Why is The Hunger Games so Popular?

Since it was announced that The Hunger Games would be made into a movie, the series has become even more popular than before.  I don’t know about you, but ever since I wrote my piece on the allusions to the Roman Empire in The Hunger Games, I’ve been thinking about the series quite a bit.  And with the movie release only yesterday, I have decided to examine the reasons behind the Hunger Games phenomenon.

1.  Katniss is more of a unisex narrator.

Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series was (and still is) popular, but it will never reach the popularity level of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.  Other than the quality of writing, the main difference is the target audience.  Twilight appeals to women, both young and old, but that means it’s only targeting 50% of the population at most.  This is because Bella Swan is a very helpless, extremely feminine protagonist that every girl wants to be.  Harry Potter, on the other hand, appeals to far more than just 50% of the population because he is a boy, but he is not so overly masculine as to turn away girls.

Do you see what I’m getting at here?  Generally speaking, protagonists must be written almost as if they are unisex if they are to achieve a high level of popularity.  Katniss is a female protagonist, but she is far from a damsel in distress and her point of view is not so overtly feminine that it turns off male readers.  And that simple fact is what contributes to the series’ immense popularity. Continue reading →

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

(Cover picture courtesy of Michael Scott’s website.)

Paris:

Dr. John Dee has torn the city apart in every attempt to intercept the immortal Nicholas Flamel and Sophie and Josh Newman.  Paris’s streets are in ruins, Notre Dame destroyed, the Comte de Saint-Germain’s home leveled.  Dee has the book of Abraham the Mage, but he’s still missing the two pages the Dark Elders need for the Final Summoning.  Without them the spell cannot be cast, and Dee is well aware that the Dark Elders will not rest until they are in power and the human race is destroyed—or he is.

London:

Nicholas Flamel’s heart almost broke as he watched his beloved Paris crumble before him.  The city was demolished by Dee and Machiavelli, but Flamel played his own role in the destruction.  Sophie and Josh Newman show every sign of being the twins of legend, and Flamel had to protect them and the pages from the Dark Elders.

But Nicholas grows weaker with each passing day.  Perenelle is still trapped on Alcatraz, and now that Scatty has gone missing, the group is without protection.  Except for Clarent—the twin sword to Excalibur.  But Clarent’s power is unthinkable, its evil making it nearly impossible to use without its darkness seeping into the soul of whoever wields it.

If he hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must find someone who can teach Josh and Sophie the third elemental magic—Water Magic.  The problem?  The only being who can do that is Gilgamesh, and he is quite, quite insane.

I’m a sucker for tragic characters, I must admit.  Lancelot, Hamnet and now Gilgamesh, the oldest immortal human.  He has lived so long that his mind is fractured, but because he was made immortal by his friend Abraham the Mage instead of an Elder, he cannot die.  The saddest thing of all is that he writes things down to remember in his periods of lucidity because he knows his mind is going.  After living for so long, all he wants to die is finally die, which is why he makes the twins promise to bring him the book when they obtain it.  And who can blame him?

Michael Scott not only has a gift for creating memorable heroes, he creates memorable villains as well.  What makes The Sorceress so much more enjoyable for me is the fact that Niccolò Machiavelli plays a much more important role.  I love my villains and Machiavelli is one of my favourites, so you could fairly accuse me of being biased.  Nevertheless, Michael Scott’s characterization is excellent and it is part of what keeps readers coming back for more.

Michael Scott superbly weaves mythology and history into his fast-paced narrative, which is why his series is so popular.  He combines better known Greek mythology and famous historical figures like William Shakespeare with Celtic mythology and more obscure figures like the legendary Palamedes.  Of course, the fact that his plot is very fast-paced helps quite a bit.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble

Emperor: The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden

(Cover picture courtesy of Whitcoulls Ebooks.)

The year is 53 B.C.  Julius Ceasar approaches his final destiny—a destiny that will be decided not by legions but by his friend Brutus and a bewitching Egyptian queen named Cleopatra.

Fresh from victory in Gaul, Julius Caesar leads his battle-hardened legions across the Rubicon.  The armies of Rome will face each other at last in civil war, led by the two greatest generals ever to walk the seven hills.

From the spectacles of the arena to the whispered lies of conspirators, Conn Iggulden brings to life a world marked by fierce loyalty and bitter betrayal, with dark events shrouded in noble ideas.

Emperor: The Gods of War was my introduction to both Conn Iggulden and the world of Gaius Julius Caesar, despite the fact that this book is the fourth (and last) book in the Emperor series.  My mother had bought it for me for my birthday one year and she is notoriously bad at finding the first book in a series.  Nevertheless, I read it and it left quite the impression on me.

