On The Extra Stories In A Series

I read my fair share of Young Adult Fantasy and Science-Fiction series. They're fun, entertaining and some full of interesting ideas. I ready Adult Science-Fiction and Fantasy too, but I'm going to stick to YA right now. I'm thinking about all these series that have companion short stories. Some are prequels, some are re-tellings of scenes from another character's point of view, some are about what has happened in between novels. Not all series have them, The Hunger Games, for example. It's three novels, that's it, the end. Then there is a series like Delirium with so many extra tales, that though originally published as ebooks (as all these extra tales first are), they published a paperback edition too, though most leave their companion tales as ebooks, like the Grisha trilogy.

Though there are other series that leave out the extra bits (like Uglies from Scott Westerfeld), I feel like there are more who have at least one ebook tale (like Legend, by Marie Lu) and an increasing amount of others who are publishing their multiple ebook shorts in paperback form (Shatter Me, by Taherah Mafi). Why am I thinking about this?  Recently I read Red Queen. It was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm itching to read Glass Sword. I own both novels. I picked them up recently (at a very good price). However, Cruel Crown was not available to purchase. If it was there, would I have purchased it? Probably, yes. While I have skipped companion ebook short stories in the past, when there is more than one, I feel more of a pull to get them. What might they reveal about the characters I love, the ones I hate, the history of the world? With Red Queen a recent read, I'm left wondering if I should buy the paperback, the two ebooks separately (a cheaper deal) or just skip the stories.

As I type this, read what I've written, I think I might be feeling companion story burn-out. Why do the majority of series (at least the ones I've read lately) have these extra bits floating around? Some of the short stories I've read have been brilliant, like Leigh Bardugo's The Witch of Duva and Little Knife. Others I've been less fond of, like alternate perspectives, where I know what's going to happen (I like a little tension or mystery in my stories), especially if they don't tell me anything I didn't already know. I have a similar problem with prequels, a story is nice, but I want to learn something. The Assassin's Blade was a collection of prequel stories done right. They had their own plots and we learned a lot about the main character and even had hints about what could happen in future novels. I guess I am just wondering, why can't their be more series like The Hunger Games? A bunch of novels I loved. I'm not saying just trilogies either. Uglies is a series of 4 books. I just... I don't know... There are just so many... I want to be able to pick up the books and read them, without having to search online to see if any other stories exist. (I have to say, I do appreciate the ones that are free.) But why can't it be bam, bam, bam, done? If I hadn't joined Goodreads, I probably would have missed most of these stories (Thanks, Goodreads, for links on where to read them too.) It's just burn-out, that's all it is. Right? Bah! Whatever.

Breaks Between Books

How long are your breaks between books?  Mine used to be non-existent.  I frequently had the next book picked out before I finished the one I was reading.  It had nothing to do with the enjoyment of my current book. Even if I found the book all-consuming, crazy-amazing, I would still have something ready and waiting.  Not that I always read the book I thought I was going to read; I occasionally changed my mind, but there still be only a day between books.  With blogging, I like to get my thoughts down before I start something new. Often, I would throw down my points and then start the new book, cleaning the post up when I had more time.  What happened?

Lately, probably the last three or four months, it is sometimes days before I pick up my next book.  It's not that I feel like I'm in a slump, I've enjoyed the books I've read.  I loved, The Demonologist and The Flying Troutmans.  Blue Lily, Lily Blue and Specials had me riveted.  Why did it take me so long to pick each of those books? There were days between all of them.  I could have read another (short) book in the time it took me to pick something.  Is it because I have Emily Dickinson's collection on the go?  Usually, I only have one "currently reading" book at a time, but I started her poems months and am taking my time. The poetry is an ebook, so if I'm out, without space for my novel, I can take in a few poems.  I also find by spacing them out, I'm enjoying each poem more. (I'm taking lots of notes too.)  However, I don't think that's it.  I've been reading the poems for about eight months now and this change is newer than that. 

So, what is it?  Why am I now leaving so much space between books?  How long do you let go by before you pick up another book?

It's been two days since I finished my last book. 

Specials

Is everything really Dr. Cable's fault? If she had left Tally alone, let her turn pretty, would any of this have happened? Part of me feels sorry for Cable. Umm, not really. I do understand the need to have her work continue though.  Also, Cable and Tally's city seems to be the most extreme of all the cities, so maybe it was just a matter time.

