"Report," Decker said, cutting straight to business.
Masada reached behind his ear as if to scratch, then gave an almost absentminded tug on his ponyta
"Report," Decker said, cutting straight to business.
Masada reached behind his ear as if to scratch, then gave an almost absentminded tug on his ponytail as he straightened and pivoted toward Decker. "We were running a routine gene-sequence scan on the biosamples froom Ravanar IV," he said. "Most were nothing to write home about." He geestured for Takeshewada to look at the sensor data for herself. "Then we found this."
Decker tried to be patient, but at times like this it was hard. "Guillermo, please don't keep me in suspense."
"Sorry, sir. It's a gene sequence unlike anything we've ever seen before. My best uess would be that it has several million chemical base pairs, and it's more complex than simple G-A-T-C. It has molecules we're still trying to identify."
Takeshewada lifted her gaze from the blue-gray sensor hood. Her already fair complexion looke paler than normal. "That's incredible," she said.
Folding his arms across his chest, Decker said to Masada, "Where did it come from? Some kind of uber-life-form?"
"Hardly," the science officer said. "From a simple mold."
"Simple?" Decker shook his head, as much in disbelief as in sheer wonderment at the never-ending tricks the universe had up its proverbial sleeve. "That's a lot of DNA for something I'd scrape off my breakfast. Speaking of which--" He turned toward his yeoman, who happened to be walking past. "Lawford, get me some coffee, will you?"
"Lawford transferred to the Yorktown two weeks ago, sir," the yeoman said. "I'm Guthrie."
Decker squinted in disapproval. "And that has precisely what to do with my coffee?"
"Nothing, sir."
The commodore pointed the yeoman toward the food slot. "Milk, no sugar."
"I know, sir."
"Thanks, Lawford."
"Guthrie, sir."
"Whatever." Decker turned back toward the science station while the yeoman plodded away, muttering quietly. Returning his attention to Masada, Decker said, "Why would mold need that much genetic information?"
"I don't think it does," Masada said.
Decker was getting annoyed. "That's what I'm saying."
"No sir," Masada said. "What I mean is, I think only a very small portion of the genetic string has anything to do with the mold itself. The rest is...well, just there."
Takeshewada tilted her head in a way that implied she found Masada's answer less than satisfactory. "But what does it do, Guillermo?"
The science officer's eyes widened as his lips tightened into a thin line and his shoulders rounded into a shrug. "No idea. I can tell you that it's big, but other than that..." He just shook his head.
"And out tradition of excellence continues," Decker said with a sour inflection. His darkening mood was brightened by the arrival of his coffee. He accepted the mug from Guthrie, then turned immediately back toward Masada. "How soon can you finish some testsand get me a real report?"
"I'm not sure I can," Masada said. "Our lab's good, bu it's not this good. We're gonna have to send all of this--the samples, the scans, the whole kit and kaboodle--back to Starfleet Command and let them handle it."
Decker's shoulders slumped with disappointment. "Are you serious? We make a once-in-a-lifetime find, and you're telling me we have to punt?"
Well, I've decided to pick up David Mack's VANGUARD series after reading watching the latest season of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. I really liked his fusionWell, I've decided to pick up David Mack's VANGUARD series after reading watching the latest season of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. I really liked his fusion of both the Original Series era with the 2017 CBS series, having only a few seams showing in the resulting stitching up of the two franchise sections. So, I was intrigued by the possibilities of a series seemingly based on combining the premise of DS9 (a long-range space station on the frontier of Federation Space) with the time period of the Original Series. So, how did it work? Remarkably well, actually, and Discovery could take a number of lessons from David Mack on how to write "dark" Trek.
