Books
Information about rights to my books can be found here.
"Tally's
in constant motion, the action nonstop, all the way until—paralleling
the stunning end of Uglies—Tally makes an unromantic, pragmatic
and desperate final decision. A splendid, provocative conclusion to a
terrific series."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
The
final book of the Uglies trilogy.
Specials was much harder to write than I thought it was going
to be. After all I'd already written the last book of a trilogy, Midnighters
3: Blue Noon, so I knew the drill. But figuring out what would
happen to Tally, Shay, David and Zane was more complicated and gruelling
than anything I've written before. Plus, being inside the head of a Special
turned out to be tricky! I hope you'll all be pleased with the results
of my hard work.
"A
powerful climax smoothly ties together the complexities of this original
and well-drawn world."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
The
end of the Midnighters trilogy. The secret hour when time freezes arrives
every night at midnight in Bixby, Oklahoma. It's a dangerous time, when
five teenagers are the only humans awake and dark creatures crawl out
of the shadows, but at least the midnight hour is regular and predictable.
Until suddenly, the blue time comes . . . in the middle of the day.
The Midnighters can't understand what's happening, but as they scramble
for answers, they discover that the walls between the secret hour and
real time are crumbling. Soon the dark creatures will have a chance to
feed after centuries of waiting, unless these five teenagers can find
a way to stop them.
Like the other Midnighters book this was a breeze to write. I loved Rex's new darkling-ish point of view, and I'll miss them all (especially Dess)!
"Westerfeld
has built a masterfully complex and vivid civilization. His characters
are multidimensional, especially Tally, who wrestles with what she has
done in the past and what she will be forced to do in the future. Uglies
and Pretties are both nearly impossible to put down. " School
Library Journal
"Riveting and compulsively readable, this action-packed sequel does
not disappoint. Just as good as its predecessor, it will leave fans breathlessly
waiting for the trilogy's final volume."
ALA Booklist
The sequel to Uglies with even more bungie-jacket assisted high jinks.
Find out what's happened to Tally, Shay and David. Do they still have
their own faces?
Turns out that publishing in paperback with only six months between volumes
is a recipe for success. Or is it that writing about the future of cosmetic
surgery has hit a nerve? Because the Uglies trilogy is my most popular
series. And not just in the US, the trilogy has now sold in China, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the UK. Makes
my head spin!
"Both
medical thriller and science fiction, this fast-paced,
captivating modern vampire story is enriched with biology and history.
. .Entrancing throughout—but squeamish readers beware."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"This innovative and original vampire story, full of engaging characters
and just enough horror without any gore, will appeal to a wide audience."
School Library Journal (starred)
If vampires were real how would they evolve? How would they survive? Peeps
is my answer to those questions.
It's been my most critically acclaimed book. It was named as a BCCB
Blue Ribbon Fiction Book, and a BBYA
top ten book of the year. As well as making the best books of the
year lists of Tayshas,
School
Library Journal,
Kirkus Reviews and Locus,
as well as being nominated for an Aurealis
for best YA book of year.
"With
a beginning and ending that pack hefty punches, this introduction to a
dystopic future promises an exciting series."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Highly
readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic techonoloigies
and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately,
the cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel."
School Library Journal (starred)
Uglies
is the first of a new trilogy. It's about a world in which everyone has
an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful.
Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. This seems like a good thing,
but it's not. Especially if you're one of the uglies, a bunch of radical
teens who've decided they want to keep their own faces. (How anti-social
of them.)
Midnighters fans
will know that I love a good action sequence, and this series is of full
of hoverboard chases, escapes through ancient ruins, and leaps off tall
buildings in bungee jackets. It's the sort of fast-paced book I couldn't
get enough of when I was young (still can't).
All you Midnighters and So Yesterday fans, let me know
what you think!
"This
powerful page-turner is compelling as it pits heroes against 
unspeakable
evil both human and supernatural."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
At long
last, the sequel!
This book turned out to be easy to write. As I wrote, I found out that
the midnighters’ world was deeper and richer than I’d thought.
Re-visiting Jessica, Rex, Dess,
Melissa, and Jonathan was sort of like getting to know old friends better.
Inside Touching Darkness, you’ll find out loads more about
the history of Bixby, about how the secret hour works, and about how the
darklings plan to deal with a flame-bringer in their midst. You’ll
also encounter a horrifying new type of darkling, and meet a few new human
characters as well. More, bigger, better—more, more, more.
