Hungry For More?
I imagine
many of you will be setting out to see The
Hunger Games film at some
point. Some before you’ve read the book, some after.
I first
heard of the series upon launch of the final book in the
series, Mockingjay. I had never heard of the series nor the author before
that point, so the fact that it was the finale to something I hadn’t
heard of put me off slightly from checking it out at that time.I know they say not to judge a book by the cover, but Mockingjay has a sweet cover. (ed note: I love it when good books that covers that look nice too. Not that it matters, really, it's all about the text..but who wants to hold something ugly?)
I’ll be
honest and say that it’s because of Harry Potter that led to my
interest for The Hunger Games
Trilogy. I’d heard of its
quality through Potter fans on message boards etc. And with Deathly
Hallows: Part 2 coming out,
Harry’s end was in sight. No more Potter novels (though I wouldn’t
be surprised if we get more books like Tales
of Beedle the Bard at some
point); and that would be the end of the film series. So, where to
turn to for the next ‘young adult fiction / fantasy’ fix?
For
Christmas of 2010, I had received the hardcover boxed set as a gift
(mostly due to the price and quantity, it was, and still is a
fantastic thing to give or receive).
Due to the
size of my reading pile, I have not yet read any of the books. After
my current read, Dance With
Dragons, I’ll read that
series next. And after I read it (or at the very least, the first
book) I’ll see the movie at that point.
So now to
the point of this entry: now that you’ve had your fill of the
Games,
and hunger for more, I can offer something in the ‘young adult
fiction / fantasy’ department. I recommend you check out His
Dark Materials Trilogy by
Philip Pullman, consisting of The
Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and
The Amber Spyglass.
I won’t
go into detail what it’s about, but I will say that I was surprised
by how much I enjoyed it, and how dark and mature it got times for
‘young adult’.
Speaking of
book recommendations, I won’t repeat any of my posts here (I’ve
made a couple back when I made the blog more active about books), but I will sum
up in saying that at the moment, the top three books / series I
recommend overall at the present are:
- His Dark Materials Trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass) by Phillip Pullman
- Way of Kings (Book 1 of Stormlight) by Brandon Sanderson, brand new series
- Athurian Saga by Jack Whyte (begins with Skystone)
I’ve
chosen series that not many have heard of (like Harry Potter, Ice and Fire, Hunger Games…) and I can consider to be underrated. Check
them out.
Comments
The Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, and probably leans more toward science-fiction, despite the lack of technology. I'm afraid you might be disappointed if you expect it to be like Harry Potter, or the Golden Compass.
If you'd like to try a trilogy that is geared toward young adults and is fantasy, you might try the Chanters of Tremaris trilogy by Kate Constable. That, perhaps, could be considered related to your suggestion.
It had been a suggestion from my favourite worker at the bookstore I frequent, and I read it during flights when I travelled in October.
Thanks for the recommendation! I was leaning towards 'addicting YA reads' (especially those the 'masses' hadn't heard of), and was using HP as an example, especially because I'd been steered to Hunger Games because of Harry Potter.
Golden Compass, I think, is a mix between fantasy & sci-fi, with a slightly Narnian approach.
I'd also heard from a friend that "The Infernal Devices" series is good.