Indeed, this is the darkest incarceration of Star Trek I can remember reading and it does so without the "Space Whale" elements of armies of cyborg zombies or scary dogmatic aliens who hate humans. Instead, what makes Vanguard dark and personal is the human stories (even for the aliens) which are going on. The space station Vanguard is a place where the humans of Roddenberry's enlightened future are nasty, meanspirited, lost, confused, and full of all too believable emotional trauma. The fact Kirk, Uhura, and Spock find the place deeply unpleasant during their short visit also nicely establishes it's not a revisionist take on the Federation but it's THIS SPECIFIC PLACE which is the Mos Eisley of their territory.
HARBINGER works essentially like an anthology of collected stories. We have Commodore Reyes, who is the fuming admiral who clearly hates his position on the Vanguard despite the fact he has convinced himself it's of vital Federation importance. We have T'Prynn, a Vulcan intelligence agent whose life was ruined by the culture which raised her. She's also a lesbian or bisexual character in literature which is still catching up for the show. Then there's my favorite character of Pennington, who is a crusading reporter in an adulterous affair that both seem like are things which shouldn't be needed in the 23rd century. The only character I really didn't warm to was Cervantes Quinn who seems a bit like a much-less competent Han Solo (or a much-more competent Harry Mudd) wandered into the Trek universe.
The premise of the first book is Starfleet has constructed Vanguard to secure their position against Klingon and Tholian Space (or possibly something bigger). While sending out one of their ships, it gets destroyed by the Tholians and a government cover-up is enacted to prevent war with the former. Because if the Federation goes to war with the Tholians, they'll be easy pickings for the Klingons and vice versa. This ties into everyone else's story because Quinn stole the materials which the starship was replacing, Pennington is lovers with one of the dead crewmen, and Reyes is the architect of the cover-up with T'Prynn as his agent.
I found T'Prynn the most interesting of the characters and enjoyable even though she seemed the most like a book character. I love the idea of a Vulcan who has just been utterly screwed over by her culture from birth until present. I also like the fact she's an amateur jazz piano player because that's just a character quirk which says so much about the character. Watching her handle Reyes' dirty work while maintaining her Vulcan stoicism worked well.
I also very much like the dualistic cowardly and crusading elements of Pennington. In the 21st century, being exposed as an adulterer is bad but hardly life-destroying but he's terrified of it and goes to elaborate lengths to cover it up. He also is outraged by Starfleet's various actions and cover-ups but is less concerned about actually revealing the truth than the "Big Scoop." He's a mass of contradictions and I like the implications he's just a terrible selfish person in his marriage but an excellent journalist. Still, it makes you wonder what Orianna (his lover) ever saw in him.
This feels very much like the set up for a new series with original characters and very little in the way of guest stars from the canon. There's a few but they're not central. Instead, the book asks us to go on a ride with an entirely new set of heroes and a tone much darker and more "realistic" than Trek normally goes. Much to my surprise, I'm entirely onboard and fascinated with the stories of its flawed and human cast (even the nonhumans).
In conclusion, I really loved this book and will be picking up the other installments of the series. I like the handling of Starfleet and the Federation's politics in this time period. It's a little more off-beat and less utopian but not so much as to be unrecognizable. I think the troubled protagonists really bring out the heart of this story and the darker, more militaristic realpolitic motivated Starfleet causes the story to have more stakes. You don't think these guys will do the right thing and yet when they don't, it's still surprising...more
So we pick up the story right where we left off. Kira is off with Dr. Morgan being her human test subject, Samm is still in Denver, where he has volunSo we pick up the story right where we left off. Kira is off with Dr. Morgan being her human test subject, Samm is still in Denver, where he has volunteered to be the humans source of the cure and the people of East Meadow are still under a partial occupation.
Right off the bat one thing I didn’t like was how nonchalant Kira was about being the test subject. They mentioned all the biopsies, spinal taps, and procedures so casually and then when she decides to leave she’s off and running after having her body tampered with so much? I know she’s a partial but still it should’ve at least hurt.
Now I’ll just start out and say that what bothered me with this book was that instead of finishing all the stories we had been telling for the last two books, this one started a bunch of new ones. There are so many new plot lines that come into this book so instead of getting a satisfying ending we are left with a really rushed ending and we do not get a lot of our questions answered.
