The League of Extraordinary Writers: Now for the Main Course: Enders by Lissa Price

2014 is already off to a fantastic start for readers, because today we can finally pick up Enders, the long-anticipated conclusion to Lissa Price’s wonderful Starters!

Enders is a sequel, but this is where Callie’s story ends — just like it says on the tin. I’m becoming a big fan of duologies (two-book series), which are perfect for people who aren’t ready to let go of characters they love but are impatient for them to just get on with saving the world (or not). Duologies also skip the middle book of a trilogy, which all too often is awkward and unfulfilling on its own. I mean, would you buy a book called “Middles”? Nooooo. So just get Starters and Enders, both available in book stores today, and know that you’re getting all the good stuff in two complete volumes.

Enders is really the second half of a full story, and I envy those of you who can read both books for the first time back to back, instead of having to wait two long years like I did. (Though I have to say, it was totally worth it! And at least I don’t have to wait for a third one…) This is one of those rare sequels that not only is even better than the first, but allows you to enjoy the first book more in retrospect. The surprise twists and revelations in Enders will make you look at the events of Starters differently, and it’s awesome when an author can succeed at pulling that off.

Enders also fleshes out the so creepy world where most people between 20 and 60 have died off, and old people can download into the bodies of young people as easily as you can download Starters to your Kindle or Nook right now for only $2.99 to whet your appetite for Enders.

But seriously, taking over bodies is creepy, right? But creepy good: I love stories that mess with your head like that, where you don’t know if someone is who he says he is, with all the ethical questions raised by body swapping technology. My favorite thing about this series is that there are huge stakes for the world and particularly the teens living in it, but it’s all very personal to Callie: She constantly makes impossible choices to help her family and other “Metals” like her, in a world where most people — kids and elderly alike — are looking out for themselves.

In the tradition of the finest science fiction stories, Starters and Enders invite us to look at ourselves and question the world we live in, a world where most of us are the 99 percent, and we’re under constant surveillance from people we’d really rather not have tracking our every move. Enders also hits some of my personal storytelling buttons, and maybe yours: Kids trying to make up for the sins of their fathers; a complex, but subtle romance that doesn’t quite become a triangle (or is maybe more like a quadrilateral at times); and some really freaky twists. This book offers one of the most satisfying endings of the recent series I’ve read and left me wanting more — which is just what the best finales should do.

So if you like stories about corporate conspiracies, action-packed thrillers, and plot twists, go get Enders. If you like science fiction YA and/or kissing books, go get Enders. And of course, if you like Starters, go get Enders!

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For more information about Starters, Enders, and the brilliant, twisted mind behind them, visit www.lissaprice.com