Meh.

I like young adult fiction in general. It tends to be lightweight and easy to read, and it's usually pretty entertaining to boot.

Scott Westerfeld's Ugliesmeets two of those criteria: it's lightweight and easy to read. But it's not so much with the entertaining.

Oh, it starts off well enough. Tally, the main character, lives in a post-apocalyptic future where everything is just peachy. People learned from the mistakes of the "Rusties," the generations of the past that cut down too many trees and used too much raw material to build cities and basically robbed the land blind. So we've got the Environmental Message coming through loud and clear.

Then there's also the fact that in this society, your life is divided into neat little stages: you are born and grow up with your parents as a "Littlie" in the suburbs until age 12, at which point you become an "Ugly" and are shipped off to Uglyville. When you turn 16, you receive an operation that turns you into a "Pretty," and you get to party all day every day in New Pretty Town. As you age, you'll have another operation when you are a "Middle Pretty" and choose a career, and eventually, when you're really old, you'll become a "Crumbly" and move to Crumblyville. It's just the way it's done, and everyone's happy with it.

Almost everyone, of course. There has to be some drama, right? The central question is, then, why do we have to look/act/think/be like everyone else? What about our individual faces/thoughts/bodies/actions? So then we've got the Everyone Is Beautiful In Their Own Way Message (also known as the I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, And Doggone It, People Like Me Message).

Both of these messages are fine, really. But my goodness, could they be any more obvious? I think not. Even for the teen set, for whom this book is intended, I think it's a bit overly didactic.

I could forgive that, though, if it reached any kind of conclusion. It doesn't. It's the cheapest way ever to get people to read your sequels: don't end. At all. No kidding---by the time this book "ends"--and I use that term very loosely--not one single complication that has been brought up throughout the story has been resolved. Not. One. This made me feel like all 425 pages had been The Longest Setup Ever for the next book, and I think that's a cheap trick.

In the end, I just didn't care enough about anyone to make me want to continue--and I'd had enough Very Important Messages. Maybe you'll feel differently.

Shameless self-promotion

I know, I know. No post forever and then this? Shameless self-promotion? Disgusting!

It's true, and I apologize. But I'll continue with the shamelessness anyway.

Not long ago, I wrote this post about the University of Utah Singers, so I don't need to go into all that background again. Instead, I'll get right to it and explain that Carol of Joy is our newest album--the first one I am on!--and I'm very excited about it.

This is a Christmas CD and features every kind of carol you can imagine, from the traditional "Ding Dong, Merrily on High" to the show choir-esque "Need a Little Christmas" to the ward choir-y "Were You There" to the brand new (and beautiful) title track "Carol of Joy." I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet and believe me, I'm a staunch believer in no Christmas music until after that November holiday. But I also think it's stupid to buy new Christmas albums and give them on Christmas day, because then you don't get all the joy of listening to them leading up to Christmas.

So yes, I want to sell you this CD. I want you to buy it. I want you to buy multiple copies (*grin*), because as I stated in that other post, I do get credit toward helping me pay for tour. But I'm also all about full disclosure, so let me tell you the down sides of this album.

"Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" is absolutely the weakest cut on this album. The balance is ridiculously bad, and some high soprano (whose name shall not be mentioned on this blog, EVER) took it as a personal challenge to make the last note, uh, shall we say, featured. It's a pity, because the arrangement is really quite stunning. The Rutter carol "Mary's Lullaby" features that same soprano when she refuses to breathe with the rest of the choir. Yeah. "What Sweeter Music Can We Bring?" is also not...great. And there are some (legitimate) solo moments on "'Round the Glory Manger" that I don't particularly care for.

But that's, what, four tracks out of 23? Those are some pretty good odds that you'll find more to like here than dislike. "Sing We Now of Christmas" is my absolute favorite, and "El Rorro" is pretty good, too. And the words to "In Silent Night" are really, really nice.

Overall, I think it's worth having, and I'm not just sayin' that. So if you'd like to buy one, or two, or five hundred, let me know! You can order via the link above (where there is also a special sale going on--all three U of U Singers Christmas albums for $35)--if you do this, be sure to list my name as your referral--or you can order directly through me.

Happy (early) holidays, and Merry (early) Christmas, and thus ends this edition of Shameless Self-Promotion.

P.S. You can listen to a few samples here.