For example after Kira leaves Dr. Morgan we have to follow her up to the IV territory. But then of course she gets captured (new, very long, plot twist). She meets Green (who I actually did love) and we have to see their long escape battle, then they have to trek back towards Long Island, they run into the monster thing telling people about winter etc. etc.
Meanwhile back in Samm land, he’s woken up the partials and is donating pheromone. I actually enjoyed his section in Denver the most. I loved the way he demonstrated the humans in Denver meant the partials no harm by showing Calix would be more than happy to get them some candy. And then the big revelation that living with Partials would save human babies was a nice answer we’d been waiting for. But of course we’re also just waiting for Samm to meet up with Kira again.
WHICH IS THE REAL PROBLEM I HAVE WITH THIS BOOK! I should not have to wait 80% of the book for it’s OTP to get back together again.
So anyways, Kira is running around doing things that aren’t exactly moving the plot forward, and Samm is doing the journey that took the entire second book in a few undetailed chapters.
Meanwhile we have crazy lady Delarosa with a nuke, the bloodman stealing everybody’s insides and the weird plot of Nandita trying to lead everyone to this secret lab which is an absolute failure. I don’t really understand why this was in the book because they never get to the lab, and there’s never any clarification at the end on if they solve this new partial virus, or why Isolde’s baby came out that way, and all we see of them in the end is them sailing down the river.
Marcus on the other hand has a much more exciting story. One of the best scenes, hands down, was when his little group is being held by the White Rhinos and they’re trying to get the guard riled up so they can knock him out. But of course he’s supposed to hit Vinci and Marcus and his big mouth once again gets him into trouble and ends up being the one to get knocked out with the rifle. Another shining moment he had was when Samm showed up and Marcus told Kira if she didn’t kiss him he would. And then of course later one of my favorite quotes when Marcus tells Kira “Maybe you’ll die and I’ll end up with Samm”.
I was really sad to see Vinci die. I was so relived when they caught Delorosa only to have that dramatic moment where they both choose the human race over their own lives and the partials.
What I didn’t like was how bogged down the story got with all the different story lines. It just made the book drag until the end. And then with the peace talks being interrupted by the blood man. I do love the Heron finally found something she was willing to put before her own survival. That was very noble.
But then in the end when Sam and Kira sort of devote themselves to each other right in front of poor Marcus. I felt so bad for him, but I did love how Calix was sort of right there for him.
I guess in the end I just wanted more, even an epilogue. I would’ve liked to see if partials were still sterile after living with humans. I would’ve liked to see the new community they set up, or just Samm and Kira being happy since they’re hardly together the entire book. I would have liked to see this book get to the conclusion it did faster. There was too much running around in these subplots that the entire “battle” and the end felt so rushed.
All in all I still thought it was a good book, and an ok ending to a good series. I give it 3 stars....more
So second book. The end of the first book was exciting. They saved the baby, my fav Jayden, is dead and Kira has left east meadow. Now once again I foSo second book. The end of the first book was exciting. They saved the baby, my fav Jayden, is dead and Kira has left east meadow. Now once again I found the beginning to be a little slow. There’s unrest in east meadow because the humans can’t synthesize the cure, Nandita is still missing, Kira is gone, and we have to follow around Marcus who is just not the most exciting narrator.
Even when Kira picks up the story, her section gets off to a slow start. She’s looking through old offices, climbing a lot of stairs, and while I realize it sets the scene the beginning of the book took every day very slowly, with lots of details, which was too much of a stark contrast to the second half of the book where Kira, Samm and Heron were traveling and we would jump days, weeks at a time. The book needed to find some kind of happy medium between how quickly time would move.
