only fully-equipped Special. Nevertheless, it was strange to observe.

One of the major aspects of the story was Aya’s journalistic ambitions and Westerfeld placed great emphasis on reprimanding Aya when she published an inaccurate article about a city-destroying weapon. This shows that people should be sure of their facts before circulating them as scandalous news such as that can result in disastrous consequences. However, as in all good stories, Aya was able to redeem the situation by finding out the truth just in time.

Overall, Extras was awesome and I am very, very glad I read it. Aya’s point of view was refreshing, unique and enjoyable to read about. The society I was introduced to was impressively-depicted and I could visualise the story in my mind’s eye. I was sad to finish the series. Extras is a must read.

I am hoping for another book from Westerfeld for this series. While Extras ended the series very well, I feel that there is more Westerfeld could explore in further novels. There is a guide to this series called Bogus to Bubbly which I will look into and also Mind Rain. I will also check out his other books. There is also a movie being planned for Uglies in 2011 so look out for that.

Uglies Series in Order of My Satisfaction Level:

Uglies

Extras

Pretties

Specials

Book Rating: 5/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

I reviewed Extras as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!

Review: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Summary from Goodreads:
"Special Circumstances":

The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor -- frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.


And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.


The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.


Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Review:

Specials was quite a good sequel to Pretties as it explained in detail what being a Special actually felt like. Prior to this, Specials were mysterious and terrifying. Like in previous books, Specials continued the process of exploring personal relationships. It also looked into how becoming a superhuman would affect a relationship.

Westerfeld successfully developed the main characters. However, the secondary characters seemed quite 2D and could have been developed more, for example, Tachs, Ho and many of the other Cutters.

Some parts of the book were slow such as the beginning, whereas other parts were comparatively fast-paced. The author introduced new vocabulary such as ‘icy’ and ‘Randoms’ which showed the Cutters’ perception of the world.

In Pretties, Tally had to rediscover her true memories. In Specials, her memories about the past were inaccurate and twisted which meant she had to rediscover her memories once again which made the book repetitive for readers.

The abrupt changes in the relationship between Tally and Shay throughout the series, but especially noticeable in Specials, was tiresome as they went from being the best of friends to the worst of enemies and to being allies again. Shay’s outbursts of fury towards Tally felt like déjàvu from Pretties and Uglies.

As in previous books, Westerfeld introduced interesting technology such as sneak suits, shock sticks and deadly, all consuming nanos to show the technological advancement of Tally’s society. The sneak suits were especially fascinating as they could change both texture and colour. They could mimic any garment, provide armour and disguise heat.

The last few chapters were written hastily and felt like an epilogue. Tally was removed from the centre of action and saw events unfold from the confines of her prison cell. Westerfeld no doubt intended Tally to have some time to think over her experiences and rewire her brain. Being unable to act meant that she had plenty of time to think.

Also, the ending felt rushed. For someone she loved, Tally did not spend much time mourning Zane’s death. It was less than five minutes. Also, Dr Cable’s sudden change of heart in rescuing Tally at the end of the book was out of character to all that she had done previously. It would have been better if Tally had escaped herself or if someone else rescued her. This would have been more believable.

Personally, I didn’t agree with Tally’s decision to remain a Special as one can only rewire oneself to a certain extent and battling with bursts of intense fury and feelings of superiority could very easily lead to disaster due to her superhuman strength.

Overall, Specials was okay, but not the best out of the series. It was definitely worth reading. Though I stopped reading it once in the middle of the book, I picked it up again and finished reading to the end.

At this point, I wasn’t sure what Extras (the next book) was about, but I hoped it would shed some light as to what had happened to Tally next and what had happened to society after the cure.


Book Rating: 3/5

Cover: Very special;)

Concept: 4/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!

Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Reading Order: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras (companion novel).

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This review contains spoilers if you haven't read Uglies. You can read my review of Uglies here.

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Summary from Goodreads:

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

Review:

Pretties is the second book in the Uglies Trilogy and has just as many twists and turns as Uglies. It riveted my attention and was a page-turner. The beginning was very interesting as Tally’s perception had vastly changed as she had undergone the ‘Pretty’ operation.

The book is mainly about the way in which she rediscovers her own mind, feelings and identity. Also, Tally had to work out her feelings for David and Zane; her old boyfriend and her new boyfriend.

In the novel, Westerfeld expanded on the various types of technology that were present in Tally’s society which I found fascinating. The author created new vocabulary such as ‘bubbly’, ‘bogus’ and ‘dizzy-making’- the terms were utilised in a different context to their normal use and it added an element of authenticity to the narrative; however I wasn’t informed about what some of the terms meant such as the significance of the added ‘wa’ in ‘Tally-wa’ and the ‘la’ added to the end of Zane and Shay’s names- this was rather irritating.