The Gods of War is the most exciting book in the series and is an example of Conn Iggulden at his finest.  Love, lust, friendship, loyalty and betrayal are all prominent themes and they are what make reading this book a cinematic experience.  I vote for the Emperor series to be the next series adapted into movies because the screenwriters would not even have to alter the story very much.  The characters are larger than life and there’s hardly ever a dull scene.

Conn Iggulden really brings his characters to life, thus making history a bit more accessible to the average modern reader.  He generally sticks to the facts of historical events, but what sets his books apart is the fact that he assigns realistic motivations to the people behind these events, particularly Caesar.  When he writes, it feels like he was really at these events and knew the people that caused them.  One scene in particular stands out in my mind, when Brutus complains to his mother, Servilia, that Julius overshadows him:

“I am the best of my generation, Mother.  I could have ruled.  But I had the misfortune to be born to a Rome with Julius in it.  I have suffered it for years.  I have pledged my life to him and he cannot see it.”

She pulled back from him at last and shook her head.  “You’re too proud, Brutus.  Even for a son of mine you are too proud.”

I think Iggulden hit the nail on the head with that scene, which of course leads up to the infamous Ides of March.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz

(Cover picture courtesy of Better World Books.)

Working as a secret agent for Britain’s most exclusive agency, Alex Rider thinks he’s seen it all.  He’s been shot at by international terrorists, stood face-to-face with pure evil, and saved the world—twice.  All before his fifteenth birthday.  But Alex is about to face something more dangerous than he can imagine: a man who’s lost everything he cared for—his country, his son—a man who has a nuclear weapon, and will stop at nothing to get his world back.  Unless Alex can stop him first…

I’ll just come out and admit right now that Skeleton Key is my favourite Alex Rider book.  It’s not that the plot was more exciting or anything like that—it was the villain.  I absolutely love my villains and when there is a good villain in a story, it just improves my overall enjoyment of the book.  General Alexei Sarov is one of the great villains that I didn’t have room to include in my list, despite the fact he comes in a very close 6th.

As usual, the plot of Anthony Horowitz’s book moves along at a fast pace that will keep readers turning pages at a furious speed.  I can also vouch for Horowitz’s accuracy in his research, particularly in Alex’s scuba diving scene.  As a scuba diver, I can say with confidence that this is one of the only completely accurate diving scenes in mainstream fiction.  Just like in all of his novels, the effort Horowitz puts into research really shines through in his writing.

Truly, the only place where his writing falls flat is his characterization.  It is by no means terrible, but it does not hold up to his fast pacing or his great research.  General Sarov is a great villain, however Alex falls flat for me.  He seems a little too perfect, especially since he’s saving the world at the age of only fourteen.  Despite this little flaw, Skeleton Key is an excellent book.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble

The Hippopotamus Marsh by Pauline Gedge

(Cover picture courtesy of Tower.)

Hundreds of years under the oppressive foreign rule of the Setiu have stripped Egypt of its majesty.  Seqenenra Tao, Prince of Weset, the true heir of the double crown, is pained to see his estate deteriorate and longs to restore the royal bloodline to its former glory.  King Apepa’s merciless taunting and humiliating requests are a poor disguise for his contempt of the prideful Tao family and their independence.  Cornered, the Prince of Weset must choose between complete submission to a foreign king or a daring uprising that is doomed to fail.  Seqenenra Tao’s shocking decision puts in motion a series of events that will either destroy his cherished home or resurrect a dynasty and an entire way of life for all of Egypt.

Thus begins the riveting first volume of Pauline Gedge’s Lords of the Two Lands trilogy, in which the history of one of Ancient Egypt’s greatest families comes alive in a remarkably vivid and wonderfully crafted epic.

I discovered Pauline Gedge’s writing on a bitterly cold Christmas Day a few years ago, but the first book I read was her latest work at the time, The Twice Born.  Now that I’ve read almost all of her work, I definitely prefer her earlier works.  They’re much faster paced and the characters are far more interesting.  Her earlier works definitely have less of a literary novel feel and more of an epic historical fiction feel.

The Hippopotamus Marsh is the first book in the Lords of the Two Lands trilogy and it follows the patriarch of the Tao family, Seqenenra.  Seqenenra is a very proud character, yet there is despair lurking beneath the surface because half of his beloved Egypt is under the yoke of the Setiu king Apepa.  But when Apepa takes his ridiculous demands too far, he finally snaps and the rebellion that gave him the epithet ‘the Brave’ began.  If any of you history buffs want to look up Seqenenra (he was, of course, a real historical figure), I recommend that you search with caution—his mummy is not one of the prettier ones.

In addition to fascinating characters like the regal Tetisherti, the brave Seqenenra and the tragically flawed Si-Amun, the plot moves along at a nice pace.  It’s not nearly as fast as that of most mainstream fiction, but it is much faster than Pauline Gedge’s later books.  The Hippopotamus Marsh is a must-read for anyone who loves the mysterious civilization that was ancient Egypt.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble