The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I don’t read a ton of fiction that is shelved as young adult (says the reviewer who just read Odd and the Frost Giants and did a complete reading of the entire Harry Potter series). However, there can come a time (like with the examples listed above) when a book truly transcends being cubby-holed as young adult. The huge popularity of Suzanne Collins’ new series, the Hunger Games trilogy, looked like it might be one of those cases, so I picked up the first book, The Hunger Games, and dove in.

Katniss Everdeen is a girl who is in that rough late-teen stage of her life, living in District 12, one of twelve state-like regions of Panem, the new North American country. Each year, every district has to send two tributes to the Hunger Games, in part to discourage rebellion against the Capitol, the head of the government. However, plans go awry as Katniss’ younger sister, Prim, is selected, along with the boy who saved her life as a child. To protect Prim, Katniss volunteers to take her place, and she is swept off into a vivid world of high style, gourmet food, war, and death.

Collins does an interesting job of exploring this seemingly post-apocalyptic future, with the odd societal roles being played out. She portrays the pervasive nature of these new memes well, ingraining them in the culture and the characters. This well-developed world made the conflict all the more compelling.

Katniss and her male equivalent, Peeta, are both wonderfully fleshed out, as Collins runs them through the wringer, and even the more minor characters of Rue, Haymitch, Cinna, and Effie are well done, each of them having distinct, powerful personalities. The conflict seen in the novel, of the society’s future killing each other, is in part a strong view of how it traumatizes Katniss and Peeta, and this introspection is wonderfully adapted into the otherwise physically violent nature of the tale.

The action is non-stop, be it the wonderfully fluid yet deep depictions of this society’s many cultures to the violence of the Hunger Games, Collins has created a novel that soars by, and is a true joy to read. Collins’ combination of a character-driven, yet action-packed story is incredibly well-done, and a sheer joy to read. There is little one could find not to their liking. Her wrap up has left an interesting premise for the second novel, Catching Fire, very much seeming to be a quite different type of novel. I, for one, cannot wait to check out this sequel, and am very glad it just came out.

10/10

G.I. JOE: Above & Beyond by Max Allan Collins

I grew up with G.I. Joe. It was huge. When I saw that Transformers seemed to be making a come back, with a live-action movie, my first thought was, I really hope they do G.I. Joe. And they have! Waiting with extreme excitement for the new movie, G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra, I had to pick up the new prequel novel, G.I. JOE: Above & Beyond, written by Max Allan Collins, famous for his graphic novel Road to Perdition. I picked this one up, hoping for an action-packed thriller that was lots of fun. I can freely say that this novel was all that and more.

Conrad Hauser--know as Duke to his friends--is head of a top notch squad of American soldiers, who go in on missions that only the best can succeed at. Duke, along with his best friend Ripcord, go on mission after mission, saving the world in secret. However, on a mission to Uzekurkistan to rescue scientists held to work on weapons manufacturing, events are set in motion that lead to San Sebastiao, a small South American country in the midst of civil turmoil, as Duke and his Able Team try to stop a military coup from shattering the country.

Meanwhile, secreted away in the Pit, G.I. JOE, a multi-national group of soldiers, works to keep world peace viable, working undercover and invisible to save people from threats they don't even know exist. Hawk, head of G.I. JOE, sends out a crack team of soldiers to shadow Duke and his squad, to both protect them and to recover advanced weaponry that has fallen into the wrong hands.

The book moves fast, flipping between the American squad and the G.I. JOE unit, as both work to protect San Sebastiao from civil war. Collins quickly creates a group of very likeable characters, and builds some emotional attachment, all while playing to the desires of fan boys to see their favorite G.I. Joes in action (used to be G.I. Joe, all caps for the movie). The book is fun, light, and tightly written, with no dead space and no wasted dialogue.

Collins has built a novel that is fun, fast, and light to read, yet has a solid plot, intelligent action, and made me even more excited for the movie. Finding a copy of Collins' novelization of G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra, is high on my to do list.

9/10