drey's library

I picked up Inside Out on a whim--and I spent two and a half hours totally captivated by the story that Maria V. Snyder created.The world is a classic us-vs.-them, with the masses crowded into the Lowers, where they work menial jobs like laundry, cleaning the air ducts and water pipes, growing food in hydroponic farms, sorting through crap (literally!)... They sleep in shifts, work in shifts, eat in shifts... You get the idea.Everything the Lowers do is controlled by the Uppers, who watch their shifts, police their behavior, and control the flow of air--and information--into the Lowers. Anyone who misbehaves is fed to Chomper. Yup, death-by-Chomper. Sounds fun, huh? Life is blah, work is blah, everything is blah. And into this blah a "prophet" appears, preaching salvation in the form of a gate to the Outside. And, of course, Trella doesn't believe him.She's just a scrub (heh... Pun intended?), after all. What is there to hope for? She keeps to herself. Has only one friend. Sleeps in the pipes she cleans (see "scrub"). So... How does she get caught up in this whole bring-salvation-to-the-Lowers thing then? Well, that's the point of reading Inside Out, isn't it?Character: Trella reminds me of Katniss Everdeen. Thrown into a situation beyond her control (ok, so she did it to herself), she reacts as quickly as she can, using her wits to stay one step ahead of the pursuers. The bad guys are characteristically bad (I loved how they're referred to as the Pop Cops), the Uppers aren't all bad, and both Uppers and Lowers have quite a few things to learn about the world they live in...Pace & Plot: There's never a dull moment with Inside Out. The story flows easily, the plot moves quickly, and the action never stops. The sense of humor is fun and quirky, and the surprising discovery at the end is worth the read. I'll be picking up Outside In when it comes out!