The Hunger Games trilogy is LOST meets Man Tracker meets Big Brother. In this post-apocalyptic world, North America is now Panem, a nation with a Capitol district and 12 outlying districts, each in charge of providing something to the Capitol, like agriculture, electronics, or weapons. As a measure to remind the districts of the rebellion of District 13 and the consequences of that defiance, each year the districts offer up two children, a boy and a girl, who participate in a televised fight to death. Only 1 can be named the victor, and they and their family get extra food for the upcoming year.
It’s cruel and awful, yet is a spectacle that glues Capitol residents to the tv (who are exempt) and equally engages the districts as they fearfully watch the fate of their loved ones.
The trilogy follows 16-year-old Katness Everdeen through the ordeal of 2 Hunger Games and an even deadlier match that pits the districts against the Capitol. Survival of the fittest is often about compassion, humanity, loyalty, friendship and compromise.
I really can’t tell you much about the series without giving away the plot, but it is riveting. I found the second book a bit formulaic in that the structure and outcome is much like the first, but it’s like Lord of the Rings in that you need a middle that bridges the beginning and end, which isn’t a weakness to the narrative at all.
If you missed the first round of fandom regarding this series, you might want to read it before the movie trailers hit and you’re inundated with the Hollywood version of these characters.