The Binding - Bridget Collins

66%
03.01.20

Although this book is flawed in many ways - overwritten on a sentence level and underwritten on a plot level, with leads that are hard to root for - it nevertheless magically sweeps you into its quasi-historical world and scientifically reveals the many implications of its central conceit. I don't normally get on with magic realism but this is a fine holiday read.

(Unfortunately, I read it on my Kindle so missed out on the beautiful hard copies - but it's good to see that high production values are (sometimes) still maintained.)

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

59%
10.04.12

The bodycount just kept on rising as characters new and old died in a variety of gruesome ways. But otherwise what should have been the big ending to a thrilling trilogy was shocking only in its understatement. Did it prove that war is futile while simultaneously glorifying graphic violence? Perhaps it does, in the sense that the whole thrust of the plot turns out to be rather a waste of time. Important and complex moral and political issues are raised in ways that adult novels often shy away from, but when it loses its focus, it loses the reader's loyalty.

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

65%
03.04.12

The curse of The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers inevitably afflicts the middle episode of a trilogy. You're pretty confident that the main characters will survive to the final part but the plot still needs to be moved along without any significant showdowns. So what is an author to do? How about chucking in a bit of politics and a frisson of uncertainty for the first half then abruptly ramping up the death, destruction and needless violence? Yeah, that'll do it. You could say it's brave stuff for the teenage market, but really it's like Harry Potter without the magic and the class issues. And that's a compliment. If only the jarring word "stuff" wasn't chucked in so often.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

71%
24.03.12

With the film at maximum hype level this week, I thought I'd better catch up on its source novel to see what I've been missing. Evidently I've been missing children killing each other on live TV - when they're not practising their surprisingly advanced wilderness skills. Yes, the plot is a little creaky if you think about it too hard; yes, the language and style are frequently lumpy and cliched; and yes, it was so gripping that I read it in three days and have already downloaded the sequel. So, high marks not for literary achievement but for just being a darn good read.