Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Today is a buddy review with Amanda from The Zen Leaf. Amanda is another blogger that I am just getting to know this year. I am very happy we did a review together and hope there will be more in the future. I have the second part of the review today, so for this to make sense go to her blog and read her post first!

Kelly: I agree with you that the message was about cooperation being important for survival. I think that will continue to be an important part of the series. I also like to think he was saying that just because the technology is available to do something doesn't mean that we have to do it. I think it is an important message. What did you think about the characters? Were they believable?

Amanda: Now first I should qualify my answer - I read this book in the middle of the night during Readathon - but I personally found the characters very believable. Alek, the fumbling, sheltered 15-yr-old son of an Archduke trying to prove himself in the real world but mucking everything up. Deryn, a 15 yr old tomboy pretending to be Dylan, a 16 yr old midshipman applicant, fumbling with her attempts to act boyish when all she really wants to do is fly. And then there's the count and Dr. Barlow and all the rest - they all felt round and intricate, as if Westerfeld knew them personally. But I've always liked the way Westerfeld creates his characters. I think that's one of his strong points, as well as language play. I read in one of his books, I believe Bogus to Bubbly, that he refines his alternate-world slang by using it himself to make sure it sounds natural. It's so much fun to imagine him walking around saying, "Blisters!" when he swears or using words like "boffin" and "clart." Had you heard that?

Kelly: Yes, I believe it was in Bogus to Bubbly because I have read about that, too, and I read that book at some point this year. I think it is really great that he tries things out. There isn't really very much I want to say about the characters that you haven't all ready touched on. I thought they were written really well. I found myself, though, talking to them in my head because they really do some things that you know something bad is going to happen, but I think it is a mark of a good character when the reader gets caught up in the story so much that they are very invested in what happens to the characters. I look forward to future books to see what happens to them next and how their tentative friendship works out. Is there anything else that you want to talk about?

Amanda: Nope, I think that pretty much covers everything. I can't wait for Behemoth to come out next year. Supposedly it will be released in October. At the same time, though, I liked where this book ended - a cliff-hanger, but a mild one. You aren't automatically itching for the next one, like with The Knife of Never Letting Go. It works well as a standalone book, too. But yes, that's all. I love Westerfeld, and I think he did a magnificent job as usual for this book.

Kelly: Oh, good to know when the second book comes out. I haven't thought that far ahead to look into it! I am looking forward to it, too, but I don't have to rush out read it. I can wait. I much prefer that, actually. A promised sequel but not a huge book that is not wrapped up at all and then you have to wait a year to find out what happens next. Hopefully we will both still be blogging next year and then maybe we can review the sequel together, too! Thanks for reviewing this book with me. I look forward to next time!

Amanda: That's an excellent idea! I look forward to it, too.

Six Sentence Saturday - Take One

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.

Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a
rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.
Rating scale will be as follows:

5 of Hearts- You must read this book NOW!!
4 of Hearts- A great read, put it on your TBR list.
3 of Hearts- Glad I read but no big deal
2 of Hearts- Why did I finish this?
Joker Card - Don't bother (why did I?)

Staci does this cool feature that I am borrowing. I have the worst time keeping up on my reviews, so I figure if I do this mostly every Saturday than I will review books I probably won't review otherwise. It will likely just be books that I consider okay, so expect detailed reviews (hopefully) about books that I love.

A Distant Soil - Volume 2 - The Ascendant by Colleen Doran

I didn't like the first volume of this because I found it too cliched and predictable, but I decided to read the second volume anyways. The series does not improve. I found this volume as predicatable as the first volume and probably skimmed at times. Doran essentially takes popular aspects of fantasy, science-fiction, and mythology and puts them together. It sounds like a good idea, but it just didn't work for me. It makes me sad, really, because it did sound interesting.

Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
I read this because I had read the books related to it this year and wanted to feel like I completed the series. This book was actually pretty interesting because you do often wonder how authors get their ideas; but Westerfeld addresses that and wrote a book that answers the questions the readers have always been wondering about. I learned a lot. Even though it is a book about a fictional world, it is written very believably. I was glad I read it and was welcomed even further into Westerfeld's world. There are some aspects of it that I wouldn't want to experience, but some of the technology is pretty cool.



