Stephen’s
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(group member since Dec 01, 2011)
Stephen’s
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from the It's not just a FAYZ group.
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Anyone else notice the difference in the attitudes of Astrid and Sam on this cover versus the first book? I think that the covers so far have done an amazing job of foreshadowing the power shifts within the FAYZ.
Anyone else wish these kids had finished their civics classes? They've tried a dictator style governemnt and now have a republic of sorts but with no Executive to make quick decisions.
One thing I'd like to see discussed in this group are the characters of the individuals. Sure, some are exagerations and/or archtypes others seem pretty realistic. I'm proffering a few of my impressions and I'd love for others to agree, disagree or add to the list with suggestions of their own.
Sam - the reluctant hero. He's a man of action, who realizes that he's not the smartest and doesn't have all the answers. He is a natural leader but would prefer not to be.
Astrid - she's used to being the smartest one in the room and needs for folks to acknowledge that. She tends to view things in absolutes and is frequently certain that she's right whether or not she has evidence to support her position. There are things like right and wrong and religion that she's accepted without analyzing them much and, given her need to be right, it bothers her having to admit that she some of her beliefs may be flawed.
Quinn - generally an easy going guy who likes leading when there are no challenges involved. He enjoyed his easy, laid back lifestyle and popularity and has been hard hit by the FAYZ situation.
OK there's a few. Anyone think I've missed the boat assessing these three? Wanna attempt a character sketch or two of your own?
Did anyone else feel a tremendous sense of relief when they started reading Chapter 11 which starts back in the real world with the parents clustered outside the boundary? Of course Sam's mother would be there and a spokesman for "the families." Like the kids I just wanted there to be someone in authority to take over and make it all better. (view spoiler)
Is anyone else ever curious just how Albert's makeshift burger/bun combinations might actually taste? The French Toast burger sounded kinda interesting to me.
Do you think that some people are just more suceptible to this urge to form splinter groups? Zil was already a proud member of a splinter group before any pooofing went on. He and his buddies made a big deal of being San Francisco fans even though they lived in southern California.
To them it was a form of group bonding.
By the end of the book, we should know what the countdown clock was counting toward. But I'm still a bit unclear...Was it counting down to
(view spoiler)
Am I missing something obvious? To me it seemed like there was more than enough tension without the clock. None of these events seemed to have been resolved fully enough/were significant enough to warrant a countdown clock.
Lies starts another countdown clock!
Lexie wrote: "... Also, she was often portrayed as somewhat . . . nagging, for lack of a better term. Like a nagging wife..." Or a conscience? Perhaps Sam "saves her" in the end but he'd have been nowhere without her support earlier. In many ways I think that she's the stronger of the two.
I still don't see these books as overly sexist but then, I have a male perspective. Isn't the way that Breeze is the one to rescue Sam from Drake and for Dekka to be the one that recues Edilio kinda balancing things out?
As I said in my opener, I am interested in what others think. Just how strong do women characters have to be for a novel to not be sexist? If portrayals go too far the other way aren't they in danger of being labelled unrealistic?
Welcome! I'm hoping that we can get a number of people that are actually able to pose and answer questions about these books. I've wanted to discuss them seriously ever since I encountered the first one. I guess I felt the need for group therapy for the PTSD that comes from reading about the FAYZ
Catherine wrote: "Well it depends on their maturity level and their parents."I'm of two minds about this question. I think that it's good to have folks thinking about the issues raised and the violence is no worse than what's shown regularly on TV but actually thinking about these things in depth does tend to leave scars on the soul.
That's sort of what Paul Atredes, the protagonist in Dune, says and it appears to have influenced Caine's thinking in this book. Of course, my feeling is that some people just have a talent for destruction, or in Drake's case, a taste for it.
Catherine wrote: "I really need to reread these because I have no idea what you're talking about."I'm on my second read-through of Hunger right now and I'm picking up lots of things I missed first time around. I realized when I read the third one that I'd missed a bit and when I finally got a copy of Plague I resolved to start at the beginning and read them all before I tackled it.
Hunger is (among other things) about the fragmentation of the FAYZ kids splitting into freaks and non-freak groups. Sam decrees that they're not gonna split up into groups that way... Though who ever listens to Sam?
While they have a male perspective, I personally don't find them sexist. But that's just my perspective as a male. In many ways Astrid is really in charge in Perdido Beach, Yes, Sam is the elected Mayor but Astrid oversees all the shots and Sam's first impulse is always to follow her lead.
Dekka: Sam... I'm black and I'm a lesbian, so let me tell you: From what I know? Personal experience? There are always lines.One of the problems that we encounter in Hunger is the propensity for a society to fragment into groups. This seems to be so common that it's probably genetic. I've struggled with the question and can't come up with a good reason. Is there some biological advantage to humans dividing themselves up into groups?
Charlotte- insert an inside joke here- wrote: "This sounds like a good group! Love the gone series!!! Thanks, the other group was 100% spam."Maybe we can get Little Petey to send em to Hawaii... You know how Hawaiins love SPAM!
True, they're written by a man and the two main opponents (Sam and Caine) are male. But some have called them sexist. Would you agree? Diana does seem to wield her power through others. And Astrid seems to do the same for the most part.
Yet Lana and Mother Mary both seem independent. What do others think?
Not sure if anyone wants to have them pointed out or not but... I think there is one involving Astrid's house. It's supposedly burned down in the first book and yet, There's mention of her folks artificial Christmas tree being set up in Hunger.
I know that this is a real-world problem and I'm glad that Michael Grant included it here. It's also a great way to highlight the hunger issues. I've never had this problem and have always been a bit overweight but I would have thought that the body issues associated with bulimia would have taken a back seat to the bigger issues faced by Mother Mary by this point. I think that the fact that it hasn't just show how serious a problem this is.
Astrid gets angry at Albert when he starts charging batteries and/or toilet paper for entering his club, yet he makes the argument that by making it valuable he's making sure that there will still be some around when its needed. I think he's right. What do others think?
Personally I see money as a tool, as well as a motivator and a store of wealth. I'm curious to see how this is handled in later books. Should the kids of the FAYZ let lazy kids pay for their laziness in some way? At what age is it necessary to start earning your keep?
