If you’ve already read Specials, the “last” book in the Uglies trilogy, you may have been…disappointed…with the less-than-happy ending. Personally, I was saddened by it, but I was pleased by how unconventional it was. But, for those of you who have yet to forgive Westerfeld for what happened to Zane and how Tally ends up, here’s Extras to solve your problems.

Extras

Taking place a few years after the events of Specials, Extras is set in Japan, as the Asian features of the girl on the cover should tip you off (compare to the other covers), as well as the -sama, -sensei, and -chan titles, and the group of pretties called manga-heads, who style themselves after…manga-style characters, I guess.

The plot: Because of the mind-rain, which freed all the enslaved minds of humanity in Specials, people have been freed to think and thus to pursue hobbies and their own paths, meaning that resources are being used up quickly. To try to control that rapid consumption, one city in Japan has adopted a reputation economy, in which merits (earned by, e.g., going to school) and face rank (earned by getting hits on your feed) give you the status to get nice things, like nice apartments and clothes, not to mention bask in fame (which is only earned by face rank). The main character is 15-year-old Aya Fuse, a kicker, which means she’s kind of like a journalist except she posts news stories on her feed. Her main concern is boosting her face rank, especially since she’s lived in the shadow of her famous older brother Hiro for so long. Her opportunity comes when she discovers a secret clique called the Sly Girls; they surf on mag-lev trains at 300 km/h at night. If she can kick the story about the Sly Girls, she’ll be famous, but in her adventures with them, as an undercover kicker, she finds out more about what’s going on outside her city than she’d imagined – indeed, it seems she and the Girls have discovered something that could destroy the world.

Like the other books in the series, Extras deals with popularity, relationships, and aspects of modern-day culture (online fame and celebrity). It also, as always, does not hesitate to say the truth about our world and how we’re destroying the environment, though it never offers much of a way out except advancing our technology and seeking compromise. I’d elaborate more, but it’s worth reading the book to see how the characters come up with a solution to over-consumption.

For Tally fans… SPOILERS Tally makes an appearance, along with several other characters from the previous books. We also get some kind of resolution for her that’s a bit more satisfying than what Specials offered, and of course it’s interesting to see how retaining her Specials wiring in her brain has affected her. Really, getting another view of her not only from another character’s perspective (Aya’s) but from another culture’s perspective (Japan’s) puts Tally in a different light that complements what we’ve learned from her first-hand throughout the first three books. END SPOILERS The point is, if you missed Tally, this book won’t disappoint you.

And as always, the futuristic slang is all over the place, with tech-heads, kickers, manga-heads, surge monkeys, etc. Once you finish, you’ll have a hard time extracting those words from your vocabulary.

By the end, it’s hard to understand what point Westerfeld wants to make about fame, unless you realize that fame means something different to different characters, and it can matter either a lot or a little depending on who you are and what your priorities are.

In comparison to the earlier books, Extras is a lighter read, with less tragedy, but an ensnaring plot, with Westerfeld’s characteristic reversal of meanings (you know, when everyone believes one thing, and then it turns out to be something totally different). I read it in one sitting, though I ended up with a twitchy eye afterward.

I highly recommend this book for those who’ve made it through Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. BUT, if you haven’t read the first three, please do NOT pick up this book; you’ll miss out on so much. It’s better to read the first three, and then read Extras to get the full enjoyment out of it. =D