Trying Out "The Hunger Games"

If you just knew me and my younger sister superficially, you'd say we don't have much in common. She's probably more serious than I am much of the time, a whole lot smarter, and hardly watches any of the same movies I do.

But one thing we have in common is that we are both nerds. She is very selective in her nerdity, but when she geeks out, it's every bit as hard core as I am with comics, sci-fi flicks or RPGs.

She's a Harry Potter nut. Read the entire series around seven times so far and found a way to get me to read most of the books, too. (Though I didn't enjoy them as much.)

Her more recent obsession began one or two years ago when she discovered a book called "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. She suddenly kept telling me, "you gotta try this one out! You'd like it so much better than Harry Potter!"

I was skeptical, because I know firsthand that we nerds can get excited about things that really no one else will find very exciting. So I put her off until the whole trilogy was written. (I don't like cliffhangers or unresolved plot threads in novels.) Then I put her off until my wife read the trilogy, hoping she'd tell me they weren't that great. (She didn't.) Finally she tells me the movie for the first book is coming out soon. I figure I'll just watch and enjoy it as a movie. But then I saw the trailer, which looked pretty interesting, and realized "crap. I may want to read the book first."

So I'm giving it a shot now. There have been several hurdles I thought would be a problem. I don't usually like sci-fi novels. (Movies and TV, yes, nut novels for some reason no.) The "first person present tense" took some adjusting. (But not near as much as you'd think.) And almost halfway through the book now there has barely been any action. But I'm really enjoying it!

The main reason is simple. Character. The author keeps us inside the mind of the main character constantly. We know what she fears and hopes for. We feel it right along with her. Action in novels can be detached and superficial, descriptions of blows and blood with little more. (*cough* Salvatore *cough*) But when those blows, and their results, have personal meaning to the characters involved in them, the action becomes heightened and intense.

My sister assures me that some major, bloody action is coming in the series. So far, I'm enjoying the tension Collins provides even without much action. I can only imagine how much more gripping a read this will be when the characters I care about are fighting for their lives!

Thanks for prodding me, Karyne! Consider me hooked!