I hope you enjoy going back to Bixby as much as I did. Sorry for the long
wait.
To read a mostly spoiler-free excerpt, click
here.
"This
clever, quirky romp through New York City tackles the 
question:
'What makes something cool?' A charming narrator with an original take
on teen life."
Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Ultimately,
Westerfeld's entertaining adventure doubles as a smart critique on marketing
and our consumer culture."
Publishers Weekly (starred)
"A
witty and provocative investigation of the surrealistic world of marketing
and status. Westerfeld tackles the merchantry of cool like no other YA
author."
BCCB (starred)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Through
Hunter and Jen's harrowing adventures amid abandoned buildings, fancy
parties, electronic spy networks, and high tech double-crosses, readers
will surely look in the mirror and wonder who is responsible for this
week's New Look."
Richie's
Picks
"Scott
Westerfeld's So Yesterday is hip and remarkably entertaining
young adult fiction that speaks the language of its target audience like
a native."
The Age
"[So
Yesterday] is a terrific modern mystery story full of arcane pieces
of information, fast paced action and witty asides."
Viewpoint
What if it was your job to say what was cool? What if clothes and electronics
companies gave you cash for your opinion, and lots of free stuff on top
of it? You wouldn't complain about that, would you?
Hunter Braque is a professional cool-hunter. No ads go on TV without his
approval, no new shoes hit the stores unless he's down with them. It's
a pretty sweet deal, until he meets Jen—a rare Innovator, one of
the people who actually creates cool at street-level. Real cool, not the
corporate kind. Suddenly, strange things start to happen.
First Hunter's boss Mandy disappears. When he enlists Jen to help find
her, the two begin to uncover a plot to end consumerism as we know it!
Will the world change forever, or can Hunter save the sacred bond between
brands and buyers? Does he even want to?
This is my latest, my current baby, and you should all go read it now!
For more background, check out my
wife's musing about how the book came to be and don't forget to look
at the So Yesterday
photoblog.
"Fast-paced
and spooky—a good read for the dark hours."
Ursula K. LeGuin
"A
thrilling combination of fantasy, science fiction and horror.
Kept me reading way past midnight!"
Garth Nix
"Don't
we all wish there was an extra hour in the day? Midnighters takes
that wish and turns it on its head, creating a chilling landscape of frozen
time and the eerie creatures that inhabit it. But most chilling are the
Midnighters themselves--teens with power in the between time, whose conflicts
with each other are real, immediate and compelling. I can't wait for the
next volume!"
Holly Black
"A
thrilling series starter."
Kirkus Reviews
"All
of the judges found Midnighters a thrilling ride from beginning
to 
end
that maintained a high level of literary skill. Westerfeld managed to
construct a world that was utterly convincing, grabbing its readers with
such hooks as the magic of 13-letter words, the quirky but always believable
characterisation, and the not always obvious ramifications of the 'secret
hour.'"
Aurealis
Award Judges' Report
The time-stopping first book of the Midnighters trilogy. This whole site's
about it, so I won't go into details here, except to mention that I just
wrote Book 2, my first real sequel. I was kind of scared going back into
the Midnighters world; would the characters still be there in
my head?
But the sequel-writing experience turned out to totally cool. I got to go deeper into the characters, into the backstory, into the whole world. It turned out there was more there in Bixby, Oklahoma than I'd thought. Which was a great thing to discover. I always get depressed when I finish a novel. Like that depression you sometimes feel at the end of reading a good book, but much bigger. Because, you know, I was in charge of this whole world, and suddenly I'm demoted to regular person. But now I'm confident that I can go back and write in the same world twice.
What a relief. (And good news for those of you who liked the first one, too.)
"In
the tradition of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and Frank 
Herbert's
Dune books . . . a literate space opera."
New York Times
"Westerfeld's
exceptionally smart and empathic novel . . . confirms the buzz that space
opera is one of the most exciting branches of current SF."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The
action moves with the pace of a well-executed military operation; a fascinating
clash of supertechnologies. This story has everything: combat, intrigue,
politics, and even an undead cat collection."
John C. Wright, author of The Golden Age
This was my attempt to write a space opera for my 14-year-old self, who always wanted big, ass-kicking space battles and hostage rescues and armor-suited ground actions, but ones that made some kind of scientific sense. (Um, space ships don't bank when they turn, Mr. Lucas.) So I started with that most cliched of sf protagonists, the starship captain, threw in every kind of derring-do I could imagine, and still tried to make it a pretty realistic novel. With, you know, characters and stuff.
