books:

	Extras (Uglies) Scott Westerfeld Simon Pulse, 2007 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 48 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fame

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 Aya doesn't care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe 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.

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Twist in the series

I love this author. I have read all of the books in the series and some that aren't in the series. The author has a very creative view of life.
This book is a refreshing new twist on the series. I read a lot of books so when i haven't read a book in a while it's hard for me to remember where i left off, but this book is from i new point of view with only some points from the paso. It was really easy to get into the book fast. Though it did have references to the past books but those were main parts in the old books so it was easy to follow along.
So definitely read this book if you haven't, it is wonderful and teaches a very good lesson.

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A Search for Fame (and Other Things)

This, the fourth book in the Uglies trilogy, is in some ways better than the original series, as it provides a fresh viewpoint and new characters to look at the Pretties world after Tally Youngblood's radical revolution.

Aya is a 15 year old in a Japanese city, a city which has re-organized its economy around the idea of fame, or face-rank as called here. As a near faceless extra, with a face rank down in the 400,000's, Aya is driven to find a news story that will propel her to fame as one of the best `kickers' (equivalent to an investigative journalist) around. Accidentally observing a shadowy clique known as the Sly Girls, who for reasons of their own actively avoid fame, doing something both dangerous and fun, she decides that doing a story about this group will be a decidedly great way to help her in her quest to become something other than a nonentity. But the story of the Sly Girls leads her to a much larger story, one with potentially deadly consequences for the entire world, and one which will eventually attract the attention of the person with the #1 face-rank, Tally Youngblood, while at the same time involve Aya in the moral and ethical quandaries that journalism sometimes leads to.

The plot line is good, leading to some very unexpected corners of the world, and Aya is well drawn. The new society portrayed here makes an interesting contrast to that of the mind-hobbled Pretties, as without those mental limitations this new world shows a vibrancy of many different people heading off in all directions, from tech geek-hood to obsessive gossip-generating stunts. There's even some sly satire about things like how some people try to improve their Google rank today with a group in Aya's world who try to artificially boost someone's face rank by mentioned that person's name again and again.

The above is all good, but I found a few things that nagged. There are some technical bobbles, which are difficult to detail without giving away the plot, but I'll give one example. When you accelerate a multi-ton piece of steel to orbital escape velocity in an air-evacuated tunnel, then launch it up into the air, the result will be a very loud bang, hearable for miles around, and this thunder will continue following the projectile for a very long way. This is not good if you are trying to conceal the launch of such a projectile, especially if you are launching hundreds of these objects. There are some plausibility issues with the methods and aims of what turns out to be the `villain' of this story. And once again, as with the original Pretties world, I found that the economic underpinnings of the portrayed society to be too skimpily described and worked-out to make me fully believe in it. These are quibbles, and many readers probably won't notice them amongst the fast action and all the new surprises this book has.

A good follow-up to the original series, with some fresh and original ideas and characters, well worth reading for those who read the first three books.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

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A new twist to the series

This is a new book to the series, but it is not about the same characters. It is based in the same world, but a different area that is focused on pop culture. A nice addition to the series, but don't expect it to focus on Tally.


A little more Uglies...

Fourth in the Uglies "trilogy."

It has been several years after Tally Youngblood changed the world and ended prettytime forever. The beauty standards are no longer mandates. Though many people still opt to have surge, it is now a choice.

Aya Fuse is a 15-year-old ugly, too young for surge and too much of a nobody to have a satisfying face-rank. Aya's city operates on a reputation economy, which is based on face-rank (popularity). Everyone has their own feed. More viewers equals more votes equals a better face-rank. Aya dreams of becoming famous as a "kicker," someone who reports gossip and trends, but rarely serious news.

When Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, but are determined to keep their group a secret, she decides to kick their story. Hanging out with the Sly Girls leads Aya to a story that becomes bigger and more dangerous than she could have imagined.

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the extra book in the series

What happens after everything you take for granted in the world completely changes forever? Lots of ideas come forth and are explored.

It's now a few years after Tally Youngblood brought about the end of the Prettytime. Half a world away from Tally's city, Aya's city is full of people bent on fame. Everyone's fame is constantly measured, and everyone is always acutely aware of their relative fame. Aya is 15, a nobody with a low face rank, who is intent on being at least as famous as her older brother. To achieve fame, she is what amounts to a citizen journalist: reporting on interesting things that she sees in her life, hoping that others will read and link to it.

Aya observes an elusive and secretive clique of girls called the Sly Girls. They pull hair-raising tricks which no-one else does. Aya wants to report their story, and so convinces them to let her join. In the process of one of their tricks, they discover a huge secret. In the process, Aya's true goal is uncovered. The Sly Girls agree that the secret they have discovered is too important to keep hidden, so allow Aya to report it while they go underground. Aya reports it, and is instantly famous. Her reporting draws the attention of the now-undercover Tally. Aya and Tally join up, and learn the true secret behind what Aya has observed.

With Tally as a secondary character, she becomes a lot less sympathetic -- seen from the outside, she's rude, harsh, and needlessly violent. Aya can see some of Tally's struggles, but obviously most of that occurs only within Tally's own head. The novel is an interesting discussion of the perils of fame and those who seek it. I didn't find this book quite as engrossing as the previous books set in this universe, but I still devoured it.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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