So I have both the original version of Sage's Story and now the new Sage and the Journey to Wishworld. I'm going to do a chapter-by-chapter comparison of the two, because I skimmed the first chapter and we've already got one enormous difference!
I'm only going to hit the major points. The writing has been amped up a lot. Definitely polished and given more detail in a lot of places.
PROLOGUE:
-The family characters didn't have names before.
-Swiftcar is now Starcar.
-The biggest change: Sage's mom is alive! In the original story, her mother was dead.
-The differences are mostly world-building. Lots more descriptions of the environment and interactions between characters. Sage's mom seems cool, which obviously she didn't before, because she didn't exist. And Sage's grandmother is fleshed out more.
CHAPTER 1:
-This is hugely different. The Bot-Bot wasn't in the first version and this whole tour thing is new.
-Leona makes a quickie unnamed appearance. I bet we'll see more of the other SDs than we did in the first version.
-In the new book, Sage is told not to bring anything but the "clothes on her back." In the original, she had to unpack. They describe the different sides of the room for Sage and Cassie and it's clear they were designed for the girls based on information they provided in their applications. Cassie now has lots of books instead of knick-knacks.
-Cassie has changed slightly. Her hair was silvery-white and now it's pinkish-white, which I guess might happen from the illustrations of her. It's a shame they didn't have the guts to keep her the way she was. I love white hair and there are other characters with pink hair. We didn't need another.
-Sage not having read the Student Manual is downplayed a bit, because in the new book, she only just got it when she arrived. So Cassie's saying the Star-Zaps are discussed in the manual and Sage's grandmother's tsking don't quite make sense anymore.
-There's an addition of the Welcome Procession and the girls receiving their new outfits.
CHAPTER 2:
-Most of this chapter is very different. All the procession stuff and the glimpses of Libby and Scarlet are new.
-Vivica makes an unnamed appearance in a new scene.
-All the info on Wish Orbs is new. Good world-building again.
-In the original, Scarlet is the one who sticks out her tongue at Sage. In the new version, it's a girl with orange hair. I wonder if it's Gemma.
-Vivica takes the place of the girl with "acid yellow" hair who made fun of Sage's SD message in the first version.
CHAPTER 3:
-The descriptions of the other girls have been amped some. Scarlet is once again mentioned.
-Yes, it was Gemma that stuck out her tongue. And there's an amusing scene with her and Tessa.
-The energy crisis is not mentioned. The Star Darlings project is treated more like an experiment, although I still disagree with the cover of it being that they need extra help. Vega protests that and it does seem flimsy, especially if she's one of the best students.
-There's a funny moment when Sage answers Lady Stella first and Astra is annoyed because she wanted to.
-The girls receive their Wish Pendants.
-Lady Cordial, head of admissions, is introduced. She and a few select profs will know about this.
-This chapter is mostly quite different. The Star Darlings meet at the beginning for breakfast, which doesn't happen in the first version. Then we've got a very expanded section on the differences between Earth and Starland, which is a general class and not just the dozen SDs. I was irritated at the description of Wishling holidays because Ursa only mentioned primarily American holidays. I was hoping the missions would be a bit more varied than going to the US over and over again. There's still a sense of superiority from the Starlings, because Earth is technologically less advanced. Someone on Tumblr complained about that, but it's a frequently used aspect of aliens vs. Earthlings. Then we move on to Professor Delphinus's class, which covers the same info on wish identification from the first book and adds a lot more. Vivica is in Professor Raye's class, which Sage has next. Then we flash-forward to the final class. Sage catches up with Cassie in the hallway and they discuss their days, although they had one shared class and it seems a bit odd they wouldn't have done this then or at lunch. Then we have the scene from the beginning of the chapter in the first version of the book, where Vivica confronts them about their SD classes. In their special SD class at the end of the day, Professor Dumarre gives a lecture on Wishling schools. Overall, this has a lot of the same info as the original Chapter 4, but the teachers are given bigger personalities and there's a lot more info presented.
CHAPTER 5:
-The major difference here is that a lot of time passes and there are no SD missions, whereas in the original, they rush right off on the first day.
-Sage has joined a couple clubs AND read the student manual. Very different.
-In a new scene, Vivica insinuates that Sage only got into the school because her mother is a well-known scientist. See, this is why the remedial cover story falls apart. No one in this school should be remedial anything. It is that competitive.
-In another new scene, Sage runs into Cassie's father. Only he's not her father, he's her uncle. Cassie made it sound like her parents were still alive, but they're not. She's lived with her uncle since she was 6. Sage manages to slip away before Cassie sees her and stays away until later that night to give her some space. (This is a nice bit of characterization for her, because the original Sage was a more negative, impulsive character and I like this new Sage a lot more.) When she returns to their room, Cassie talks about her uncle and starts to say something about her parents when Sage interrupts and says Cassie's uncle told her the truth. Things are a bit awkward and they both go to bed, but Sage wakes to a text from Cassie, who communicates her feelings better via writing. After apologizing and explaining herself, she asks never to speak of this again and Sage agrees. She does learn more about Cassie's life though. Her uncle is a best-selling author and Cassie is an occasional star in his mysteries.
-The scene in the Wish-Cavern is similar yet of course different. There are no flowers, no clue about the wish.
CHAPTER 6:
-The biggest difference here is that the Travel Star, a vehicle in the first book, is now an actual shooting star.
CHAPTER 7:
-No major differences except the elimination of a scene at the end of the chapter with the "mean girl."
CHAPTER 8:
-Mostly the same with some expansions. The missing scene from the end of 7 turned up here.
CHAPTER 9:
-Also mostly the same, minus the scene about Sage and her mother.
CHAPTER 10:
-No major changes.
CHAPTER 11:
-Tessa is the only one who comes to Earth, not Arly and Piper, too, as in the first version. Sage sees Tessa as a Starling, not in her Earth disguise.
-Sage figures out that her Wisher is Genevieve without the aid of Cassie sending her the gift clue, as in the first book.
CHAPTER 12:
-They added Tessa kinda getting drunk on lemonade.
CHAPTER 13:
-The biggest change is that in the first version, Sage's randomly appears as her Starling self to the Earth girls, but now it's a conscious decision.
EPILOGUE:
-Sage receives her wish blossom and power crystal. Only the crystal was in the first book. The flower appeared earlier.
-Sage learns that she was admitted on her own strengths. There's nothing true in Vivica's nasty rumor.
And that's that. The changes are predominantly in the first part of the book, which is where they really needed to be. Some serious world-building was needed and we got that. And we got glimpses of the other girls' personalities, which were lacking in the original. Both Sage and Cassie are much stronger characters now, though I liked Cassie from the beginning. She's more well-rounded whereas Sage has become more likeable.
No mention of the band! I wonder if that won't be until Leona's book, since she starts it.
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