The Hunger Games : Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins (author)

Scholastic Children's Books, UK: 2009; 472pp

ISBN: 9781407109367

Genres: sci-fi, adventure

Issues: friendship, loyalty, politics, corruption

The second book in a trilogy, Catching Fire is set in a future where survival of the fittest has become a politically-endorsed reality.

Katniss' country is divided into districts. As a government-decreed-and-enforced reminder that resources are scarce and humans plentiful, the Hunger Games are an annual competition that, like the Circuses of Ancient Rome, provides entertainment for the masses. Each district is required to offer two ‘tributes' from their area who, after limited training and a great deal of pomp and ceremony, are thrust into an artificial environment where they must fight for survival. The winner is the one who lives - and it's only ever one.

But last year Katniss broke the rules. She and her fellow tribute, Peeta, teamed up to defeat the others in the Hunger Games but Katniss threatened to kill herself if required to kill Peeta, who loved her. She broke the rules - and they both lived. And the Capitol, and President Snow, have not forgotten. An apparently small act of rebellion has shaken his political control. Districts are showing hints of independent thought. His power is at stake and Katniss must be seen to submit - or many she loves will die. Can Katniss carry it off? Can she put aside her true love and convince the world that her love for Peeta was real, not merely game tactics? Can she successfully pit her wits against the chilling power of the government?

This is an absorbing, page-turning thriller . Collins challenges the reader to examine why and how they are entertained by such artificial games as ‘reality TV' by taking it to another level where murder is acceptable and mercy a weakness. The Hunger Games epitomize all that is primitive in human nature and demonstrate where real power for good and evil lie - with those making the decisions. The Games are about political corruption of the worst sort. Whilst sensitive readers will find the brutality of the action distressing, they will also find the complex moral dilemmas faced by the central characters quite absorbing and thought-provoking. Collins has created a powerful, terrifying world, as bleak as Orwell's 1984. The Hunger Games series suggests an all too believable future if our consumer-driven world continues as it is currently.