Oh, Darwin

How much is too much?

A friend of mine told me that I read alot, like crazy much, which, well yeah, I guess I do. I read for pleasure, to escape the stresses of the everyday world (I manage a Cafe), to live vicariously through someone else and maybe, just maybe, to see the world from a different angle.

And that angle, right now, is dystopitarian (which probably isn't even a real word). Dystopia, however, is a real word and this is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Dystopia is a vision, of an often futuristic society, which has developed into a negative version of Utopia. A Dystopia is often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government. It often features different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions and a state of constant warfare or violence.

I think one of the reasons why I like those books, along with post-Apocalyptic ones, is to see how the world would function or change in the aftermath of a cataclysmic event. In Ariel, for example, the Change itself was the introduction of magic and the end of technology.

These events really show the determination of our species to survive on a whole, to adapt to new circumstances and to conquer what we don't understand. It also brings out our more basic, animalistic tendencies. As a Biology major, I have a special place in my heart for natural selection and these books just prove again and again the power of Darwin's ideology: survival of the fittest.

Catching Fire

In her second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins returns us to Panem, which used to be formally known as North America.

In Hunger Games (book one), the heroine Katniss was introduced and forced to play the Game. In the end when she was told that only one would be allowed to return, Katniss and her partner, Peeta, made a suicide pact; her minor rebellion against the Capitol provided the spark for an uprising.

In Catching Fire, Katniss and Peeta hear whispers of rebellion in other Districts. Two figures from District 8 are found hiding in the woods, searching for the destroyed remains of District 13; however, Katniss is recognized and the two strangers have a wafer with a mockingjay on it. Katniss finds out that the TV reportings on District 13 keep showing the same footage and a conversation with the Head Games Master, Plutarch, has a mockingjay on his watch.

After it is announced that the 75th Hunger Games will have the tributes reaped from the victor's pool, Katniss and Peeta are forced back in to the arena. During her live interview, Katniss models the wedding dress she'll never wear and is shocked when it starts to smolder and burn away to resemble that of a mockingjay.

When she returns to the arena, Katniss has sworn to herself that she will protect Peeta and that he will be the one to make it home alive. However, protecting him is proving difficult as her allies are trying to keep them separated, even though they seem to be willing to die to protect the both of them. In the end, Katniss ends up blowing up the force field that traps them in the arena and is picked up by a hovercraft. Inside, she finds out that she is the symbol of rebellion: the mockingjay.

The first book was more straight forward: Katniss was determined to live at all costs. Having met Peeta, she tried to keep them both alive. In this book, she has resigned herself to death since the Capitol is trying to kill her anyway. She also figures that by protecting Peeta, her family will be able to live as well. So this book is more about politics and hidden agendas than the last one was. Throwing them back in the arena was a surprise for me.

I was disappointed at first since that was what happened in the first one and didn't want a replay. However, while I figured out that the Mockingjay was a rebel's symbol earlier than she did, I didn't expect her being placed back into the arena was part of the larger picture. Or that the other players were aware of it and were trying to further their cause.

Needless to say, the story was good. Katniss still hasn't deepened in character and she's still clueless about guys, but I don't think that will change much in the next book either. She still wavers between Peeta and Gale, between staying and going. It's inevitable that something will happen between her and Gale now that they're in the same place since she's affectionate with Peeta when they're in the same vicinity. However, I'm hoping she'll shed some of her cowardice and bluffing to reveal a real backbone.

Unfortunately for me, the newest book, Mockingjay, won't be available until August 24, 2010. Which sucks because the author ended after disclosing that Katniss was the figurehead for their uprising. So that means that I'm going to have to wait a few months until I can read the next part, when, clearly, I'm dying to find out right now.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is book one in a series by the same name. This series centers on Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl who supports her family with the game she hunts and the greens she forages for daily. Living in the Seam, a seedy part of District 12, she does what she can to protect her small family. Even if it means taking her sister's place in the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is a fight-to-the-death amongst the tributes (ages 12 to 18) on a televised program. A macabre combination of Running Man and Lottery, but with all the flash and pomp of a beauty pageant, the tributes are paraded in the Capitol, show off their talents before a panel of judges in private and then interviewed live on tv. By doing so, the tributes attempt to gain sponsorship by showing the crowd that they will win; sponsors will then return the favour by sending gifts into the arena (which is a closed, controlled environment) to help the tribute survive.

Katniss, along with Peeta (her fellow District 12 tribute), are told to act like a couple in love and Katniss keeps this strategy in mind throughout the game. During the games a new rule is announced: if tributes from the same District are the last two standing, both will live. This rule allows Katniss to open up to Peeta and she plays up the love angle knowing that her affection will gain them gifts from sponsors. Unfortunately, this is not an act for Peeta and when they win, Katniss is worried for her life if they don't keep it up. Peeta finds out on the train ride home and this is where the book ends.

This book was very morbid but very captivating. The book is set in a futuristic North America, where the Hunger Games were a means of putting an end to a rebellion. By creating the games, and forcing the people to watch it, the Capitol showed their citizens that rebellion was useless: afterall, weren't their children chosen at random for a duel that only ever yielded one survivor?

Katniss proves herself to be a strong (if clueless when it comes to boys) female lead. She's capable and has the drive to succeed - which is why her sister & mother were still alive - and why she was able to win. She also had a level head - another reason why she was able to win. I think these are traits that are important to be featured in female lead characters since most are portrayed as fluffy.