X/1999: Prelude by Clamp (Volume 1)
X/1999: Overture by Clamp (Volume 2)
Chris recommended this series to me, and it does have an interesting premise behind it, but it was not one of my favourite manga series. I find, for me, that manga takes a while to get going for me, but I guess we will have to see what happens. The library doesn't have the next volume, so not sure when that will happen, but as it stands right now the series is not working for me. It's been a while since I read it and it isn't even sticking with me. Clamp is an interesting company, though, so I have hopes because I enjoyed Chobits. I will do a more detailed review when I carry on with this series.



One Piece: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 1)
One Piece: Buggy the Clown by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 2)
One Piece: Don't Get Fooled Again by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 3)
I find manga series hard to talk about, but I have to talk about this series because it is so much fun! I love the characters and the writing. I am very happy that Renay suggested this series for the Herding Cats challenge. I need to read more books in this series right away, but somehow never seem to check anymore out. I was a bit worried that it would be just a little so strange that it wouldn't work for me, but it was enjoyable. To appreciate it, though, you really need to read it and that is about all I can say on the matter.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (Peeps Series, Book 1)

Books Completed: 71
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 312
Publication Date: September 2006

Reason for Reading: Really like Scott Westerfeld so far!

A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.

Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

Bursting with the sharp intelligence and sly humor that are fast becoming his trademark, Scott Westerfeld's novel is an utterly original take on an archetype of horror.

After completing Westerfeld's Uglies series, I decided I was going to have to find another book to read by him. I really enjoyed that series as a whole, and Westerfeld is quickly becoming one of my favourite young adult authors. Nymeth read Peeps, and seemed to really enjoy it. Since I generally like the same books as her, I decided that this was the logical book to read next. The difference in our reading experiences is that I read the Uglies series first, while Peeps was Nymeth's first Westerfeld.

Peeps is a very original take on the vampire story. I mean, Westerfeld has becoming a vampire as a sexually transmitted disease! Considering the general story is something that involves sharp teeth and bitting, I was intrigued by the idea from the very beginning! Vampire stories try to be original, but if you keep a lot of the 'main' ideas the same, it is hard to write a fresh novel about vampires. Westerfeld obviously figured this out and just decided to entirely change everything 'normal' about vampire stories. It resulted in a really good story. I will say that I liked Uglies better, but that is mainly because I really like Tally. Cal Thompson is a good character, don't get me wrong, but we didn't hit it off as well as I did with Tally. Cal contracts the disease soon after he moves from Texas to New York. One of those small town boy moves to large city type of stories.

Even though Westerfeld writes an original take on the vampire story, he actually has a more believable one. Cal is lucky. He has a very strong immune system, so while he gets some of the symptoms of vampirism, he is still mostly in control. He joins an organization whose job is to hunt down the 'Peeps' that were not as lucky to have his immune system. It may seem a little unbelievable, but Westerfeld also includes chapters that look at real parasites. It is real science and it makes it seem like while you are reading a science-fiction novel, it could easily be a plausible story. The science really backs it up. Like I said, it makes for an original look at a vampire story.

There is a lot more going on, of course, but if I tell you everything than you won't want to read the book yourself! I will just conclude by saying this was another positive effort from Westerfeld. I can't wait to read another book by him and see what he comes up with next! Oh, I do have one problem: I hate the cover of this book! There are better versions, but this is the one that I read!

Extras by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Series, Book 4)

Books Completed: 60
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 432
Publication Date: October, 2007

Reason for Reading: Sci-Fi Experience, Next Book in the Series

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.

Finally! It's almost April and I am writing the last review for February! I am going to try and post a lot for the rest of the month in the hopes that I can start off April fresh... Hopefully this will work! I find the farther I get behind, the less I want to actually write the reviews. Not to mention reviews are a lot fresher when you haven't read the book almost a month prior.

Extras is the fourth book in the popular Uglies series. I am very amazed with the fact that I actually read all four books this year! That's a very rare thing for me. It seems that I am very good at starting series, but very bad at actually finishing them! I was a little worried about this book, though. I really liked Tally and she is not the narrator for this one. Even when she was using her very annoying Pretty talk, I find her a likable character. She grew during the course of her three books, so you felt like you really got to know her by the end. She had come to the conclusion that she only wanted to make changes to herself if she wanted to, not because she had to or because it was expected of her. Like I said when I wrote my review of Specials, it could have been the last book and I would have been satisfied. I guess other fans were not, though, so Westerfeld stretched his trilogy into a quartet.

