Uglies series
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| Author | Scott Westerfeld |
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| Original title | Uglies sequel |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult, Science fiction, Fantasy |
| Publisher | Simon Pulse |
| Published | 2005 - 2007 |
| Media type | softcover/hardcover |
| Followed by | Order of books: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras |
Uglies is a book series by Scott Westerfeld for young adults. Westerfeld originally intended for Uglies to be a trilogy. However, after publishing the series' first three novels, Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, he ultimately wrote an additional fourth book, Extras. This fourth book is dedicated “[t]o everyone who wrote to me to reveal the secret definition of the word ‘trilogy.’”
The first three novels focus on the exploits of Tally Youngblood. In the post-apocalyptic future society where Tally lives, teenagers, upon reaching their sixteenth birthday, undergo a surgery to mold them into a so-called “Pretty.” When Tally’s new friend Shay runs away to the Smoke, a secret refuge for those who oppose the city’s government, the future of Tally’s own operation becomes uncertain. Dr. Cable, the head of the mysterious Special Circumstances, cuts Tally a deal: betray her friends and help the city locate the runaways or remain an “Ugly” forever. When Tally joins the Smokies, she learns a chilling truth: the surgeries that the city performs are not just intended to render its inhabitants beautiful. The city also puts lesions into the minds of the “Pretties,” making them shallow, unintelligent, and ultimately easier to control population. Over the course of the novels, Tally struggles to maintain her sense of self within a society that literally alters how people think and ultimately succeeds in undoing the system of mind alteration.
The fourth novel centers on Aya Fuse, a girl struggling to find her place in the chaotic world after Tally frees people to think for themselves.
In humanity's future, a new type of society has been formed after a disastrous oil-bug was released upon the planet that killed 98% of the human population and left many cities in ruins. The new society is composed of about one hundred small post-scarcity, independently-run city states, spread out across the seven continents, which now have different coastlines because of modern-societies' global warming. Tally's city is located somewhere in southern California, west of the Rocky Mountains. The new society holds three values at its core: Sustainability, Peace, and Equality. The new society promotes these values through the use of The Surge, a type of extreme cosmetic surgery that all citizens undergo at the age of 16. The Surge transforms ordinary humans into paragons of beauty, right down to perfect facial symmetry. New Pretties are given access to life in New Pretty Town, the innermost part of the city where food, shelter, and entertainment are provided by the government free of charge. Within the post-Surge part of a persons life, everyone's common beauty inspires peace and equality among the citizens.
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