SPRINT: Dystopian (2/1-2/28)

[M F]

A scam by the government? Whose government? Your government doesn't rule me. Nor the rest of the world, even if they like to think it sometimes.

[Morgan]

I don't pay much attention to British government, but I wouldn't be surprised if they, like America's government, use false statistics on climate change to scare people and enforce more regulations.

However, I'm probably causing the issue to be carried too far in this thread. This is a site for book discussions, not political debate. And I'm sorry if I caused any strife or hurt feelings. I'm very opinionated when it comes to political issues, and I don't know when to stop talking.

[Morgan]

Leah, thank you so much for recommending the Shadow Children series. I finished the first book this evening and I loved it!

[[deleted user]]

Yes, this thread is for reading dystopia, not debating about whether or not it's happening in real life... :)

I agree with you on the definition, Katie. In my opinion, dystopian doesn't even have to involve a corrupt government--that's just a very realistic way for society to fall. But society could fall without any help from the government, theoretically. Hmm...

[(Jen)]

Wow, great discussion!

I guess you can tell I'm really new to the genre --Aubrey, that blog post was great! I haven't read too much dystopian, but my preconceived ideas about it was that it was depressing or hopeless, which was why I always avoided it. But I even shy away from the "Left Behind" or post-apocalyptic books just because they don't really seem to be my cup of tea for an escape/pleasure read.

However, so far, the dystopians I've read haven't been entirely hopeless ... Yes, Hunger Games was bittersweet, but I would say it ended on a hopeful note. The Christian dystopians I've read haven't finished yet (only the first two books are published?) --Jill Williamson's Safe Lands series, but I'm assuming it's going to have a good triumphs evil ending ...

I'm still working on "Precisely Terminated" ... I'm about midway through now. =) And I messed up on picking up my library holds, so I'm missing book 2 (Crossed) of Ally Condie's Matched trilogy ... I'm assuming that I can't skip to the 3rd book once I finished "Matched"? =P

[Leah]

Morgan wrote: "Leah, thank you so much for recommending the Shadow Children series. I finished the first book this evening and I loved it!"

Glad you liked it. I really enjoy those books.

[M F]

On the subject of dystopias actually happening --

This image of Ukraine's Independence Square before and after the recent troubles looks like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. https://24.media.tumblr.com/e1c4d049a...

[Leah]

Miriam wrote: "This image of Ukraine's Independence Square before and after the recent troubles looks like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. https://24.media.tumblr.com/e1c4d049a..."

Please pray about that. I have a missionary friend who's had to leave her home because of all that.

[M F]

I read five: the Hunger Games trilogy, Divergent and Insurgent. :)

[Annie]

I read two:

Precisely Terminated
Red Rain

I was hoping to finish The Hunger Games, but alas, that didn't work out.

[Leah]

I read two:
Among the Impostors
Steelheart

I also purchased two to read, but we went on vacation and I couldn't concentrate on reading when we driving.

[Morgan]

I read five:
Red Rain
Among the Hidden
Among the Impostors
Among the Betrayed
Among the Barons

[Leah]

Lots of Shadow Children :)

[Xander]

I am ashamed that I only read 1-The World of the Hunger Games

[(Jen)]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. - Wow, amazing book series. It is pretty intense and it (especially the end) impacted me in a way not a lot of books have ... I've been reading primarily Christian (okay, yes, romance) historicals for the past several years, so the bittersweet end, though appropriate for the series, really affected me (I didn't get a super fluffy HEA). Also the struggles of the characters in a world without God ... (no offense, but) I really felt for them and it made me appreciate Him more. Its not a perfect analogy, but I'm never going to look at military combat veterans the same way again ...

The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook by Emily Ansara Baines - neat idea, but too many typos ... E.g. Even I, a new HG fan, could tell she mixed up Plutarch for Seneca several times, etc. However, some of the recipes looked like they'd be worth trying ...

The Hunger Games: the Official Movie Companion by Kate Egan

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: the Official Movie Companion by Kate Egan --these two are going on my wish list.

The Hunger Games Tribute Guide by Kate Egan --based on the first movie. An okay library read

The World of the Hunger Games by Kate Egan --same as above

The Unofficial Hunger Games Companion --okay, not quite what I expected ... Basically the author taking ideas and concepts from the series and looking at history and real life and discussing if it was really possible or not. E.g. Muttations and science/ethics.

The Hunger Games A-Z by Martin Honden --another unofficial cash-in. Basically a bunch of brief articles related to the books and movies. E.g. Jennifer Lawrence entry has a bio, roles before HG, casting, quotes, etc.

The Girl Who Was on Fire edited by Leah Wilson --a collection of essays written by YA authors whom I've never heard of, for the most part, LOL. They're good though ... My favorite unofficial HG tie in so far.

Precisely Terminated by Amanda L. Davis -- Thank you for loaning this to me, Aubrey! I can't say I loved it, but I'll probably give this series a chance, but as of now, I won't be purchasing it. I'd read the rest if I borrowed it from the library or a friend. There wasn't anything memorable about the characters and the majority of supporting characters pop in and out too quickly or briefly to make a connection, at least for me. The book felt like it never really got anywhere ... Almost like it was a set up for the rest of the series, which it suppose first books are. However, I think the author did a splendid job on the writing mechanics side. It felt technically well-written, especially for a young debut author.

Matched by Ally Condie -- good start to the series. It's definitely more appropriate to have "Team _____" for this dystopian (regarding love triangles) than it is for the Hunger Games, IMHO. :P. I loved the focus on writing and words ... what it represented in the story. I have to pick up the rest of the trilogy from the library next week! :)

Lucky 13! :)

[Leah]

Jonathan wrote: "I saw you mention liking them, and since I've noticed that you have good judgment regarding books, I tried them. I actually enjoyed them more than The Hunger Games trilogy."