This book is told from the point-of-view of Aya Fuse. Aya is living after everything has changed. There is no more surgery to cause brain damage, so they have found new ways to act and live. Aya is a 'kicker'. She is living in a society that is all based on rankings, so you have to do something 'amazing' to move up them. Aya's brother is very good at it, but she is still young and still working on her next big story. Then, she stumbles across a group of women that ride hovertrains. They do it in secret and with hoverboards, so it is a lot different than train-riding of this day! Aya decides that this super-secret group of girls is going to be her next story. The only problem is that they don't want to be known. They are not interested in the boast in numbers that comes from having a lot of attention thrown their way. This is something that takes Aya a while to come to terms with because she is all about numbers.

What turns out as an attempt to move into the top 1000, though, becomes a very different story. Aya stumbles on something that could mean the end of her society, which makes a much more interesting story. Pulling her brother and his friend into the mix, though, becomes very dangerous. It gives an excuse for Tally and Shay to enter the story and cause some trouble, which is good for the series. I actually found that I really liked this book. It still has some of the annoying talk in it, though. If people really talked like this I would walk around with ear plugs all the time!

Another recommended read!

Specials by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Series, Book 3)

Books Completed: 57
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 372
Publication Date: September, 2007

Reason for Reading: Next Book in Series, Sci-Fi Experience.

"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.

I enjoyed this book way more than I did Pretties. While I am happy that there was another book after this one, it would've ended in such a way that I could handle this book being the last book. The series went out with a bang, so to speak. I am so happy that I decided to read Westerfeld this year. So far I have really enjoyed everything that I have read by him and strongly recommend him to those that have not experienced him yet. I wish he was around when I was a young adult because I would've read way more young adult books if there were authors like him available. I think I have read more young adult books in the last three months than I have in my entire life, so this year has really been a learning experience.

Anyway, on to the book. Tally once again returns as the narrator. I really like Tally. I am also happy that she is not a 'Pretty' anymore, because I don't think I could handle the chatter in another book. Special talk is only a minor improvement, but it could be worse. In the first book Tally was Ugly. She could not wait until the day that she was made Pretty, but there were other plans in the works for her. As a result, she was a bit delayed in becoming Pretty. At the end of Uglies she decides to become Pretty to test a pill that can reverse it. So, in the second book she has become a Pretty. She finally manages to escape again when another obstacle presents itself. When she returns to where she started from, though, there are other plans in store for her. She finds her life changed once again to become a member of the elite group of Specials. That is what the third book deals with.

One of the things that I really liked about this book was how even though she has been changed countless times, Tally still manages to stay herself. She might look different and use different vocabulary, but she is still her. I think if she changed entirely, the books would lose their meaning. In this book, Tally comes to a lot of conclusions. The most important one is that she is tired of being changed without her consent. She has been three 'different' people, and she is ready to just be herself. So, even though she manages to escape once again, it does not lead to the conclusion that people would be expecting. The circumstances in which she leaves in the first place are not exactly what readers would expect, either. That's how the books work, though. They take pre-conceived notions and shows you how silly it is to have them in the first place.

A lot happens in this book. There is a lot more action than the second book, and you will find yourself caught up in the story from the very beginning. Characters from the previous books play essential roles in this book, so it was nice to continue to watch them grow. They might not be like Tally, she is written as being in a class of her own, but they have just as interesting storylines. You get very engaged in these characters, and I am sad when the time spent visiting with them is over. So, while this book has an ending, I was still glad to know that the 'trilogy' has four books and not just three.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Series, Book 2)

Books Completed: 43
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 384
Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Reason for Reading: Next Book in Series, Sci-Fi Experience

Gorgeous. Popular.

Perfect. Perfectly wrong.

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.

I have came to the conclusion that I love Scott Westerfeld. If all of his writing is like this series, I think we are going to have a long and lasting relationship! That being said, I was not as big a fan of this book as I was of Uglies. I think it is probably a good thing that all of the weapons are locked up. They say it is because they don't want to turn out like the Rusties (meaning us), but really, if I had to have a conversation with a Pretty I think I would end up blowing someones brains out! I really liked Tally in Uglies, but now that she is Pretty her talking hurts my head. This is just reading it! Actually hearing it spoken would be one of the worst forms of torture, I think. So, needless to say, not a big fan of Pretties. It's not really Westerfeld's fault, though, he was trying to make a clear picture of what life was like in Pretty Town, so if anything he just was that much more successful.