The book was good at keeping my attention. Even though Tally had been turned ‘Pretty’, she still showed signs of her ‘Ugly’ mind at the beginning of the novel. Tally was more alert than the average ‘pretty’ in her thought processes and reasoning. This was necessary to keep the story from stultifying or coming to a complete standstill. Tally’s rediscovering of facts that the reader already knew from Uglies did not feel too slow or too fast which was good; otherwise it would have put me off from reading any further.

However, after her close escape from the city, when Tally found herself in an experimental zone inhabited by primitive Uglies, the book seemed to go off on a tangent. This portion of the book felt quite separate from the main action. I can understand why Westerfeld felt the need to include the sufferings of the people at the hands of the city, but it wasn’t cohesive and was tenuously linked to the main action.

In addition, Tally’s so-called best friend from Ugly days, came across as very 2D and was extremely disappointing after being built up in the reader’s mind to be a more significant character than he actually was. He seemed to be replaced by Zane. Zane, although a complex and interesting character, was introduced very suddenly to make up for Peris’s deficiencies.

Furthermore, a major tragedy in Pretties was when Tally was given two pills which were meant to be the cure for pretty-mindedness. The pills were meant to be taken together, however this part of the novel was extremely unrealistic as the pills were sent from a doctor without instructions on how they should be taken.

This was discordant to the doctor’s previous conduct, where she insisted that Tally give informed consent. The fact that instructions weren’t given led to disastrous consequences which could have easily been avoided. I know that Westerfeld needed this to happen in the novel, however, it could have happened in a more realistic fashion.

This underplayed on the importance that doctors place upon the well-being of their patients. This was highly incompetent and frustrating to read about. This streak of irresponsible behaviour was further demonstrated when the doctor accused Tally of incompetence and stupidity when Tally was not in possession of all the facts.

Towards the end of the novel, Tally’s increasing obsession with blaming herself for everything that went wrong became highly wearisome. There is no problem with blaming herself when she was at fault, but to do so when events were out of her control was tedious for me as a reader.

Overall, Pretties, though not quite up to the par of Uglies, was an enjoyable sequel. I’m glad I read it and I would recommend this book to other people. After I finished Pretties, I was eager to read Specials; to see what would happen to Tally Youngblood next.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: I prefer the UK cover of Pretties.

Concept: 5/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!

Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Description from Goodreads:

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license—for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Review:

I highly enjoyed Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. This is the first in a series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras. At first, I was sceptical about the book as the blurb did it little justice- I got the impression that it was about teenagers partying day and night. However, Uglies tackled some very difficult yet important issues such as the definition of beauty, friendship, acceptance and ethics in an innovative way.

As Tally, the main character, moves from the city into the wild, her mind expands, freed of the confines of the doctrines of the city. She realises that there is more to life than being ‘pretty’. Tally found out that there is more to people than just their outward appearance. This road to self-discovery was interesting to observe.

Tally Youngblood was a strong character who was easy to relate to. I was constantly aware of her thoughts and feelings (which is what I like in a book). Though Tally was strong, she still had her own vulnerabilities which she had to overcome.

Tally had to weigh her own wish for becoming a ‘pretty’ against the wishes of her own friends; not to betray them. She had to discover what was most important to her. This made her human and a complex, 3D character. The romance in Uglies was realistic, not overly done and served a purpose in the book. I liked that Tally’s character didn’t change so much after the start of her romantic relationship.

There was a solid image in my mind of Tally’s world which Westerfeld artfully created. Though the city’s name remained anonymous, a real sense of place was established. I liked the rules and boundaries that were developed. Westerfeld thought up some interesting, futuristic gadgets such as hoverboards, bungee jackets and interface rings, to mention just a few, which encapsulate the freedoms and restrictions of Tally’s life.

Uglies contained some complex relationships full of emotional turmoil which is always relevant in any era. Readers of any age can relate to this story and take something away from it. As in most dystopian novels, Uglies does have a moral message; however, it is not over-emphasised. In this case, the book addresses the ever- present need to conserve and protect the Earth or risk destroying both it and civilisation itself. This book is especially relevant for today’s society with the overwhelming obsession for fashion, cosmetic surgery and the desire to fit in whilst remaining unique.

Overall, Uglies was well-paced and I didn’t lose interest. I do believe that more time should have been spent at ‘The Smoke’ so that we could gain a better understanding of their lifestyle. The book was very descriptive; Westerfeld provided enough detail about the society in which Tally lived. Uglies was easy to read and understand and I would recommend it to other people. I was very impatient to get my hands on the next book. This is one of my favourite books that I’ve read this year and one of my favourite dystopian books.
Look out for my review of Pretties coming soon!

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 5/5

Rating: 5/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!