A Grownup Review of The Hunger Games

Very often, when I tell people that I am a fan of The Hunger Games, they say something like "Oh, that's not for me. I don't play video games or do any of that kind of stuff!" It's always a little bit disappointing to hear this, particularly when I've done my best to illustrate what The Hunger Games is all about. So let me be as clear as I can right up front: The Hunger Games isn't about video games, role playing, or anything like that. It is an excellent series of young adult novels written by Suzanne Collins, who also wrote the script of the upcoming movie.

So what is The Hunger Games all about anyway?

Good question.

The Hunger Games is a trilogy of dystopian novels set in a post-apocalyptic North American remnant known as Panem. The series is highly political and will make young readers think and will give adult readers something to talk about. I particularly recommend this book to adults, especially in today's political climate. There is a lot to learn from Panem and the Capitol, and readers of all ages will be challenged to think critically, as most dystopian novels will cause readers to think about what it is that is entering their minds and potentially changing them forever.

It's important for those who haven't read the book yet to remember that dystopian science fiction isn't science fiction in the sense that a lot of people think of it. Some friends of mine were disappointed when the book failed to include many of the fantasy elements that we think about when we consider science fiction and its implications. There are no alien races and there is limited technology in Panem. Not only do characters not carry cell phones with them from place to place, but the districts don't even have cars, for the most part! It is best to think of The Hunger Games as dystopian science fiction, but also remember that it is post-apocalyptic

I remember when I first started to think about reading this series, every review I read suggested that it was a story of children (teenagers) thrown into an arena with one another in a fight to the death. I kept thinking Roman Colosseum-style fighting. The stories sounded interesting, but somehow unappealing. I couldn't quite understand how this fit in with the rest of the story as I knew it.

That's because it isn't the story of two children thrown into a Roman-style Colosseum together in a fight to the death. In fact, if only for its politics, the book is much, much more interesting than that!

The Hunger Games trilogy is the story of Katniss Everdeen and Panem. North America has been destroyed and rebuilt as thirteen districts which are ruled from "The Capitol". Many years ago, District Thirteen rose up against the Capitol and was destroyed. Since then, every year each district must send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to the "Hunger Games." This means that there are twenty-four teenagers thrown into a large outdoor arena together. Only one person can "win" the games, and they must do so by killing all of their opponents.

This alone would be enough to make the series thrilling, but there is Oh! so much more to the story than that!