I'm probably the only person on the planet who hadn't gotten to this one yet, so I'll keep this short.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in District Twelve of Panem, a nation located in the area formerly known as North America. Life in District Twelve is harsh for many reasons, not the least of which is a serious lack of food -- death by starvation is not an unusual occurrence. Since her father's death four years ago, Katniss has been the family's main provider. While handling weapons, leaving the confines of the district and hunting are all punishable by death, the local authorities like fresh meat as much as anyone else, so they turn a blind eye to her activities.
Although Katniss has confidence in her survival skills, she knows that volunteering for The Hunger Games is suicide. Every year, two children are chosen at random from each district -- when her younger sister's name is drawn, Katniss knows that she doesn't have a choice.
So. Katniss Everdeen and twenty-three others. In an arena. In a fight to the death. While the entire country watches them on television.
Yeah. Those of you who have already read this one will not be surprised to hear that I read this book in one sitting. It's super fast paced and the story is told in the present tense, which I felt added a good amount of suspense about what the ultimate outcome would be -- after all, just because there's a sequel in the works doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be about the same characters!
While it's action packed and written primarily in short sentences and sentence fragments, I didn't feel that the book lacked depth -- the world building is strong and the character development is decent. I'm curious, especially, to see how the politics of the world will play into the next installment, and I'm dying to see if my suspicions about some of the minor characters will prove correct...
More than anything else, I was surprised to discover that there was less one-on-one violence than I'd have expected -- rather than being a big endless fight, The Hunger Games was more a survival story than anything else. While I wait for the sequel, I'm going to order a copy of Battle Royale to tide me over. And maybe Netflix The Running Man. And Death Race 2000. And maybe re-read The Long Walk. Other suggestions?
If you're feeling dystopia-y, have you given Pete Hautman's RASH a look? Or maybe Meg Rosoff's HOW I LIVE NOW? You might also consider Max Barry's JENNIFER GOVERNMENT, if you like funny dystopia. (Although, given everything you've mentioned, I think you lean towards bleak dystopia.)
Posted by: Brian F. | 18 February 2009 at 09:04 AM
Already read all three. And loved all three, actually. Looking back at the titles I listed, I think I'm especially hankering for stories where the media and our role as an audience really plays in. Know what I mean?
Posted by: Leila | 18 February 2009 at 09:34 AM
I HIGHLY recommend Doomsday. It's kind of Mad Max meets 28 Days Later meets, umm, I dunno...Timeline? There's a killer zombie virus, some cars-of-death, lots of post-societal punk hair, some medieval knights (for color) and an ass-kicking, one-eyed female lead.
Posted by: Elizabeth | 18 February 2009 at 09:47 AM
Oh, and Babylon Babies has an interesting take on the influence of organized religion (and so, I suppose, the media) in the dystopic future. It's the basis for the Babylon A.D. movie, which made very, very little sense, but piqued my curiosity. I had a hard time getting Vin Diesel out of my head while I was reading the book, but I eventually succeeded in replacing him with The Rock.
Posted by: Elizabeth | 18 February 2009 at 09:55 AM
Maybe In the Forest of Hands and Teeth, if you can't find an ARC, it'll be out in a couple of weeks. Post-zomibe apocalypse story with a strong female lead. I didn't like it as much as The Hunger Games, but I felt there were similarities.
I'd love to know what other people would like to see in the Hunger Games sequel. As much as I love Katniss and Peeta, I would really enjoy reading a story from the point of view of someone from the Capital.
Posted by: Sandy | 18 February 2009 at 10:15 AM
The novel "The Running Game" is vastly superior to the movie. I'd say it's the very best of the Bachman Books, in fact, and is one my favorite dystopian novels.
Posted by: Eric Berlin | 18 February 2009 at 10:26 AM
If memory serves, you already read THE LOTTERY in recent times, which was one of the references I invoked in my review (along with RUNNING MAN). But the Stephen King miniseries STORM OF THE CENTURY might make for a fun read (related more to the lottery issue than to the Running Man issue).
Posted by: Kelly Fineman | 18 February 2009 at 12:03 PM
Elizabeth: "I had a hard time getting Vin Diesel out of my head while I was reading the book, but I eventually succeeded in replacing him with The Rock."