One note: this book and Killing of Worlds were originally one manuscript. But at 180,000 words (about 700 pages) a certain large bookstore chain blanched at the thought and asked Tor to cut it in half. So they did. I really can't complain, given that this is rip-roaring space-operatic science fiction, a genre in which "fix-ups" (a bunch of short stories strung together to make a novel) and magazine serializations are a big part of the history. Just be ready to read both halves.
"The
successor to The Risen Empire is just as fine a rip-roaring space
opera, with its strength residing in the characters, all of them involved
in believable dilemmas."
American Library Association Booklist
"Vivid
characterization and a witty, laconic style lift this far above the space-opera
average."
Publishers Weekly
"In
Westerfeld's hands, science fiction's cutting edge is wielded with both
the precision of a surgeon's scalpel and the wild abandon of a machete."
Wil McCarthy, author of Lost in Transmission
Notable
Book of 2000 
New
York Times
Philip
K. Dick Award
Special Citation for 2000
"Breathtaking.
The entire narrative brims with energy and invention."
New York Times
"A
sexy SF thriller with integrity."
Locus
"A unique myth of the far future. Should top award lists in 2001." Asimov's
"It's
hard to decide what to praise most about this novel. The writing is exquisitely
sharp, the plot clever and enthralling. Science fiction doesn't get much
better than this."
Science Fiction Weekly
I wanted to write a book with an artificial intelligence as the main character.
What would be a good job for an AI? I asked myself. How about . . . art
dealer? So, um, yeah. This book is about an AI art dealer in search of
a missing artist. If that doesn't make you want to read it, what's wrong
with you?
This was my first book to be received as a "literary" novel. In other words, places like the NY Times reviewed it. That was all really thrilling, until I realized that it doesn't guarantee millions more sales. Maybe . . . hundreds more? But I did get a movie option out of the review. Stan Winston, the guy who did the sfx for Alien, was all into filming it. Alas, they had trouble writing a script (no, they never asked me) and the project gently died. As, um, 99% of all movie options do.
One funny thing: when the Review of Contemporary Fiction reviewed Evolution's Darling, the guy said it was like a Philip K. Dick novel. Huh? Not true at all. Someone told me that's just what literary magazines say when they review sf so that their readers don't go, "Ewww, science fiction!"
Also, be warned: This book contains graphic content that some will find disturbing.
"Along
with Westerfeld's fascinating speculation is a compelling story
and a memorable cast of characters."
Locus
"With
breathtaking style, Fine Prey whips together the fields of equestrianism,
genetic engineering, and linguistics; slathers on the base emotions of
bloodsport; carefully adds layers of alien philosophy, human alienation,
and class consciousness . . . A very enjoyable and deep read. If you like
honest authors who clearly command their material (and your attention),
give this fine book a read."
SFSite.com
What's the old saying? "You have 20-something years to write your
first album, and 6 months to write your second."? The same goes for
this, my second novel. It was also the first one I sold before
writing it, and I'd just quit my day job to "be a writer." All
very scary.
But it's one of my favorite of my own books. The heroine, like me, is fascinated with language, and manages to think about every cool thing I've ever learned about words, meaning, and language. Strangely, novels about xeno-linguists don't sell as well as the rest of my books. It's out of print, but you can still get used copies.
Notable
First Novels of 1997 Selection 
Locus
Editor's
1997 Paperback Selection
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
"With
a feel for the genuinely alien, he is a writer to watch."
American Library Association Booklist
"Cyberpunk
with a literal twist, and an awareness of the interplay of class, race,
and status that gives a new edge to the action. Definitely worth your
while."
Melissa Scott, author of The Jazz
"Blends
horror and cyberpunk elements with a smart, deeply erotic exploration
of many-faceted sexuality. A novel that is both thought-provoking and
a ripping good read."
Poppy Z. Brite, author of Exquisite Corpse
My first book. Very fond of it, also embarassed at a few bits. You know, like remembering your very first girlfriend/boyfriend or something. It's about a shape-shifter hanging out in NYC nightclubs. Living in the city in my twenties, I always thought it would be cool to be able to get into any scene--black, white, gay, straight, whatever--by changing your body like you change your clothes. Hey, what are first novels for if not massive wish fulfillment? (Be warned: a bit graphic in places.)
Out of print, but I'm always happy to see that collectors buy copies of it for upward of 30 dollars, even though it originally sold for $5.99. Do they put them in plastic bags, I wonder?