Specials is the final book in the story of Tally Youngblood, I think. From what I understand, the series was completed as a trilogy, but then Scott Westerfeld felt another book had to be written.  I wonder what it'll be about and I hope I get to find out something more about Tally.  I loved Tally Youngblood.  I loved all the revelations about the city.  I thought the end was fantastic.  I was sad about some things, but satisfied with others.  I like how everything ended up with Shay and the Cutters.  I like what happened with David.  I really liked Diego.  If there was no other books, I would count Specials as a satisfying end to the Uglies series.

Pretties

Spoilers if you haven't read Uglies. Minor spoilers for Pretties.

I'm feeling more and more sorry for Tally.  Nothing she does seems to turn out right.  At the end of Uglies, Tally has given herself up to be turned Pretty, with the intention of taking an experimental cure. In Pretties, it starts out with her not remembering. That's part of what the pretty operation does, it changes not just your body, it changes your mind.  Is being pretty on the outside worth what it does to your mind?

I couldn't put Pretties down.  I read it easily in three days.  I could have read it in two, but my Hubby was bugging me to go to sleep.  I am finding the Uglies series not just entertaining, but thought provoking.  The people that Tally meets outside of the city, what Dr. Cable says to her, how she views herself, the New Smokies, the Crims, makes you think.  Is being "pretty-minded" so bad?  Everything seems under control, in general.  There is peace and love and happiness, but is the cost too high?  The Rusties (us, I'm presuming) destroyed themselves.  If Tally succeeds, will it just happen again?

I did not expect what happened with Shay and the Cutters.  I knew she was mad, but to do what she did.  I guess I understand the Cutter thing, once she knew she couldn't get her hands on a cure, but after?  Was it just to get revenge on Tally?  Does she really hate Tally that much?  It was a great addition to the series.  It definitely makes me even more excited to read Specials, though with the title, I could have guessed what it was about.

I'm really enjoying Scott Westerfeld's series.  I thought I would like it, but I didn't know how much.  I didn't know that I'd be thinking that maybe, in the end, Tally and the Smokies won't succeed.  That would certainly be an interesting twist.  I'm wondering about the end of book 4; will Extras leave me with an open conclusion, an unknown future?  Could the people living in the cities stop wanting to be pretty when that is what they've grown up with?  I could see where Westerfeld got the idea for the series as it is littered with issues we deal with today.

Uglies

That's the ending? Really? Well, fine then. I'll just have to read the sequel to Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. It's a good thing I got the box set at such a good bargain. This is the second book I have read recently that feels like a series, like one really long story. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children has the same, obvious, cliffhanger ending. Any resolution at all not likely coming until the end of the series. I don't usually like that feeling, that nothing is known, that you must read the next novel before you can know anything, but like Miss Peregrine's, I enjoyed Uglies enough for it not to matter. I want to know more about this society, how it got there and where it's going.

Uglies also reminded me a lot of Delirium. Both stories take place in a society where something is taken away, leaving a more "peaceful" people. When Delirium removes love, the reaction is more shocked, I think, from the reader.  When Uglies removes ugliness, there's more hesitation, doesn't everyone want to be pretty? That's what drew me to the series, the idea that no one is judged on looks because everyone is pretty. There's even a pretty standard. How the Uglies treat each other, how they idolize the Pretties, seemed an almost logical exaggeration of what happens now. The Uglies are teenagers, a time when a person is learning about themselves and also in need of guidance. If pretty adults come to you and tell you that one day you'll be pretty too, why question it?

Uglies (like Delirium) centres around a girl who is fine with the status quo. Tally (like Lena) starts out wanting the operation that will make them normal. It is a friend that starts them down the rebellious path. Is it the boy that keeps them their, or is it that their beliefs change? I like to think the later. Tally learns the truth about the operation. It changes how she views everything and everyone she has ever known. I like the idea of the unwilling rebel/hero. I've seen it twice now in these dystopian novels. I wonder if I'll see more of it. 

 

I have to say, that scene with Tally, Shay, and the magazines was really interesting. I liked Tally's reaction to them and how Shay explained things too her. I like the idea that magazines, fashion magazines, could hold a piece of our history that future generations would never know about otherwise. I also found it interesting that in Tally's world, not everyone learns penmanship. Not even basic printing. Technology is such a huge part of Tally's world that even people living in the wilderness have to use it. 

I'm excited to read the rest of the series. Westerfeld has created and intriguing world and left the end of Uglies with a big setup for Pretties. The series is four books, and I don't think it'll be long before I have read all of them.