A taste of young blood

Author Suzanne Collin recently released the last chapter in her Hunger Games series called Mockingjay, which has got teens and tweens hungry with anticipation to read it. If you haven’t taken a stab at this dystopian series yet, Hunger Games stars Katniss Everdeen, who is forced to participate in a reality TV game where she must kill other teens, including her crush Peeta, to win. In this novel, our heroine has already won and escaped the clutches of the government who created the Hunger Games called the Capitol. She now faces the choice to be a rebel leader, called “Mockingjay,” and bring down the Capitol by herself.

In itself, the Hunger Games series is standard teen fiction fare of angst and romance, but Collins delivers. She captures the survival metaphor of growing up and the gravity of choices that teens have to make to win the prize of adulthood. This includes extinguishing a part of one’s carefree innocence in the process.

However, I personally can’t quite stomach the gushy romance part of Mockingjay as Katniss must also free her boyfriend Peeta from the Capitol. The series, of course, is aimed at tweens and has a film deal coming up so I can forgive Collins. I can also absolve her overt use of post-apocalyptic love mush as Hunger Games is also an anti-war sentiment to teach readers the brutal effects of war as the characters are hauntingly scarred for life by the events of the book.

Also, survival genre stories show that dire situations are not exemptions for barbaric behavior. It is up to the character of the person to rise above the situation, rather than sink into it like venus flytrap. With these types of lessons, it is good to know that teen fiction is gaining a lot more marrow than the standard shimmering vampire story.

Battle To The Death

As for the series standing in the “survival to the death” fiction genre, Mockingjay does provide enough tension and paranoia to get readers into the game. However, it doesn’t pack the punch of Koushin Takami’s Battle Royal, about a third year high school class sent to finish each other off till there is just one left standing. The Japanese seem to have a better handle of gruesome action sequences and technique. Yet, let’s give Hunger Games a fighting chance by having a blow-by-blow showdown of the survivor genre contenders. It is up to you, reader, to decide who’ll be left standing when the smoke settles down.

A. Game Creators

Hunger Games (HG): North America has been reduced to the 12 poor districts of Panem under the control of the Capitol government. They made the reality game to quell the rebellion and provide an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust among its people.

Battle Royal (BR): Japan is now the fascist big brother called The Republic of East Asia. There are hints that the republic has tweaked history books in their favor. The Battle Royal program was intended to be an army exercise against other nations. Eventually, the creators kept it as a fun sport to watch and strike fear in its people.

B. Rules of the Game

HR: The games are reality shows for the whole nation to see. Each district sends one boy and one girl by lottery to fight in the tournament, leading to 24 contestants in total. 

BR: One class of 40 students is picked by lottery and sent to an undisclosed island and must finish each other off. If nobody dies within 24 hours, everyone is blown up via metal bomb collars around their necks. Also, certain areas are off-limits at specific times. If found in these areas, the unlucky student will also explode to his doom.

C. Weapons

HR: Inspired by the Romans, Collins gives the contestants gladiator-type weapons such as whips, maces, and bow and arrows.

BR: Battle Royal creators seem to have a wicked sense of humor. Students can get something as impractical as a fork to a game changer like a mini uzi. My favorite weapon from the cast is the sickle.

D. Death count and violence

HR: 46 contestants for book one and two and a whole district in Panem.

BR: 38 students, some of their parents, and a few of Battle Royal officers. Although lower in count than Hunger Games, the novel isn’t a match for lunch reading. Each death is described in length. Expect a lot of mentions of entrails, blood, and body fluid.

E. Paranoia

HR: Katniss is constantly checking who she can trust and if her allies aren’t spies for the Capitol.

BR: Each chapter is told in the perspective of one student from the block and ends with a count of who is still alive. In a vast island, tension easily fills it as gunshots are heard far away and bodies found dead on the trail. Each character tries to guess who among his known peers is willing to play the game or has simply lost it.

F. Romance

HR: In book one, Katniss and Peeta fall in love and convince the Capitol that there can be two winners instead of one in the end. The Capitol reluctantly agrees due to the clamor of the people.

BR: Main character Shinji Mimura keeps Noriko, the crush of his now deceased best friend, alive throughout the game. They eventually fall in love amidst the turmoil.

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Hunger Games series and Mockingjay are available at National Book Store.

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E-mail me at readnow@supreme.ph.