Specials

Specials is the third installment in Scott Westerfeld’s tetralogy of books, following Uglies and Pretties. All three books focus on the protagonist, Tally Youngblood, as she comes of age in a dystopian future society. Three hundred years ago, the Rusties (or current-day society) destroyed their civilization through the combination of an oil-eating bacteria, nuclear warfare, and general ecological collapse. The new city-states that dominate the landscape are confined to specific geological boundaries and social systems in an attempt to prevent repeating the mistakes of the Rusties. On the one hand, this creates an environment in which “the wild” remains undisturbed and sustainable. On the other hand, this promotes an atmosphere of authoritarian control, wherein conformity and obedience quash individual expression and independent thought.

The author builds a world in which cosmetic surgery and designer looks are fundamental to the social order. The Uglies are inferior, socially speaking, especially in Tally’s city: They are physically separated from the Pretties by a river that runs through the center of the city, and they are oceans apart, socially speaking. The Uglies are insecure and full of angst, their physical appearance the result of genetic fate rather than the perfectibility of surgical intervention.