So Kira finds Afa, the crazy guy, and I did like that he was able to fill in some of the blanks for us about how the partials came to be because obviously at this point I had lots of theories but nothing concrete. I was still running with the “half human half partial” theory but it seemed at this point I was very wrong. I loved when Marcus and Haru suddenly hear Kira’s voice over the radio, that was cute, plus she saved them. I was a little shocked that Kira didn’t t go turn herself in right away since she’s always put the survival of East Meadow ahead of her own self interest (cough cough running into partial territory to get the cure book 1) finally get to see Sam again (because lets face it that’s what we were all waiting for) and it was a cute reunion.
But now her Sam and Heron are going to go off on this quest and leave and I did not enjoy the traveling scenes. They were dull for me. The riding, the big time jumps that seemed to take place. It was better once we got to chicago, although there again it was a little boring with how much time was taken to describe all the flooding, sink holes, finding the boat, etc when we had just travelled a few weeks and seen almost none of it.
Finally got some quality action when Kira fought off those 2 partials. I liked how she was slowly learning to use the link, and how we see her and Sam slowly building towards a relationship and that even though the attraction and fascination was there with each other right away in book 1, the romance wasn’t (its not a true OTP unless they tried to kill each other at least once).
But then after Chicago the traveling scenes got even worse. Crossing the rivers, horses dying, acid rain, Afa dying was all just sort of thrown at us. We see them get to Colorado quickly but there was just a real lack of excitement in the lead up to it. The most exciting thing to happen to them was crossing the rivers and those scenes were not nearly as exciting or dramatic as I think they intended them to be.
But things finally got a little better when they found the settlement in Colorado. Of course it was funny to watch Kira die a little at seeing children. And I loved the way Calix was flirting with Sam. You couldn’t not laugh when they went to get the horses and she kissed him and it was just so awkward. And then I love watching Sam stumble over how to express his feeling for Kira without the link and Calix advice because he was clearly missing obvious signals from Kira.
Now everything happening back in East Meadow was important but not any more exciting that what was going on with Kira and Samm. Marcus was funny as usual but the whole trip into partial territory to meet with their general had the same sort of feel where there were definitely parts that could’ve been edited out to make the story drag less.
Then of course we had the dramatic discovery that all these people were being kept alive by comatose partials and the leader was a part of the Trust (wasn’t that shocking) and the moral dilemma of what to do, let the partials go free or the humans die. And then of course the big ending of Kira agreeing to go with Dr. Morgan (finally) and then Sam’s big shocker of agreeing to stay and be the pheromone supply for this community. We had a nice big kiss at the end which was nice but now they’ve ended the book separated AGAIN.
Overall I’d give this book 3.5 stars just because so much of the traveling was too glossed over and just not interesting to read. I still really enjoy the series and am excited to see how it’s all wrapped up....more
Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to onlyHumanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.
Playing on our curiosity of and fascination with the complete collapse of civilization, Partials is, at its heart, a story of survival, one that explores the individual narratives and complex relationships of those left behind, both humans and Partials alike—and of the way in which the concept of what is right and wrong in this world is greatly dependent on one’s own point of view. Review
What a great introduction to a new world. Interesting characters and an intense plot with a fast pace to keep you intrigued. If you like dystopian with travelling elements and high stakes than this one is for you.
The writing style is so unique; methodical, yet completely relatable as told through the perspective of Kira. I love the amount of build up that we get. The world is fleshed out well enough to pull you in, but has enough mysteries and problems that need to be solved to keep you intrigued. This perfect blend really does make for this engaging writing style that i fell in love with the first time i read this book.
The characters although not as well expanded upon as the world, are very different and diverse, and it makes for a fun reading experience when you have all these different personalities and backgrounds that make up this community of the last humans left on earth. When it comes down to it in this book, it doesn’t matter what you look like or what you believe in, it just matters that you’re a human being and i really love that perspective, it’s so refreshing.
Kira, our main character, has an Indian background and is described as a beautifully tanned, dark-haired girl, who looks completely different from me, but who i was able to relate to tremendously. She is a little firecracker and has strong opinions that are hard to shake. I love that she never backs down, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. She’s not exactly a heroine here, but a very capable and intelligent anti-hero. Such a great perspective to read from.
