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Like the other books in the Uglies trilogy, Extras is fun and a very fast read. I read this book in about 2 and 1/2 hours, pretty much non-stop.

However, Extras raised the same prickly issues for me that the other books in the series did. My years as a student steeped in cultural studies and gender theory make it pretty much impossible for me to read works of popular fiction without subjecting them to critical analysis, and Westerfeld's books certainly lend themselves to this sort of critique. Especially if you are like me.


Like most dystopian science fiction, Westerfeld's books cast a critical eye on disturbing aspects of our present-day society -- obsession with looks, fame, etc -- by taking those aspects to extremes and weaving them into the very fabric of the future society. In Uglies & Pretties, everyone is "cured" of ugliness through a mandatory operation that takes place when individuals turn 16. In Extras, people earn money, respect, and privilege through the "reputation-based" economy, which rewards those who can make a name for themselves by publicizing and popularizing their thoughts, exploits, etc through the "feeds" (read: Internet). (If you think this is an interesting idea, you might want to check out Cory Doctorow's book "Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom" which explores the same conceit but with more skill and humor). In all of these books, the main (female) character desperately wants to be pretty, special, popular, famous or whatever, but ends up questioning the values of her society when she meets outsiders who don't subscribe to those norms.




The problem I have with Westerfeld's books is that these critiques, which are intriguing and thought-provoking, don't actually go far enough. Although the main character openly questions and in some cases initially resists the societal mandate to become pretty, special, famous, etc, she ALWAYS eventually ends up becoming pretty or famous even if it is against her will. Unlike all the other unenlightened pretty or famous folks who have never questioned their society's structure, however, she is well-aware of the pitfalls. She is now in fact doubly privileged -- as a pretty/special/famous person she has all the privileges that go along with being high-status in her society, AND she also has a sophisticated understanding of the "dark side" of her society that others can't see, through ignorance or fear or whatever other blinders they have on.



So although Westerfeld is clearly trying to show the reader how screwed up the dystopian society's norms (and by implication our own) are, in the end, he simply reinforces them. In Westerfeld's world, you can be hip to the ways in which our society's obsession with looks and celebrity oppress others and rail against the system, but you can still benefit from them at the same time. There's no sacrifice to make. And I guess that's why, as much as I enjoy Westerfeld's books, I can't help thinking that ultimately they're as shallow as the cultural norms they purport to critique.



I really struggled to finish this book, and I thought it was significantly worse than the others in the series. A lot of the dialogue was agonizingly stilted. The characters actually said things like "Not good!" and "uh, oh!" to react to approaching falling objects and other imminent bumps-on-the-head. AAAAAARGH. Those lines drive me crazy enough in movies. I was horrified to find them in a book. At one point, characters from two different countries meet and have some communication difficulties. After a few pages, the author seems to forget about the language barrier and the characters converse naturally, as if they're all speaking the same language. Then, toward the end, things get awkward again. SLOPPY. Sloppy writing, I say. Thoughout the series, the characters were pretty one-sided. Tally (the protagonist from the first three books) entered this book about half-way through, and I was surprised to find her totally changed; whereas in the first three books she was a victim, thrown about by circumstances and surgeries, in this book she was suddenly a confident, rough-and-tumble leader. I just didn't buy it. I don't think Westerfeld wrote very well from a teenage girl's point of view. Neither Aya nor Tally were very strong characters, and the "ew, bugs and mud!" part of this book really annoyed me. I was also confused by the fact that this story took place in a different country from the first three. I wish that had been well established early on so that I didn't have to wonder what the location was for such a long time. Wow, this review has gotten WAY longer than necessary. To sum up: There were some really good, interesting, creative ideas in the Uglies series, but they weren't good books.














In my head, the purpose of this review is very clear. It is to convince YOU to read this book. Yes, you! Waste time no more. Go grab a copy.




Machiavellian intrigue, mythology, religion, politics, imperialism, environmentalism, the nature of power. All this set in a mind-boggling, frighteningly original world which Herbert ominously terms as an "effort at prediction". Dune had me hooked!


