And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether she in fact was still beautiful... or if the fall had changed the story completely.

I wouldn't say design has become strictly functional. A lot of cars these days look downright comic book to me, and the info-gadgets with which late industrial people spend the most time - phones, music players, etc. - are blobjects.

Shay sometimes talked in a mysterious way, like she was quoting the lyrics of some band no one else listened to.

Barking hard work, being a boy.

Most men's awareness doesn't extend past their dinner plates.

Left alone, human beings are a plague. They multiply relentlessly, consuming every resource, destroying everything they touch.

I like my first lines short and declarative. No complicated sentences. Of course, that's not really a Scott thing. It's pretty classic grab-the-reader technique.