Oh. Thank you! I'm glad you think so. And, yes, I think I like them better than the HG trilogy too.

[(Jen)]

I've heard a lot about Margaret Peterson Haddix --I'll have to see if our library has her books. :)

[Theodora]

I read "Uglies" by Peter Westerfeld, and "Matched", by Ally Condie. =)

[Charis]

For anyone interested in reading more Haddix/trying Haddix: Running Out of Time and Double Identity are stellar.

[Morgan]

I want to read more Margaret Peterson Haddix, too.

So . . . Is there a new sprint for this month?

[Leah]

Zoe wrote: "For anyone interested in reading more Haddix/trying Haddix: Running Out of Time and Double Identity are stellar."

I'll have to check them out. She has another series I think looks good too but I cant remember the name at the moment.

I just finished Swipe. Too late for the sprint, I know. But this conversation has been fun so why not keep going? ;) In any case, it was very slightly slow, but I liked it a lot. And I had a bad headache while I was reading it, so that might be why I thought it was slow. In any case, I'd definitely recommend it.

[Katie]

If you can recommend a book you read whilst having a headache it must be pretty good. :D

[[deleted user]]

Ahh, I thought Jonathan had cinched the winning, but here comes Zekkaina, stealing the show! That's two sprints in a row, girl. Y'all better watch out for this one. o.O I'll PM you about your well-deserved prize!

Yes, there will be a sprint this month, as soon as my scattered-in-a-million-pieces brain can latch on to an idea. (I was traveling over the weekend--that earns me some extra slack, right?)

[Morgan]

You get some extra slack. :) I hope your trip went well.

[Leah]

Katie wrote: "If you can recommend a book you read whilst having a headache it must be pretty good. :D"

I think so too. :) I had to laugh, though. I gave the book to my brother, who is fresh off of reading the Hunger Games. He started reading it last night and this morning wanted to know if the ending was satisfying, nebulous, or depressing. Guess he's feeling traumatized by the unsatisfying ending of Hunger Games. :P

[[deleted user]]

Y'all are supposed to be motivating me to read, not scaring me off from the ending!

[Leah]

Sorry! I don't regret reading them. The ending's not really depressing in my opinion. It just wasn't pulled off with as much...finesse...as we'd like to see. All the elements were there, they just didn't have impact. And pretty much everyone has a different take on those books, so....

[(Jen)]

LOLs, yeah, it felt like book one of the Hunger Games kind of rushed to end it and leave you hanging a tiny bit, as if to make it obvious that it's a trilogy/series ... :P

[Leah]

Zekkaina (LadyDragonKeeper) wrote: "LOLs, yeah, it felt like book one of the Hunger Games kind of rushed to end it and leave you hanging a tiny bit, as if to make it obvious that it's a trilogy/series ... :P"

I didn't mind that for the first two books. Books in series are kind of obligated to indicate more.

[Katie]

I may have said this before, but I don't think I've said it here so I'll risk repeating myself:

The ending of the Hunger Games read like the author was being pressured to hurry up and finish so she threw her hands in the air and slapped and ending on it. I bet you anything if you talked to her and asked if she would have liked to take more time with the ending she would say yes. I also bet that since the book was published she's figured out what she really wanted to do in the first place and the movie will end much more satisfactorily. The writing on the third book was so sloppy compared to the first two that it seems obvious there was some kind of pressure brought to bear.

[(Jen)]

I was watching my new Hunger Games blu ray and the documentary says Suzanne Collins collaborated on the screenplay and was pleased with the extra scenes they added in that movie (e.g Snow and Seneca scenes), so if she's doing that with the rest of the movies, that would be great. The romantic in me wishes I could have seen more of the recovery in Mockingjay afterwards, but honestly, she would have needed a whole other book for that! In fact, when I think about it, maybe it is good, and not just a cash grabber to split Mockingjay into two movies! Mockingjay, the book, did seemed rushed at times. :)

[Leah]

Huh. Interesting thought, Katie. It would be really interesting to talk to her about all that.

[Morgan]

Have any other fans of the book of The Giver seen the trailer for the movie? In my opinion, it looks like a cool movie, but not much like The Giver.

[Olivia]

Morgan wrote: "Have any other fans of the book of The Giver seen the trailer for the movie? In my opinion, it looks like a cool movie, but not much like The Giver."

I have! It doesn't look much like it, especially the very last scene in the trailer. But it will be interesting to see how they handle a few of the scene from the book (like the scene with Jonas' dad and the identical twin).

[Morgan]

I'm not much of one to go to the movies (I've only been 7 times) and I'm the sort of person who likes movies based on books to be like the book, so after seeing the trailer I'm thinking unless later trailers make it look more faithful, it's probably something I might look for on DVD at the library. It really looks like they're trying to make it like all the other dystopians coming out.

I did see a picture somewhere of Lois Lowry and the guy playing Jonas's father from when they filmed the twin part, so it's there, at least.

[M F]

My friend Engie wrote a blog post as a sort of first reaction to the trailer and ... I don't think she was very impressed. Heh. It's here:

http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordp...

[Morgan]

I like her commentary. The Giver would make an awesome movie as is, but they don't seem to be doing that. If I hadn't read the book, I would want to see it, but I'm thinking since I'm such a fan of the book I'll probably hate it. But I'm still holding onto a bit of hope that it's just a bad trailer and since Lois Lowry is involved it won't be quite as messed up as it looks.