First impression
The very first stirring I felt upon opening the yellowed pages of Dune was that of stumbling upon an English translation of an ancient Arabic manuscript of undeniable power and potence which had an epic story to narrate. The tone was umistakably sombre and I realized Herbert was not here to merely entertain me, he was here to make me part of the legend of Muad'Dib. It was intriguing and challenging and heck, since I live for challenges I decided to take this one up too, gladly. The challenge was the complexity and depth of the plot, which left me perplexed, in the beginning. I knew there were dialogues which meant much more than their superficial meaning and was unable to grasp at it. I felt a yawning chasm between Herbert's vision and my limited understanding of it. However, of course, I plodded on and could feel the gap closing in with every page much to my joy and relief.






The Foreword
"To the people whose labours go beyond ideas into the realm of 'real materials'- to the dry-land ecologists, wherever they may be, in whatever time they work, this effort at prediction is dedicated in humility and admiration."
The foreword makes it pretty clear that Frank Herbert isn't kidding around. This is a serious effort at predicting how our world is going to look two thousand years from now and by God, it's a bloody good and detailed prediction. However, the real merit in this effort lies in the commentary on our lives in the present.


Why Frank Herbert is a genius
The setting of the book is arid futuristic. the plot is driven by political mind games reminiscent of The Game of Thrones. The issues he tackles are as modern as the colour television. Herbert's genius manifests itself in his ability to combine the past, the present and the future in one sweeping elegant move called Dune.



Plot and Setting
Dune is set in a futuristic technologically advanced world which after the Butlerian Jihad (the bloody war between Man and Machines) has eliminated all computers and passed a decree declaring "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man's mind". Since there are no computers, the essential working of the galaxy is still medieval and feudal with heavy reliance on men and their dallying around. Lots of thriller potential right there. Men with superhuman analytical abilities called Mentats have taken the place of Computers. On the other hand, we have the Bene Gesserit, an ancient school of mental and physical training for female students (it gives them superhuman intuitive powers) who follow a selective breeding program which makes them feared and mistrusted through the Imperium. Their desired end product of this breeding program is the Kwisatz Haderach, a superman who’ll be able to glimpse into the future. How he’ll be able to do this is rooted in Herbert’s idea of determinism: given that one can observe everything and analyze everything, one can effectively glimpse the future in probabilistic terms. Quantum physics anyone? The Kwisatz Haderach is the proposed solution to the male-female dichotomy, between the analytical and intuitive.








The plot of Dune is almost wholly set on the desert planet of Arrakis (also referred to as Dune), an arid wasteland where water is so scarce that men have to wear stillsuits which recycle human moisture for further consumption. The source of the galaxy’s interest in the planet is Melange, a spice which bestows upon one longevity and prescient powers. Everything on the planet is permeated with the spice, the air, the sand, the food. Everybody on the planet is hopelessly addicted to the spice, their only hope for survival being their continued intake of the spice. The Spacing Guild, the economic and trading monopolistic arm of the Galaxy badly needs the spice for interstellar transport. This is because their frigates travel faster than the speed of light and hence travel backward in time. The spice is the only way they can look into the future and see their way ahead. How cool is that! All the powers on the Galaxy are out to mine the spice, braving the sandworms, their name merely an euphemism, for they are gigantic 200 metre long creatures which always come digging through the sand whenever spice mining is undertook. Always. There’s also another little glitch. There exist on the planet, the kickass native desert tribal Fremen, whom the foreign powers look down with suspicion and disdain. The Fremen ethos is one of survival and scarcity, driven by tribalism and egalitarianism. Okay, I’ll stop right there. No more spoilers about this. Except that they value water to the extent that spitting on a person is the highest honour they can bestow upon him.















Our protagonists are the Atreides family, consisting of the Duke, his Bene Gesserit concubine Jessica and their son Paul, who have been entrusted the stewardship of Arrakis. We discover the alien planet of Arrakis along with them, firstly with fear, suspicion and wonder and ultimately, love and respect. Paul Muad’Dib, however is no ordinary prince. There’s a teeny weeny chance he might be the Kwisatz Haderach, something which troubles him constantly and gives us our conflicted hero. The poor chap trips balls over the spice and has visions of black hordes pillaging and murdering around town bearing his flag and sees his dead body multiple times.




