Christopher Benz Benz itibaren Pasi, Uttarakhand, Hindistan
ok cozy mystery.
I am a little bit conflicted with this book. I enjoyed the plot and the character of Katniss. In fact there are a lot of things to like about the novel. But I really had a problem with the world building. The story takes place in a post apocalyptic North America. There is very little back story provided. A long time ago there was a calamity, out of which came the country called Panem. It is ruled from a Capitol city surrounded by 13 districts. 75 years ago or so the districts rebelled against the Capitol and were defeated. One district was obliterated and the remaining 12 are forced every year to supply two teens, one male and one female to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised contest where the teens will fight to the death until only one remains. The purpose is stated to be partly revenge for the rebellion and an attempt to intimidate the districts, because of a fear that another rebellion could take place. The teens from the Districts are chosen by lottery. For the purposes of the novel it is obviously more dramatic if the odds of getting picked are higher- so we are told the total population of District 12, the home district of our protagonist, is 8,000 people. If we assume that the other district's populations are of the same magnitude, then the total population of all the districts is about 100k to 150k. That's not a lot of people, especially since it is implied that the districts cover the former area of the US, the Capitol being specifically placed in the novel in the Rocky Mountains and District 12 in Appalachia. Furthermore the Capitol is implied to be a large city, and has a very high technology. A technology that has cloaked hovercraft and the ability to genetically modify animals. In contrast the Districts technology is that of horse drawn carts and bow and arrows (although they have TV). It makes no sense that the Districts would be militarily any challenge to the Capitol- they are too few people at too great a distance away, with too primitive technology. And it makes no sense for a Capitol so technologically advanced to rely on (very few) half starved laborers to provide them raw materials and food. The whole premise behind the idea of the Hunger Games just didn't ring true to me. Having said all that I did like the book, and after the first few chapters I got engrossed in the drama of the games themselves, forgetting about the world outside the arena.