Category: Book Love

Posts about books I’ve read

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This was initially recommended to my by my friend, Colleen, as a good read. Then I heard it referred to as the new Twilight, which did not bode well. But then my friend, Sharon, referred to it as the Smarter Twilight, which seemed a better recommendation.

It’s a great concept: in a post apocalyptic future, The Capitol is surrounded by 12 Districts. Every year, each district must send two of their children, one male, one female, between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death. It’s a great, and disturbing, idea and it makes for a great jumping off point, and the novel lives up to it for the most part.

Because it’s a YA novel, the brutality of the concept is soft pedaled somewhat. Most of the deaths happen off screen, except for one notable exception that is a pivotal moment for the POV character. I couldn’t help thinking it would have been nice to see the concept handled for an adult audience, so it could really explore in detail the horror of making teens fight to the death. Other than that, my only other quibble with the story is a bit too much Team Edward/Team Jacob style emotional hand-wringing.

Those things aside, the book was an exciting read that kept me interested and has me now reading the second book, which further explores the universe. The YA writing style makes them easy reads and the characters are engaging. Worth a read.

 

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Devoured this book over a weekend. Exciting and chilling in so many ways. It takes a familiar theme of an AI taking over the world and gives it a fresh new spin by making the weapons the AI uses very familiar and close to the modern uses of robotic technology. The armageddon comes in the form of objects we use all the time and think nothing about, which makes them all the more frightening.

Wilson structures the novel as a series of stories from different points of view, meticulously recorded by Archos, the rogue AI, interpreted and told by a man in the aftermath of the war. It’s an unconventional structure that really works, taking us from scene to scene in a way that no single POV character could have done, yet maintaining some familiarity in the voice through Cormac.

Cannot recommend this book highly enough.