Not only is the writing style and characters great, but the plot is so cool! From the first chapter, i was gripped and wanted to know more about, well, everything. And although the romance is not a big part of the book, i do like that we have a book that starts with the protagonist already in a relationship. Its a lot more realistic, and it shows the struggles that you go through as a teenager in love. I do like Marcus and think he is a great boyfriend, but not for Kira, and i hope she ends up seeing that in the next book. He holds her back when all she wants to do is break free. She needs someone who will stand beside her or no one at all.
Thrown into a world where humanity faces extinction is not a dull one. Kira is faced with realistic problems and goes through some hard times in an unforgiving world. So, if you’re looking for one of those unputdownable books, this one is definitely one of them!...more
A hesitant four and a half stars to Book Three in this trilogy. When I finished it, I think my residual love for Books One and Two, my love for the moA hesitant four and a half stars to Book Three in this trilogy. When I finished it, I think my residual love for Books One and Two, my love for the movie adaptations, and my affection for some gems in this book overloaded my overall opinion. Now that I’ve had some distance, I realize I don’t like it as much as the other books in this series, but not enough to lower it entirely to a four-star. Hence, 4.5.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that when I was reading this trilogy, I breezed through books one and two. If I had to stop for some reason (eg. needing to go to work) I came back to them excited to return to the story. But with Mockingjay, I put it down several times and couldn’t get back into it. At the time, I thought it was because I was in a reading slump or something–after all, I had tried to pick up a few other books at the same time and not been able to get into them either–but in particular, I remember stopping about halfway through and just thinking “I don’t really want to finish this.” I had thought that it was because I already knew how the story ended from having watched the movies, but I also agree with other reviewers who say this was boring, and disappointing.
Picking up where Catching Fire left off, Katniss is now a refuge in District Thirteen, which she and all the rest of Panem thought was destroyed. Turns out, District Thirteen has always been a center of production for nuclear weapons, so when they rebelled against the Capitol 75 years ago, the Capitol allowed them to remain hidden underground. Now she and the rest of her district are refugees, safe and protected by the military might of the independent nation. District Thirteen wants her to be the Mockingjay, the symbol of rebellion for all the districts, but she’s got some doubts about it, as she still suffers from the trauma of two consecutive Games.
Unlike in the first two books, I wasn’t buying the sci-fi-ish technology of Panem. In the first few chapters, Katniss is given a specialized bow that “is alive in [her] hands.” (Mockingjay, p. 69) No scientific explanation was given for the bow’s apparent sentient awareness, so it just reads more like a fantasy book: here be a magic bow, go and use it.
Katniss is apparently mad at Gale in the first third of the book for… something.
Our eyes lock, and I realize how furious I am with Gale. That I don’t believe for a second that he didn’t see Peeta’s propo. That I feel completely betrayed that he didn’t tell me about it.
Katniss just seems like she’s getting mad at Gale over nothing. I didn’t understand how she could be mad at Gale because of Peeta’s propo, so it just felt like drama for the sake of drama.
After the Quarter Quell, Peeta and some other Tributes have been taken prisoner by the Capitol. Because of Peeta and Katniss’ connection, District Thirteen decides to undertake a rescue so she won’t worry anymore about him being tortured. After he returns, he seems like a completely different person, and is murderous toward Katniss and antagonistic toward anyone else who is close to her. So they decide to send someone to visit him whom he recognizes from District Twelve but who doesn’t remind him of Katniss. They decide to send Delly, whom we haven’t seen or heard from since the very beginning of Book One. Because two books have passed since her brief mention in the very beginning of Book One, I completely forgot who she was, and therefore the entire scene with her visiting Peeta meant nothing to me.
There were some interesting gems in this book that made it enjoyable despite its flaws. Like during Annie and Finnick’s wedding, when we saw different aspects of District Four’s wedding traditions, like the bride and groom touching salt water to each other’s lips, or the song that likens marriage to a sea voyage. I kind of wish the movie had shown these–after all, we had two films for this book! Katniss also dances with Prim and gets a bit of satisfaction from thinking that President Snow could be watching her dance with her sister.
If anyone knows the meaning behind this paragraph, please educate me in the comments. Page 228:
I’m on a frosting sailboat, tossed around by blue-green waves, the deck shifting beneath my feet. My palms press into the wall to steady myself. This wasn’t part of the plan.
Prim’s death got to me in ways I didn’t think were possible. I’d already seen it happen in the movie, but it was just as emotional, if not more, reading it on the page. And the epilogue was a good amount of “happy for now, but still bittersweet.”
Regardless, if you already read Hunger Games and Catching Fire, then you should still pick up a copy of this book and read it, too, rather than just relying on the movie. The movie depiction of the epilogue was a different tone and doesn’t deliver the same emotional punch.
As usual, you should first read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire before picking up this book so you understand what’s going on in the story so far....more
It is another story with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. President Snow and Finnick Odair. Johanna Mason and Haymitch Abernathy. Prim Everdeen an It is another story with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. President Snow and Finnick Odair. Johanna Mason and Haymitch Abernathy. Prim Everdeen and more. Here is my review of Catching Fire/Sequel to The Hunger Games.
Summary: Katniss has just returned from the Hunger Games. She and Peeta almost killed themselves toward the end eating poisonous berries. The stupid people of The Capitol thought it as an act of love, but the districts saw it as a rebellion. Now that Katniss has returned, uprisings are sprouting up within the districts. President Snow has threatened to kill Gale if Katniss doesn’t convince the districts that she tried to kill herself out of love. Same goes for Peeta. And a whole other slew of problems are coming. And when Katniss gets redrawn for the Hunger Games 75th year anniversary, in Katniss’ opinion, things can only get worse.
For one thing, this book had a lot of things to say and do and it perfected all of it. Maybe you couldn’t tell, but life doesn’t treat Katniss well after the Hunger Games. And life doesn’t treat her well during the second Games either. Like any stressed teenager, she has painful yet relatable emotions. It’s hard for an author to write in all of that and yet Collins did.
And the violence. I can deal with that. I didn’t enjoy it all the time but I could bear it. Catching Fire had heavy portions of blood, death, and even a whipping of Gale. Read the books to find out who Gale is. I am not one to faint at the sight of blood. Nor feel nauseas. And I’m sure most of the other 19 million people* who bought this book felt the same way. I’m going to say most because I’m sure there are still some people out there that threw up or felt uncomfortable. But I personally thought the amount of violence was okay. Parents- still don’t read it to your 4 year old.
And why wasn’t it as good as the first book. I don’t know. It was just as climatic. I guess it was so deep that it became kind of confusing. If it was really confusing, you wouldn’t have this review. No, it was just a little confusing. Slow too, but not really slow. This isn’t a complaint, guys, I’m just pointing out one or two things not quite as good as the original. It’s still my 3rd favorite book of the year.
Now to close. Catching Fire is an exceptional new edition to The Hunger Games. Violence, solid writing, and yes, good characters die. The book has a very climatic and scary end. I’m not going to say what it is. Read the book to find out. If you’ve seen the movie but not read the book. Read the book. I haven’t seen the movies but I can imagine the book is better. I give this book a 9/10.
*That’s how many copies of the book were sold. 65 million copies of each book combined have been sold in total. I don’t know why I’m writing this. It just seems interesting...more
In District 12, the poorest district in the surviving ruins of North America, Katniss Everdeen will do anything to protect he**spoiler alert** Summary
In District 12, the poorest district in the surviving ruins of North America, Katniss Everdeen will do anything to protect her family. When her father died, she became the sole breadwinner, turning to poaching in the woods with her father’s bow and arrow to feed her family. Even if it was illegal. But when her sister, Primrose, is picked to be in the Hunger Games, she has no choice but to follow the rules: volunteer.
