text: Setting In humanity's future, a new type of society has been formed after a disastrous oil-bug was released upon the planet that killed 98% of the human population and left many cities in ruins. The new society is composed of about one hundred small post-scarcity, independently run city states, spread out across the seven continents, which now have different coastlines as a result of global warming. Tally's city is located somewhere in Washington state, west of the Cascade Mountains. The new society holds three values at its core: Sustainability, Peace, and Equality. The new society promotes these values through the use of The Surge, a type of extreme cosmetic surgery that all citizens undergo at the age of 16. The Surge transforms ordinary humans into paragons of beauty, right down to perfect facial symmetry. New Pretties are given access to life in New Pretty Town, the innermost part of the city where food, shelter, and entertainment are provided by the government free of charge. Within the post-Surge part of a person's life, everyone's common beauty inspires peace and equality among the citizens.
  Inspiration for the series
  In an interview with Simon and Schuster's book newsletter, author Scott Westerfeld talks about the inspiration behind the series. Westerfeld thinks that the future will allow people greater control over their appearance: "We are definitely heading toward a world in which lots of people will get to decide how they look. That will change what we think of as beautiful, and what beauty means to us." In light of this Westerfeld "wanted to write a future in which these technologies were fairly common."
  Westerfeld also cites "Liking What You See: A Documentary" by Ted Chiang as an inspiration.
  Additionally, the series shares many of its themes with the 1964 The Twilight Zone episode "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You."  In a blog posting, the author of the books notes that he had seen the episode in his childhood and had forgotten all the details.
  Social age groups