Scott Westerfeld
Author of Uglies
About the Author
Scott Westerfeld was born in Dallas, Texas on May 5, 1963. He received a degree in philosophy from Vassar College in 1985. Before becoming a full time writer, he held several jobs including factory worker, software designer, editor, and substitute teacher. His works for young adults include the show more Uglies series, the Midnighters series, and The Last Days. He is the co-author of the Zeroes series written with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti. He also writes science fiction novels for adults. He has won numerous awards including a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award for Evolution's Darling, a Victorian Premier's Award for So Yesterday, and an Aurealis Award for The Secret Hour. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Samantha Jones
Series
Works by Scott Westerfeld
The World of the Golden Compass: The Otherworldly Ride Continues (2007) — Editor & Contributor — 67 copies
Spill Zone Book 2: The Broken Vow 26 copies
Spill Zone (graphic novel) (3) 14 copies
The Movements of Her Eyes 3 copies
Uglies And Pretties 1 copy
Kompars 1 copy
The Trumpet of the Swan 1 copy
Inoculata [Short Story] 1 copy
Uglies (Graphic Novel) — Author — 1 copy
Associated Works
Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show (2003) — Contributor — 408 copies
Sex in the System: Stories of Erotic Futures, Technological Stimulation, and the Sensual Life of Machines (2006) — Contributor — 27 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Westerfeld, Scott David
- Birthdate
- 1963-05-05
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Dallas, Texas, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Education
- Vassar College (BA | 1985 | Philosophy)
- Occupations
- textbook editor
software designer
composer
science fiction writer - Relationships
- Larbalestier, Justine (spouse)
- Agent
- Jill Grinberg (Jill Grinberg Literary Management)
Members
Discussions
Found: Town of perfect kids in Name that Book (March 11)
Fiction- Move to a party city when you turn 21, must wear rings in Name that Book (June 2023)
Aliens, genetically engineered monsters, develop language in Name that Book (January 2017)
Group Read (April): Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld ***SPOILER thread*** in The 11 in 11 Category Challenge (April 2011)
Leviathan - A Fantasy February Group Read in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (February 2011)
Reviews
Lists
Best Dystopias (1)
Next in Series (1)
To Read - Horror (1)
Sonlight Books (1)
Gaslamp Fantasy (1)
Graphic Novels (1)
Teens (1)
Steampunk (3)
Science Fiction (2)
Best Young Adult (4)
Favorite Series (1)
Absolute Power (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 76
- Also by
- 17
- Members
- 68,538
- Popularity
- #194
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 2,616
- ISBNs
- 741
- Languages
- 19
- Favorited
- 204
Now. The book! It annoyed the heck out of me, but it was supposed to be kind of boring and senseless. Scott Westerfield does a great job of immersing his readers in the world of Pretties. They use idiotic slang all the time and are very empty-minded, and he really manages to explore that and make us feel that. I think he also did a good job of exploring how they could grasp a desire to escape their pretty-mindedness. It was a struggle for all the characters to break through the haze of their vane world. The author didn't make the decision easy or automatic. They had to keep fighting. So he didn't make it easy for us to read. It was frustrating to watch them "relapse".
I think a lot of people disliked this book because he rarely gave us what we were rooting for. Junk went wrong and characters made stupid, senseless choices. It's very brave to screw up your own story. So I admire and appreciate that.
I'm glad that Tally is trying to be a better person. I mean, she fails. A LOT. But she has learned some lessons about being honest with people. She's making a lot of hard choices and trying to do the right thing. So we are seeing character growth, even though her mind has been turned Pretty and things aren't going the way we want them to.
Three stars ("liked it") because it annoyed the heck out of me at times but it was for good reasons, and it didn't always. I won't say it's amazing writing, but it's pretty good. (Basically I want to save my four and five, which is why this gets a middling score.)
[update]
Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention.
I'm really sick of the dystopian novel trope of a teenage girl resistant to some drug. Cassia Reyes in Matched fought through two pills and refused to take the third. Tris Prior in Divergent is resistant to many serums. Even Jonas in The Giver stopped talking his pills. And here we have Tally Youngblood beating the brain lesions through sheer willpower. (At least Katniss Everdeen didn't fight the effects of any drugs.) I know Matched and Divergent were written after Pretties. If anything they're all borrowing from The Giver. I'm just so tired of that shared feature in all these series -_- We can have a compelling story without any characters rejecting the control drugs or medical procedures are supposed to put on them! There can be something else that they fight! I guess I'm complaining of the unoriginality of a genre at this point.… (more)