The Hunger Games, the annual televised event that sets the world on edge. Held in the luxurious Capitol, a girl and a boy between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected from each of the 12 districts to fight to death for all the world to see. The Games are a reminder to the districts of the failed rebellion 74 years ago. The rebellion that wiped district 13 off the map.
Katniss must now fight to survive. But even though she can hunt for food, when thrown in the arena with the one person she owes her life to, she is caught between doing what is right, and what it takes to survive.
Plot
What I think is so key to this novel is that it’s not about kids killing other kids. It’s about propaganda. The Hunger Games is meant to be political, meant to be about the substance and hidden messages behind the images and pop culture.
Our protagonist isn’t fighting to save the world. She’s fighting to save herself. But in the arena, the need to survive battles human compassion, and that’s a really interesting struggle to read about. Katniss knows how to kill, and her strategies make for some really interesting plot, but the real star is not how she kills, but if and why she kills. And in that way, the book is really strong.
Characters
Katniss is probably one of my favourite female protagonists. Why? Because she’s real. In so many YA novels, we have protagonists who have so much agency behind their actions: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Tris, Tally Youngblood. But when you really think about, a lot of teenagers don’t have that kind of world-saving agency. They have to listen to what their told. They have to follow the rules. Katniss is bound by these same rules and manipulated by them.
What is so interesting about her is that even her characterization is a sort of image that we have to scrape away at to get the real person. Katniss is inarguably compassionate, dedicated, strategic, and, yes, rather innocent. She’s rather stoic, so it’s hard to grasp at this at first, but there are hints as the novel progresses. But it’s fair to say that she operates on survival rather than emotion.
Peeta, on the other hand, is quite the open book. Good with words and people, he’s very liberal with his emotions, and so his priorities seem to be more on emotions rather than survival. We get to read about him from Katniss’ perspective, which is cold and calculating, so it’s up to the reader to understand him based on her observations and (often flawed) interpretations.
I could go on and on about all the characters—there are so many of them—but I really want to talk about the Capitol. I like how Collins portrays the consumerism, the total ignorance of the real problems. It’s so easily despicable, but at the same time identifiable. And that’s something important to think about.
Writing
Suzanne Collins writes from Katniss’s point of view, and really works this to show off Katniss’s strategic skills. I love how Katniss’ mind works. How she thinks things through. What’s really interesting is how, despite her claims to distaste the Capitol trends, she’s often describing the finery she finds herself in, as if she can’t help but be fascinated and drawn to it. And to be fair, who wouldn’t be? Nice clothes, a roof over your head, and a full belly. Anyone would want that.
One thing that I do appreciate in the movies, as this point of view limits this, are the scenes in the Capitol during the Games. And it’s sort of upsetting to have them cut out, because it really emphasizes the politics behind it all.
Also (and this is rather minor) I wish Collins would use page breaks more to establish the flow of time better. Paragraphs will start with “The next morning” or “The next day,” and I have to reorient myself before continuing. Themes
A huge part of these books are politics and image. It reminds me of Dubord’s Society of the Spectacle. I like how the image of the beautiful victors is shown as both a manipulation of the audience, but also a manipulation of the image. Katniss and the other tributes are no longer just people. They become symbols, representatives, sacrifices. They suddenly have meaning that didn’t exist before, and I think that says a lot about symbols come about.
Survival is also huge, especially as this is what drives Katniss. However, there is always the constant struggle between the need to survive and the need to be human. It’s because there is a difference from having a life and deserving one. The human conscience is a funny thing, and how it affects the characters and influences their actions is astonishing. Final Verdict
Recommendation: Buy. The Hunger Games should, in my opinion, be read by everyone. A real discussion on what it means to be human, and in a society where we are surrounded by images, I feel like this novel is a really important reminder that symbols are also simply objects or images. That we give things meaning, and how destructive that can be, is something we have to consider in a world where we can anonymously say anything for anyone to see...more
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