The Hunger Games Eclipse?

Thanks to Mockingjay.net for this piece of information:

Fans of The Twilight Saga got a surprise while waiting for the U.K. premiere of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in London’s Leicester Square. Scholastic U.K. handed out 3,000 copies of their best-selling novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

True, there are no vampires or werewolves in The Hunger Games — but Twilight author Stephenie Meyer has been a fan of The Hunger Games series after posting a review of it on her website.

Morning all, and happy weekend.  I’m not going to can the Twilight series today, nor am I going to compare it to the very different and infinitely more creative and magical Harry Potter series.  If anything, Twilight is better compared to The Hunger Games due to the age of the characters at inception and the potential love triangle of Peeta/Katniss/Gale paralleled with Eddie/Bells/Jake O’ The Abdominals.

There’s a temptation to write a 5 Reasons Why I love The Hunger Games more than Twilight entry, but I won’t.  Sure, they’re pitched at similar audiences, both are trilogies (I cannot count Breaking Dawn due to my issues with it) and both stories have a female protagonist and two male members (no pun intended).

Whether Bella Swan is a protagonist is open to argument, but ‘things’ are always trying to kill her, she often has a hole in her heart and she’s on every second page, so I’ll keep her in this category.

Instead, here are 5 reasons why you need to read ‘The Hunger Games’ no matter your age.  When I get it back from one of my siblings, I’m going to rec it to mum.

1. Social Commentary: A society ravaged by war.  Post-apocalyptic and threatened by hunger.  The masses controlled within sectors and kept hungry.  The evilness of the ruling body.  The use of an annual reality television format to remind the people they are constantly under government rule.  Specific districts producing certain industries in order to keep the Capitol rich and thriving.  The use of violence to subdue.  The hint of an uprising.

2. The Creativity: Suzanne Collins doesn’t need vampires or werewolves in her tale and she reminds us that originality is a wonderful thing.  Her creations of the arena, the anthem, the mockingjay, the reaping, the mutants, the use of cornucopia are fantastic.  Her imagery is top-notch, and I’m thinking specifically of Cinna’s designs here.

3. The Characters: Even the secondaries are vivid and 3-dimensional.  Katniss’s mother, President Snow, Peeta’s parents, Mags, Rue.  You find yourself barracking for the primaries:  Katniss and her archery abilities, Peeta and his personality, Haymitch and his demons.   It’s fantastic how Collins has given the primary characters something that can hold them in good stead during the Games.  For instance, who could have imagined Peeta’s bakery decoration skills would assist him, or how his gift of the gab enamors him to the population of the Capitol.

2. The Love Triangle: It’s there, but it’s not cringe-worthy.  Katniss doesn’t mould herself to Peeta and Gale.  Peeta doesn’t coerce Katniss into doing what he wants, nor do Gale and Peeta have testosterone-fueled FACE!OFFs every couple of pages.  They’re all too hungry, and the plot is too racy and involving.

1. The page-turning story: I don’t read a lot of YA fiction so I was set to find The Hunger Games ho-hum, especially in the wake of Twilight.  It was recced by Amy and Kristin, both exceptional writers and readers.  That was enough for me to try it.  I was transfixed from the onset and cannot wait for the release of The Mockingjay in August.

What a great idea to give Eclipse movie-goers a copy of HG!  Hopefully the trilogy will gain a new legion of followers and fans before the third book is released and the movie starts to shoot.

Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!