Science Fiction

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a fairly good science fiction novel that deals with the themes of family, love and sacrifice. The novel takes place in the nation of Panem. A nation that consists of 12 districts and a capital which controls the nation. In the nation of Panem there is the annual event called the Hunger Games. It is an event in which each district sends a pair males and females aged 12-18 to participate in a to the death battle that is shown on tv. The story follows the protagonist Katniss Everdeen as she volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games after her sister is chosen. The novel illustrates her journey through the difficulties of the Hunger Games and how it affects her life forever. The Hunger Games is a good novel through which you will think critically about the issues and problems in the story and how they are prevalent in our world.

Lane is a 17 year old girl trying to safely live her life after a deadly virus attacks the east side of the U.S 19 years ago. She is at a party until she is taken away by the infection safety group. At first, Lane thinks she has Ferae, a deadly virus that turns humans into animals, slowly turning them feral over time. Lane learns that she is not infected with Ferae, but that the head of the infection safety group needs something fetched from Chicago...which is now part of the Feral Zone. To save her dad, she must give him a letter telling him what he needs to get from Chicago in five days or else he and Lane will both die. Lane realizes that she must do the fetch when she cannot find her dad. With help from new friends, Lane attempts the fetch, but can she do it before the time limit, or before something far worse happens to her?

This was a good book, and I could not put it down. The author made the chapters like tiny cliff hangers so it was hard to stop reading especially near the end of the book. The character development was really good and I got to see the different characters evolve throughout the book. I would recommend this book to middle schoolers because it does get intense and is mildly inappropriate at some times. There is another book after this and I can't wait to read it also. Over all a very good book.

Catching Fire is about a girl named Katniss who gets put into the battle royale of the seventy-fifth Hunger Games. This is the second time she has been put in the arena. This time, the tributes are victors. Katniss competes against different and better tributes, in a different arena, with a different motive. She must think quick on her feet and use new skills if she wants to keep herself and the person she loves alive.

I loved this book. It is the second book of the Hunger Games series so make sure you read the first book, The Hunger Games. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with suspense and adventure. This book had many plot twists and always left me in suspense. It exceeded my expectations one hundred percent.

This book is kind of like an apocalypse story, but instead of zombies, it's plants. Now, I know that sounds boring, but these plants, they are carnivorous, they kill people, and they are scary. They come unexpectedly, and soon, they are all over the world. People are dropping like flies, and nobody knows how to stop it. But three kids on Salt Spring Island may have the answers people need. For some reason, they are not affected by the sleepy gas the plants let off, or the acid they use to digest their prey. How can these three teenagers save the world? And how are they connected?

I really enjoyed this book, even though, to be truthful, it scared me a little bit at times. It was an interesting take on the apocalypse, and I loved seeing it play out. This book is part of a series, one that I am still reading, and I am already looking forward to the next one! This book has hardly any swearing in it, and plenty of action. I shouldn't give too much away, but I'll tell you this: I never though plants could be so scary! I hope you enjoy this book

"Universal Love" is 11 short stories set in the near future, showing how people use technology to navigate relationships. In one story, a widower signs up for a program to re-create his deceased wife, only to find out his daughters downloaded a fictitious history from romance novels. Another story has testimonies of why people use on-line dating services. A third story explores the relationship of two robotic children who try to act like human children, even to the point of having real life problems and addictions. An interesting look at technology and how it could be in our not far future of how we relate to each other. One constant remains, and that is our need for human interaction, no matter the media we use to get it.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, but instead of following Katniss it takes the perspective of a much younger President Coriolanus Snow. It’s the 10th annual Hunger Games, and this year students from the Capitol’s Academy will serve as mentors for the tributes. Coriolanus is assigned Lucy Gray, the female tribute from District 12. What starts as ambition to win a spot at the University quickly evolves as the Games approach closer. While it was a decently good read, I couldn’t help thinking as I read it that it did not need to be written. President Snow’s perspective wasn’t really one I thought I would read or needed to. However, it was interesting to see his opinions/outlook when he was young and to witness the bitterness within him along with his loyalty to the Capitol. Seeing the evolution of the games and small nods to the Hunger Games trilogy was also a nice touch. I really liked the first half of the book, but the second half was kind of boring, and I wasn’t very invested in the characters at that point. It’s definitely nothing compared to the Hunger Games, but it wasn’t all bad either.

The Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss who becomes a tribute in the hunger games. The hunger games is a battle royale. A battle royale is a game where two tributes from twelve districts fight for their lives to be the last person standing. The Hunger Games is a punishment because there was a rebellion. While being dragged off to prepare for battle, Katniss must process the thought of life or death.

This was one of the best books I have ever read. There was never a dull moment and it kept me intrigued the whole time. This book is full of adventure and definitely brought out some of my emotions such as, sadness, happiness, and anger. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great and fast book to read.

Citra and Rowan have diverged into lawful and lawlessness. Since Citra was selected to become a scythe she began to glean with Scythe Curie meanwhile Rowan went off the grid. Though there had been rumors of a Scythe gleaning other Scythes, who became known as Scythe Lucifer. Fighting the corruption of the Scythedom in their own ways, Citra and Rowan continue to learn what the mortal age world was like.

This book is better than the first book, “Scythe” because the Thunderhead excerpts between chapters add more complexity and depth to the story. Also inmthe first book the perspective switches were a lot less climatic, both main characters were in relatively similar situations. In this book the different perspective adds more suspense to the book, and perspective. The side characters were not static in this book, a lot more about them is reveled in this book. “Thunderhead” also had good foreshadowing that was sometimes a bit too obvious. The main thing this book lacked like the first book of the series was detailed descriptions. It almost makes the book seem more like a movie because it’s all action. Overall though I would recommend it to those who read “Scythe” and want to continue the series since this book is better.

In a world where AI, artificial intelligence, known as the Thunderhead controls the world and has gifted humanity immortality, it gave humans the responsibility of death. Immortality is possible with the nanites embodied in cells to help cells replenish forever. Scythes are the only people that kill or nicely put glean. Citra and Rowan are selected by a scythe to apprentice and the discover the reality of human nature and the burden of death.

I think this is a good book, conceptually it’s definitely a step up from your typical dystopian book but it isn’t my favorite book for other reasons. There is a guy and a girl main character and they have to defy the expectations of society, creating romantic tensions which is pretty typical. The book lacked detailed descriptions which would have enhanced the action by creating more suspense. The biggest reason it is not my favorite is smalldetails that are don’t logically make sense. With the all knowingThunderhead it would make sense that technology would allow teleportation and other advancements. All these little details ultimately make the book only 4 stars out of 5.

The Great Resonance has occurred and everyone has become unsavory, meaning they can’t communicate with the Thunderhead. That is except for one person, the Toll. Since no one can speak to the Thunderhead no one knows why they have become unsavory leaving the world in confusion. What most people don’t know is Endura the Scythe ring of islands sank when all the systems failed, or were instructed to fail. The leaders of the Scythedom drowned and Citra and Rowan are nowhere to be found.

The other books in the Scythe series had somewhat obvious endings while in “The Toll” I really didn’t know how the series would end which created a nice suspense in the book. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse or the characters Citra and Rowan things get worse. The excerpts from the Thunderhead and the founding Scythes created a lot of foreshadowing and had each founding Scythe had a unique voice and quirks which was a nice detail. This book still lacks detail of the setting, clothing, and appearance of the characters like the other two books in the series but in this book it especially lacked detailed emotion. There was a Romeo and Juliet like relationship between Citra and Rowan, they were each other’s weakness, and would save the other even it meant sacrificing themselves. However the emotion and reasoning on why they are so in love is unclear. Other than training as apprentices together and kissing once in the first book the author doesn’t really describe why or how they fell in love. This book had
a lot going on at once it was hard to understand how much time had passed or what was happening when. Overall the theme of this series is advancements don’t make humans lose their humanity, no matter how perfect a world there will be those who chose corruption and power, and those who chose to live a simple quiet life.