My favourite character, however has to be the Baron Vladmir Harkonnen, the most evil character I’ve ever come across in my literary excursions. He is ruddy ruthlessness, he is virile villainy, he is truculent treachery. He executes the inept chess players in his employ which says oodles about his badassery and his fondness for cold-blooded logic. He sees everything in simplistic chess terms. What is my best move? What is my opponent’s best move? Is there anything I can do to completely squash his move? Is there a tactic which leads to mate in three?







Themes
In this setting, Herbert does so much, it’s unbelievable. Religion, politics, the dynamic nature of power, the effects of colonialism, our blatant destruction of our environment are themes which run parallel to the intensely exciting and labyrinthine plot. He shows the paramount importance of myth making and religion for power to sustain over long periods of time. Man, as a political animal is laid completely bare.



Real life
Now these are my thoughts about what Herbert could have meant to be Arrakis description
It makes perfect sense. Herbert draws heavy inspiration for the religious ideology of Muad’Dib from Islam. He says “When religion and politics ride in the same cart and that cart is driven by a living Holy man, nothing can stand in the path of such a people.” which is the philosphy of the politics of Islam. Islamism in a nutshell.



The spice, much desired by everyone, is the oil. Baron Vladmir Harkonnen is symblomatic of the wily Russians. The Desert foxes Fremen are representative of the native Saudi desert-dwelling Bedouin tribe who have a strongly tribe-oriented culture and undoubtedly value water in equal measure. And the ultimate loser is the environment.



Why do good books get over?
I almost forget this is a science fiction novel, it’s that real. It is also scary and prophetic. It is a reading experience that will leave you dreaming of the grave emptiness of Arrakis and make you wish you were there to brave it all in the privileged company of the noble Fremen. Frank Herbert achieves the pinnacle of what a sci-fi author aspires to rise to; authentic world building.



This is not a zombie book, or at least not a zombie book in the way it is marketed. That's only part of the reason why this book pisses me off. It promises a zombie novel despite the fact literally hundreds of pages go by without seeing one. It kicks off with a bang and some zombie action and then that's it. When I buy a book on the understanding it's about zombies, I do actually expect to, you know, experience them. Mira Grant assumes otherwise.





Two things that genuinely confused me; -- The pop culture references to the current world. Considering the fact this book is set 20 years in the future, in a completely different world and society and...people still remember Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Irwins are named after Steve Irwin, who, by the time all this takes place, is long dead. The whole George Romero thing irked me although I'm not really sure why. I understand his movies more or less catapulted zombies into mainstream culture but his most recent movies have flopped so hard people are wondering why he's still making them. I'm not ratting on the guy (Day Of The Dead was the movie that got me into zombies), I'm just saying I don't buy him having a god like status in society.





-- The lack of anything sexual. Why? I'm not saying I expected it, or really that the book would have been better with some sex scenes but Grant avoided them to obviously, going as far as the categorically state both Georgia and Shaun are celibate with such abruptness my 'icky sex' radar went through the damn roof. It didn't help that she went to noticeable lengths to point out that they only needed each other, no one else under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I'm all for siblings being close but Grant failed massively and just made me suspicious some kind of relationship beyond brother/sister was going on. I was honestly expecting some kind of incest (they're adopted but have been brought up together. Not sure if that counts) subplot to come out and bite me.





Georgia, for me, was a huge irritant. She was possibly an author insert and definitely a Mary Sue. She's awkward and hates the lime light yet gets lots of it, even though she tries her hardest to avoid any attention. She's the head of the team yet hates the recognition this gives her. She claims to deliver nothing but the truth, despite her blog posts being nothing but her opinion. She has an eye condition (another thing Grant doesn't let you forget) that means she's sensitive to light and can't go without her epic sunglasses. This takes nothing away from her appearance other than to make her look moody and cool. If my memory serves me right, someone even likens her to a rock star. On the occasions that she wears contact lenses, she wears bright blue colored ones so she can make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe Grant is under the illusion this is a flaw in some way (much like apparently being clumsy and falling over a lot is, ala Bella Swan) but it's obviously another way of showing how cool Georgia is. There was one passage when she even avoids a hug off of a well meaning woman who has been nothing other than kind to her because she didn't want to have to touch her/be touched. Hugs last about 3 seconds and she made it sound like touching this woman was akin to licking dog shit. What a rude dick.











