Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
2008, Scholastic, London
9781407132082
454p.

Set in the near future, The Hunger Games is a sort of reality TV show devised as a punishment for the rebellion of 13 districts in the nation of Panem. One boy and one girl from each district are put into an arena from which there will be only one survivor.

I had seen the movie recently, so decided to pick up the book. I found the movie had a good premise but was mediocre - the book however, was excellent. It is written in first person, present tense, which normally I don't like, but the author has pulled it off really well.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Garden of the Purple Dragon by Carole Wilkinson

Garden of the Purple Dragon
Carole Wilkinson
2005, Black Dog Books, Fitzroy
187632656
350p.

This is the second book in the series. Ping is a young imperial dragon keeper who has charge of a baby dragon named Kai. They fight off evil and have adventures.

Aside from a couple of continuity errors, this was excellent! The characters are so well written and the scenery evocative. It was a little slow to start (recapping what had happened in the first book), however, once it got going, I found it hard to put down.

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