Sunrise on the Reaping: A Hunger Games Novel

Sunrise on the Reaping: A Hunger Games Novel by Suzanne Collins

I found the narration to this novel to be a little dry, though it was easy to understand. Hunger Games fans should like this book. It feels just like the other Hunger Games books. This prequel deals with the life of Haymitch Abernathy. He accidentally ended up the hunger games when a riot broke out, the person selected was killed and he want in to help. He wanted to defeat the games and fought to break the structure. He caused some damage, but that was edited out. He eventually won the games and got the "rewards". However, the powers that be saw him as trouble, and made sure all those close to him died a mysterious death. The attitudes and characters feel just like those in the main series.

Gregor the Overlander: Underland Chronicles, Book 1

Gregor the Overlander: Underland Chronicles, Book 1 by Suzanne Collins

Gregor misses his dad who disappeared a few years ago. One day while watching his little sister, he stumbles into the underland. There are people that live down there. Other animals exist there in different form. The Rats are powerful and are enemies of people. Bats are friendly. His sister ends up being some sort of semi-deity to some animals. He is part of a prophecy. They eventually find his father and are able to bring him home. It is not quite as dark as Hunger games, but there are some harrowing moments. Why are some animals "friendly" but others not?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel

The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes is a standalone Hunger Games prequel novel. Knowledge of the main series will help to quickly understand the universe, but is probably not necessary to enjoy the novel. The name of the main character seemed vaguely familiar to me since it had been a while since I read the main series. This may have made the novel more enjoyable. I kept hoping for him to succeed and make it against the odds. Only after completing the book did I realize he was the "bad guy" from the main Hunger Games series. Perhaps this book explains why he was so "bad."

In this book, Coriolanus Snow hopes to be able to get the education and career he wants. However, the odds seem to be stacked against him. He has an opportunity to serve as a mentor to a Hunger Game tribute. He discovers that the tributes are treated horribly - often like expendable animals. (After all, they all will be fighting each other to the death.) His tribute is a small girl with a great singing voice. He befriends her and even falls in love. He makes suggestions to make the games more "exciting" for the viewers. He also ends up actively participating - going into the games kill somebody and training snakes to help his tribute to win. He believes he will get a full scholarship by winning. Alas, they find out about his cheating and he loses out on education. Dejected, he seeks escape in the military and is stationed in the district of his tribute. He finds out that the Hunger Games was originally conceived as a drunken joke, but ended up getting implemented. His friend ends up getting stationed with him, and later plotting an escape. Coriolanus nearly joins the escape with his girl, but ends up making it back to the capital where he has been hardened by his experiences to engage in subterfuge for personal gain. It seems like there were so many simple ways that the future "evil" life could have been avoided. Alas, the accumulated life experiences result in a psychopathy rather than empathy.

Mockingjay

The Hunger Games Recipe: Take a bit of Survivor (and reality in general), through in the original Star Wars trilogy add a touch of Lord of the Flies and Inspector Gadget. The overall plot is a close star wars clone. The "rebels" fight the empire (capital), they seem to get a victory in the first book. In the second the capital fights back and seems to be getting even stronger. Finally, the big fight comes in the third where, against all odds, the rebels manage to win.

Like the previous books, Mockingjay is a great page-turner that I had to plow through in one night. And like the others, I felt unsatisfied at the end.

Here she seems to try just a little too hard. She wasn't sure how to resolve the two-guys thing. So, she brings back a totally brainwashed Peeta and a Gale who gets overly bloodthirsty. Peeta works hard to overcome his brainwashing while Gale concocts massive killing machines (one of which happens to kill Katniss's sister.) Is there any doubt which boy Katniss will end up with?

And then there is the rebel leader, who gets portrayed more and more like a power-hungry villain. You could see what Katniss would do to her long before it happened.

The author was willing to suddenly kill of characters after she built up a lot of sympathy for them. I guess that makes it real. But, it also seems somewhat unsatisfying. She also seems to burn out on the narrative after a parachute explosion that injures Katniss. (Again, she's in the hospital. And again we miss a lot of narrative.) The explosion happens to kill her younger sister. The quest to save her sister was the reason she entered the games in the first place. I guess this shows that it was all for naught. Or perhaps her sister would have become the tool for the revolution instead - and more likely kept her head on.

The Hunger Games series ends as a jumbled escapist mess. It had some potential to make some great observations, but got sidetracked with some bad characters and gruesome action. Hollywood in book form.

Catching Fire

While Hunger Games could stand alone, Catching Fire is the second book in a trilogy. It relies heavily on events of the first book and leaves things in a huge mess at the end. Suddenly, the narrator realizes she has inadvertently helped to launch a revolution. She tries to do everything in her power to make things better. Alas, things just get worse.

The capital has a solution - start a hunger games just for previous champions. That will let these problem people exterminate themselves. Alas, for the capital, it just seems to make matters worse.

The storytelling here is even better than in the first book. The characters are also richer. We get a stronger impression that the capital people are the rich "playboys" and the enemies of society. Unfortunately, Katniss is still downright annoying. In some ways it is not her fault. She is being used by the revolutionaries to help advance their plot. (Though she is totally clueless.) Oh, and she has two guys that love her, though she simply uses them when it is to her advantage. It all makes for another escapist book that you can quickly read through.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world consisting of a capital city and thirteen distracts. About 75 years before, there had been a big rebellion and the thirteenth district had been annihilated. The remaining districts were put in their place of servitude to the capital city. To help the districts remember their "place", they have an annual event called the "Hunger Games". In the event, a boy and a girl from each district (chosen at random) are brought together in a fight to the death. The winner is lauded, with their entire district receiving some of the spoils. The losers are, well, dead.

The world is a combination of reality TV and class-stratification gone totally amok. However, the book doesn't spend much time looking in to what would be an interesting civilization. Instead, the focus is on the narrator, Katniss.

As the narrative comes to the drawing for the female participant from her district, it seems certain that she will be called. However, she isn't. Instead, her younger sister is called. However, Katniss volunteers to take her place. We see how the initial part of the games turns to hero worship. She is assigned a stylist and a prep crew who help make her up for the games. She dines like a queen. Everything seems like a dream life - well, except for the part that you will likely be dead soon.

The male participant from her district has had a crush on her for years. (She discovers this on the live television announcement.) Eventually, they both go through the games, with some of their allies being killed, while they do their bit of killing themselves. The "gamemakers" make a rule change allowing a district 'couple' to win together. They then revoke it when they are the only ones left. They attempt to get around this by attempting a double suicide with the poison berries. The gamemakers don't want this, and quickly declare them both winners.

The Hunger Games seems to end clearly, with few open threads demanding a sequel. (Their 'defiance' and willingness to buck the tradition seems to be one route.)

The storytelling is top notch, making this book one that is difficult to put down. However, the story seems lacking. The characters are also ho-hum. The narrator, Katniss, could use a few good slaps to get her to stop being such a jerk. Her fellow district competitor evokes much more sympathy (as do other "enemies", such as "Fox Face") It seems like it was made for a summer tentpole movie - large cast of beautiful teens with the romance to draw in the girls, violence and techno-gadgetry to draw in the adults. Unfortunately, like most of the big summer movies, it entertains you while you are there and that's about it.