She cannot create good, believable characters. This is my biggest pet peeve. None of them (least of all Georgia and Shaun) can have a conversation without cracking juvenile one liners and generally showing how bad ass they are.


And then there's the constant references to the blood testing kit. It was ok the first time, but 40th? Nope. I get it, it's a dangerous place to live (judging by the lack of zombie action, it's not really, but I'll pretend to go along with Mira anyway). I don't need to be constantly reminded every time they want to open a door. It's not like it's mentioned in detail the once, she go into detail every single time.





The writing is repetitive to a point bordering on infuriating. If I had to read 'This is my brother Shaun, he pokes things with sticks!' one more time I probably would have burst a valve. She evens makes a reference to 'reaching for the stick' in the interview at the back. It wasn't funny the first time. Stop it.




I really, genuinely do not like this book. The more I think about it the more it pisses me off. I'm sorry but I'm not buying any of it.


Ps, the 'fictionals' made me want to smash my head off a wall. Wtf did she get that from?

Pps, stereotyping and judging is not good, Mira. The only female politician is described as having big fake boobs, zero brain cells and no real talents other than squeezing her ta-ta's together. Whether or not that's Georgia with a case of The Bitchies I don't know, but it's not exactly fair and reeks of pathetic insecurity. The stereotyping? Oh dear. The only English character drops 'bloody hells' all over the place and has a blog called...'Fish & Clips'. I shit you not. Mira needs a holiday somewhere-outside-of-America.






Extras is the fourth book in Scott Westerfeld's critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling series (originally it was a trilogy). The first three books Uglies, Pretties, and Specials follow Tally Youngblood, a fifteen-year-old girl living in a futuristic world so dominated by plastic surgery that anyone who looks normal is ugly. Extras is set three years after the events of the trilogy unfold, in a different city, with different main characters. The trilogy, however, sets the framework for everything that happens in Extras so while the book is great on its own it definitely assumes you know the story of the trilogy.



In this new world, where everything is changing, being pretty isn't enough to get by. Now it's fame that matters. The more famous you are, the higher your face rank is. A higher rank means more currency in a world where celebrity is everything.



Everyone is trying to get more attention somehow: "tech-heads" are obsessed with gadgets, "surge monkeys" are hooked on the newest trends in plastic surgery, and "kickers" use feeds (think blogs but techier and cooler because it's a Westerfeld idea) to spread the word on all the gossip and trends worth mentioning. But staying famous is a lot easier than getting famous. Just ask Aya Fuse. Fifteen-year-old Aya has had her own feed for a year, but her rank is still 451,369--so low that she's a definite nobody, someone her city calls an extra.



Aya has a plan to up her rank though. All she needs is a really big story to kick. Aya finds the perfect story when she meets the Sly Girls, a clique pulling crazy tricks in utter obscurity. As Aya follows her story she realizes it's much bigger than one clique: maybe the biggest story since Tally Youngblood changed everything.



Some sequels that bring in all new characters are annoying. Not this one. All of the "new" characters are original and, equally important, likable. The story is also utterly original covering very different territory than the rest of the series. It doesn't pick up right where the trilogy left off, but a lot of questions are answered by the end of this book.




Like the other books in the series, this one moves fast. The story has a lot of action and several twists and surprises (some old characters even turn up). The plot is never overly-confusing though. Westerfeld does a great job of creating (and explaining) the futuristic world he has created in these pages so that it truly comes to life on the page.



At the same time, Extras is a very timely book. In a world where everyone seems to have some kind of website and is trying to be more popular or more famous, it's fascinating to read about a city where everything literally depends on your reputation. Westerfeld raises a lot of interesting questions as Aya deals with the ethics of kicking her new story and tries to decide if honesty really is more important than fame.


You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print