That cracked me up. Thanks.
Posted by: cc | 18 February 2009 at 12:16 PM
Ooo, Bob Hoskins is in Doomsday. I'll Netflix it. Why in the world would you want to replace Vin Diesel with anyone else?? I heart him.
Sandy, I'd love to see more about the Capital as well -- I'm hoping that Cinna will end up being part of some sort of underground resistance.
I'm going to snag both King books while I'm at the library today. Thanks, all!
Posted by: Leila | 18 February 2009 at 01:49 PM
Why??? Because The Rock = THE SCORPION KING!!
Posted by: Elizabeth | 18 February 2009 at 04:35 PM
But Vin Diesel = VIN DIESEL!!
Posted by: Leila | 18 February 2009 at 04:46 PM
Heh. Our differences are great. I will admit Vin made a nice Riddick. Still...The Rock 4eva, bb!
Posted by: Elizabeth | 18 February 2009 at 05:23 PM
The effect The Hunger Games has on people is really interesting but seemingly pretty homogenous - out of all the various reviews of read, both professional and candid, no one who has read this book could/wanted to put it down, and most of them finished it off in one sitting. When I started it I was about two seconds away from sleep, but then I became totally engrossed and read well into the night/morning to finish it.
Posted by: Rebekah | 18 February 2009 at 07:52 PM
OK, well, then I recommend you rent VENGEANCE ON VAROS. Or, I've still got MAX HEADROOM on VHS from its run in the late 80s. That remains my favorite dystopian media commentary of all time. Seriously, why isn't MAX HEADROOM on DVD yet?
Posted by: Brian F. | 19 February 2009 at 10:00 AM
I actually thought of Vengeance on Varos, too, but I didn't bother mentioning it because you'd be the only one who knew what I was talking about.
But I'm not watching it again because the part where they try to turn Peri into a bird freaks me out.
Posted by: Leila | 19 February 2009 at 10:05 AM
Bald Evil Peri in MINDWARP freaks me out more than Bird Peri.
Posted by: Brian F. | 19 February 2009 at 11:44 AM
You should rent Series 7: The Contenders. It's about a reality tv show where people are randomly selected to hunt and kill each other.
Posted by: Becky | 19 February 2009 at 01:13 PM
You might want to check out Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White. This one is about a future where overpopulating means that people mostly live in slums, education is done through television, anything past high school is allotted based on a lottery, not merit, and the most popular 'educational' show is a future version of Survivor that recreates historical events, complete with the participants possibly dieing (such as in Suvivior: The Black Plague).
But ratings aren't as strong as they should be, so the Director of Entertainment comes up with a 'revolutionary' idea. They will do a Survivor recreating the Scott expedition to the South Pole (where most of the expedition died). But to really grab the audience, they're going to do it... with kids.
There's also the camera man in DC who is assigned to the show, and who the crew picks as the one to be this show's contact. No one is supposed to have contact with the contestants, but the crew always has one person who quietly contacts the contestants as an invisible voice.
So like your description of Hunger Games, it involves death as television entertainment. And I really, really enjoyed it.
Posted by: Lianne | 20 February 2009 at 09:42 AM
I first saw The Hunger Games when I was on Goodreads and was intrigued but didn't get it from the library until I saw your review. Count me as another fan who couldn't put it down. I was up WAY too late last night finishing it and September is going to be a long time to wait for the next one.
Posted by: Michelle | 27 February 2009 at 09:41 AM
how much i loovve the hunger games. it is such an awesome book. i still haven't finished reading it however from i have read so far, i am absoloutly loving it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: elizabeth | 10 April 2010 at 06:27 PM
I forgot, who were the final eight in the story?
Posted by: jubba french | 22 October 2010 at 01:37 AM
Would you say that the hunger games is about keeping your humanity and dignity/sanity as you try to survive??Just thinking about topics fro essays:) i have to relate this book to another.Touching the Viod, both there themes are survival, but i need to go deeper any ideas?? thanks
Posted by: Jenna | 24 November 2010 at 03:46 PM