Once I got passed the really annoying speaking habits of the main characters, though, I was much better off. I think it took about 100 pages for me to get really captivated in the story, but that is often the case with the second book in a trilogy. It's all about character-building and there is not a lot of action. It wasn't so bad that I didn't rush right out and read book three, though. (I have read it while this book has been patiently waiting to be reviewed, actually). Joining Tally and Shay as main characters is Zane. He is a fellow Pretty who quickly comes to mean something important to Tally. When Tally's past follows her into the future, she suddenly starts to question just how she feels about her new life. She has been to the Smoke and knows the secrets of her society. Now that she remembers, it changes everything for her. Zane comes along for the ride, which has lasting effects. He has never wanted to be Pretty and has done everything in his power to keep his brain for himself. Tally offers him the next step in becoming 'unpretty', though.

Near the end of the book, everything that has been building up starts to come together. When I read the book I was annoyed with the ending, but I really liked Specials; so it has changed my thoughts on the ending. It just seems like the books are about taking one step forward and about two steps back. They get to what you think is what they want, and then things change all over again. Tally is a strong character, though. She finds it very important to be who she wants to be, so no amount of changing seems able to destroy that for her. I will be sad to see this series end! It is scary to think about the world 'ending' and this as our future! I hope that society can start to work to a place where events like the entire destruction of mankind is not a possibility. Westerfeld, through his characters, makes a lot of really good points about just how, well, stupid we are!

Miss my review of Uglies? You can read it here.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Series - Book 1)

Books Completed: 30
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 448
Publication Date: February 8, 2005

Reason for Reading: Sci-Fi Experience, New Author Challenge

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

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.

I am so happy that I finally got to read Scott Westerfeld. I have heard of him, of course! I am not even sure where I saw reviews of his books, but he has been on my to read list for quite some time. It is really time that I started reading more science-fiction, and I figured that he would be a safe bet. I was right! I think I am going to love this series. I have already requested the second book from the library, but I think I will probably end up buying them. (I think I am due for a post to show just how bad I am at not finishing series/trilogies.)

One of the things that I love about science-fiction is the technology. That's probably one of the reasons that I am such a big fan of Star Trek. I always want to have what they have. In this book, one of the technologies that really interested me was a hoverboard. It is sort of like a skate board, only you are flying through the air. I have a fascination with flying, so technology that would allow us to do that really interests me! I probably would be really bad at it, but that is besides the point! They also have hover cars. This is a society that has taken over after the destruction of the previous one. There are hints about what happened, but the book does not come right out and say why it occurred. All we know is for sure is that this society thinks that it has learned from the mistakes of the previous one. Whether that is true or not, that is for you to decide. They are of mixed opinions, which is part of the main theme behind this book.

What would happen if you could make yourself super-model beautiful when you turned sixteen? Would you do it? You would go from being an 'ugly' to a 'pretty'. In our society, many people have body image issues and would love to be able to 'fix' all their problems. If there wasn't a problem, plastic surgery would not be the big industry that it is. In Westerfeld's book, though, teens of sixteen are expected to become beautiful. They spend the first part of their life envying those that have already been transformed and waiting for their turn. It is in essence a society of image, with little attention placed on pursuits of the mind. There are still 'smart' people, but it is not what people aspire to. It is not so much different than how people think in our society, really. I know many women that are really smart and pretend not to be because women are not supposed to be intelligent. They are supposed to be beautiful. Being made beautiful in this book, though, applies to both the women and the men.

The main character in this book, Tally, though, is about to discover just how 'imperfect' her society is. She makes a new friend waiting for her turn to be pretty, and her perfect order is turned upside down. When Shay runs away because she isn't sure she wants to be made pretty, Tally is caught up in it and has some big decisions to make. Being model beautiful may seem like a great idea, but it is not all that it is cracked up to be. Westerfeld really captures the insecurities of teenagers and makes a world that would seem like the perfect solution to many, but looks can be deceiving!

I look forward to reading the next book in the series!