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coraaThis was a good book, and I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't loved The Hunger Games so much.
It's also basically impossible to talk about this without spoiling The Hunger Games to some degree, so if you're really strictly spoiler-phobic, you should probably scroll on by. I don't think any of the spoilers outside the cut are book-killers, though; all the major spoilers for either book will be behind the cut. Anyway, past this paragraph there are spoilers -- mild ones, but still spoilers -- for the end of The Hunger Games, but all serious spoilers for either book are behind the cut.
Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games left off, and Katniss is in an awkward situation. Because of the way she survived the Hunger Games, the oppressive, totalitarian government of Panem and the Capitol have it in for her. In order to prove that she was not a deliberate revolutionary -- and, therefore, save not only her life but the lives of her whole extended family -- she has to convince them that she was young, foolish, and desperately in love, rather than sharp-minded, clever, and a little bit ruthless, as she actually was.
To make matters worse, the other Districts -- inspired, largely, by her -- are fomenting rebellions, and the Capitol is, shall we say, not happy.
I really liked the beginning of this, and I liked elements of the whole thing. The writing and characterization remain strong, as in the first book. We got to see things that were only hinted at in the first book: the other Districts, more of Capitol politics, the growing unrest. And I liked watching Katniss deal with the aftermath of the Games while putting on a happy face for the benefit of the Capitol's propaganda machine. (She has to, on pain of her family's lives.) I liked seeing more of Gale. I liked the exploration of Katniss's romantic dilemmas. I also liked that we got to see one of Katniss's weak spots: she was extremely competent at keeping herself alive in the first book, but she's naive about politics, because she has grown up with no political voice whatsoever (even in terms of the smaller politics of her own hometown), and so there are moments where she was in over her head. I liked that: having established her as thoroughly competent, we can now see some of the places where she's not as competent, which makes her more well-rounded.
Indeed, I think my biggest problem with the book was that it felt like Collins wasn't confident enough with exploring new territory. We got tantalizing tastes of it... and then ducked back into a very similar plot as the first book. But I'll talk more about that behind the cut.
Mostly, what disappointed me was that we went back into the Games. It made a certain amount of plot sense -- I mean, the Capitol government really wanted to kill her, but couldn't just do so in a straightforward fashion because she was too popular a figure within the Capitol and too volatile a figure for the Districts, and a Quarter Quell gave them an excuse -- but, from a story point of view, I felt like it was a retread, and an unnecessary one. Collins developed an awesome world, and then circled the climax of the book around the one piece she'd already fully explored, which disappointed me. I didn't need to see the preparations and the interviews and speeches and costumes and training and testing, and then the games themselves, all over again. It's not that that part of the book was bad or boring, it was just a repeat.
And the first half of the book had built me up with curiosity about other things. Would Katniss join the rebellion? If she did, what would happen to her family? If she didn't, how would she justify it to herself? What was going on in the other districts? What was going on in District Thirteen? What happened with the two fleeing rebel girls she met in the woods? (Actually, I really wanted her to go with them. I know why she didn't, plot-wise, but it still didn't keep me from being a bit disappointed. That would have been very cool: a real-life "Hunger Games" out in the woods, but with a real destination in mind!) Instead we had the leadup to the games, again, and then the games, again, and then she got recruited into the rebellion sort of sideways and backwards and not by her own choice, exactly. I wanted her to make that choice! Or not make that choice, and live with the consequences.
(I still really liked Peeta, while also still not wanting Katniss to be obliged to be in love with him, which isn't a spoiler for anything but which I didn't put outside the cut because it's such a spoiler that both Katniss and Peeta survive the first book. Katniss surviving I think is less of a spoiler, because she is the protagonist and there is a sequel. And while I don't think Katniss should have to be in love with Peeta just because he's in love with her, I could also buy a natural romantic development between them over time, if that's where it went. I think part of this is that I like Peeta a little bit better than Gale, and I suspect she's going to wind up with one or the other of them. I would be pleasantly surprised if she gets out of the series without picking a boyfriend, though.)
This makes it sound like I didn't like the book, and I did; I liked it a lot. But I didn't think it needed to redo the games, and I wanted Katniss -- so strong and confident and such a survivor in the first book -- to have more agency in this one. I felt like Collins built a whole big interesting world and then went back to one piece of it. In fact, I've heard a term for that: the Tattooine problem, where you realize that George Lucas developed a huge interesting varied galaxy and then spent a disproportionate amount of time on a backwater sandball. So yes: Catching Fire was a good book, but I'd like to get out of Tattooine and see the rest of the galaxy.
But I still really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone who liked The Hunger Games -- and I'll be waiting impatiently for the third book.
It's also basically impossible to talk about this without spoiling The Hunger Games to some degree, so if you're really strictly spoiler-phobic, you should probably scroll on by. I don't think any of the spoilers outside the cut are book-killers, though; all the major spoilers for either book will be behind the cut. Anyway, past this paragraph there are spoilers -- mild ones, but still spoilers -- for the end of The Hunger Games, but all serious spoilers for either book are behind the cut.
Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games left off, and Katniss is in an awkward situation. Because of the way she survived the Hunger Games, the oppressive, totalitarian government of Panem and the Capitol have it in for her. In order to prove that she was not a deliberate revolutionary -- and, therefore, save not only her life but the lives of her whole extended family -- she has to convince them that she was young, foolish, and desperately in love, rather than sharp-minded, clever, and a little bit ruthless, as she actually was.
To make matters worse, the other Districts -- inspired, largely, by her -- are fomenting rebellions, and the Capitol is, shall we say, not happy.
I really liked the beginning of this, and I liked elements of the whole thing. The writing and characterization remain strong, as in the first book. We got to see things that were only hinted at in the first book: the other Districts, more of Capitol politics, the growing unrest. And I liked watching Katniss deal with the aftermath of the Games while putting on a happy face for the benefit of the Capitol's propaganda machine. (She has to, on pain of her family's lives.) I liked seeing more of Gale. I liked the exploration of Katniss's romantic dilemmas. I also liked that we got to see one of Katniss's weak spots: she was extremely competent at keeping herself alive in the first book, but she's naive about politics, because she has grown up with no political voice whatsoever (even in terms of the smaller politics of her own hometown), and so there are moments where she was in over her head. I liked that: having established her as thoroughly competent, we can now see some of the places where she's not as competent, which makes her more well-rounded.
Indeed, I think my biggest problem with the book was that it felt like Collins wasn't confident enough with exploring new territory. We got tantalizing tastes of it... and then ducked back into a very similar plot as the first book. But I'll talk more about that behind the cut.
Mostly, what disappointed me was that we went back into the Games. It made a certain amount of plot sense -- I mean, the Capitol government really wanted to kill her, but couldn't just do so in a straightforward fashion because she was too popular a figure within the Capitol and too volatile a figure for the Districts, and a Quarter Quell gave them an excuse -- but, from a story point of view, I felt like it was a retread, and an unnecessary one. Collins developed an awesome world, and then circled the climax of the book around the one piece she'd already fully explored, which disappointed me. I didn't need to see the preparations and the interviews and speeches and costumes and training and testing, and then the games themselves, all over again. It's not that that part of the book was bad or boring, it was just a repeat.
And the first half of the book had built me up with curiosity about other things. Would Katniss join the rebellion? If she did, what would happen to her family? If she didn't, how would she justify it to herself? What was going on in the other districts? What was going on in District Thirteen? What happened with the two fleeing rebel girls she met in the woods? (Actually, I really wanted her to go with them. I know why she didn't, plot-wise, but it still didn't keep me from being a bit disappointed. That would have been very cool: a real-life "Hunger Games" out in the woods, but with a real destination in mind!) Instead we had the leadup to the games, again, and then the games, again, and then she got recruited into the rebellion sort of sideways and backwards and not by her own choice, exactly. I wanted her to make that choice! Or not make that choice, and live with the consequences.
(I still really liked Peeta, while also still not wanting Katniss to be obliged to be in love with him, which isn't a spoiler for anything but which I didn't put outside the cut because it's such a spoiler that both Katniss and Peeta survive the first book. Katniss surviving I think is less of a spoiler, because she is the protagonist and there is a sequel. And while I don't think Katniss should have to be in love with Peeta just because he's in love with her, I could also buy a natural romantic development between them over time, if that's where it went. I think part of this is that I like Peeta a little bit better than Gale, and I suspect she's going to wind up with one or the other of them. I would be pleasantly surprised if she gets out of the series without picking a boyfriend, though.)
This makes it sound like I didn't like the book, and I did; I liked it a lot. But I didn't think it needed to redo the games, and I wanted Katniss -- so strong and confident and such a survivor in the first book -- to have more agency in this one. I felt like Collins built a whole big interesting world and then went back to one piece of it. In fact, I've heard a term for that: the Tattooine problem, where you realize that George Lucas developed a huge interesting varied galaxy and then spent a disproportionate amount of time on a backwater sandball. So yes: Catching Fire was a good book, but I'd like to get out of Tattooine and see the rest of the galaxy.
But I still really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone who liked The Hunger Games -- and I'll be waiting impatiently for the third book.
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 02:26 am (UTC)Have you read Scott Westerfeld's books? His Uglies series have a very similar feel and some great female protagonists.
Also, I don't know if you would like it or not, but John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Begin series about a group of kids camping in the outback who return to their town to find their country invaded by nameless Asian civilization is a very compelling adventure story, if quite a lot more serious. There is, of course, the Asian immigration subtext; but further, the Freedom Fighters use techniques that look an awful lot like terrorism. However, it is a compelling read and features a very tough warrior girl.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 10:11 am (UTC)Hadn't heard the term, but YES. See also: Harry Potter 7, where you have a complex world that's full of dangerous creatures and fights playing out, and Harry spends most of it inside a bloody tent.
I think there's a fallacy in believing that just because people liked element x they want to see more - most readers want something that is _as enjoyable and inventive_ as before. Not 'the same'. And it'll be much harder to bring new angles to the same plot item, particularly without cheapening the earlier achievements of the protagonists.