Overall, I really liked this book: after hearing my coworker rave about it, I moved it to the top of my "to read" list and the second book "Catching Fire" will be next. Unfortunately for me, the third and final book, Mockingjay, won't be out until August. However, I've already pre-ordered it so I'm good to go.

The Sweet Far Thing

"Rose of all Roses, Rose of all the World!
You, too, have come where the dim tides are hurled
Upon the wharves of sorrow, and heard ring
The bell that calls us on; the sweet far thing.
Beauty grown sad with its eternity
Made you of us, and of the dim grey sea.
Our long ships loose thought-woven sails and wait,
For God has bid them share an equal fate;
And when at last, defeated in His wars,
They have gone down under the same white stars,
We shall no longer hear the little cry
Of our sad hearts, that may not live nor die."

-From The Rose of Battle by W.B. Yeats

The third book in the Gemma Doyle series, The Sweet Far Thing (Libba Bray), is a voyage of self-discovery as Gemma and her friends approach their debut; a rite of passage for English ladies from children into womanhood.

Gemma tries to unravel the mystery of Wilhemina Wyatt, a former Spence girl who has been appearing to her in visions with the note "The Tree of All Souls lives". To learn more about the Tree of All Souls, Gemma speaks with Circe, an enemy trapped within the well of eternity who was put there by Gemma in the previous book. However, while the door of light will not appear to Gemma, they discover another entrance in the rubble of the East Wing which has started to be rebuilt.

Unfortunately, the line between sanity & madness starts to blur after Gemma and her friends venture into the Winterlands: after which Gemma starts to see creatures from the realms in the human world. Men from the work camp start to go missing and trouble breaks out between the workers & the gypsies when symbols in blood are written on the new stones.

Can Gemma figure everything out before the magic drives her mad?

This book was definitely the longest and had the most information in it. Due to that fact, it took longer for me to read, making it difficult for me to even remember my favourite quotes (which, you'd think by now, I'd start marking with post-its). The first book delved into choices & their consequences; the second talked about secrets. This book covered both topics as well as self-discovery. It covered love & love lost; getting what you want from life instead of using "magic" to make it happen; courage & strength; and most importantly, loss. It was very fitting that the author ended this book with the debut of Gemma and Felicity into society, as this event marked a girl's entrance into womanhood.

This book also spends more times in the realms than the last one. A battle is brewing as the magic is leaking into the Winterlands from the Tree of All Souls. This is definitely the darkest book as the characters are forced to face their deepest fears and desires to gain what they want most. The story turns spooky when Gemma starts to see things that no one else can and has what others think of as fits of madness. And when Pippa starts to talk about herself as being the Chosen One.

The ending is sad & a little heartrending, but I don't think it was possible to end any other way. I'm sure I'll kick myself for not mentioning this-or-that later, but like I said, this book was the largest and has definitely been my favourite. I'm happy to say that the final books lived up to the expectations of the first and that the story progressed without cheating the readers or making light of the situations at hand. It also ended on a hopeful note: about a girl choosing her own destiny in an era where that was unheard of.

Rebel Angels

The title of the book Rebel Angels (by Libba Bray) was inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost, a poem about the angel Lucifer trying to overthrow heaven.

In this second book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, the girls are back and dreaming about Christmas; all except for Ann who, due to a lack of family, will be staying behind at Spence. Felicity comes up with the genius idea of reinventing Ann as the long-lost niece of some Duke who can trace their ancestry back to Russian royalty so she can enjoy the wonders of the London elite as well.

There is a mysterious new teacher at Spence, Miss McCleethy, who seems to have an immediate dislike for Gemma. Her very presence also causes Gemma to slip into horrifying visions of three girls in white dresses, who are obviously ghosts. Gemma, Felicity and Ann discover that they can still enter the realms and that Pippa is there! However, Kartik warns Gemma that by smashing the runes she loosed the magic in the realms for anyone to use; therefore she must find the Temple and bind the magic to the Eastern Star, which, unbeknownst to Gemma, would allow the Rakshana to control the magic. Kartik is also told that once she has done this, he is to kill her.

Upon their return to London, Gemma meets a young man, Simon Middleton, who is the son of a Viscount and who takes an immediate liking to her. Ann is met with smashing success and treated kindly. Felicity discovers that her father is home again and that her young distant cousin, Polly, has been orphaned and will be staying at her house.

However, Gemma's visions turn more horrifying as they also show Pippa as a creature of the realms. The ghosts plague her even more and she discovers Nell Hawkins, a member of the Order, in Bedlam. After meeting her, Gemma learns that Nell has deliberately driven herself mad to prevent Circe from discovering where the Temple is. Miss McCleethy is also in London and following her leads the girls to a bookstore where she purchases a book on secret societies. Reading the book they discover that many member of the Order use anagrams of their names when in hiding. They also learn that Claire McCleethy spells out: They Call Me Circe.

Each trip into the realm shows the garden growing more wild and dangerous as they discover that other creatures also live in the realms: the water nymphs who lure you into the water for your skin; the gorgon head that has been spelled onto a boat who may not cause harm or lie to a member of the Order but who also lies by omission; the horrible skeleton warriors; and even ghosts who have yet to pass that have been tempted into staying and are heading into the Winterlands.

However, the mad ramblings of Nell offer light as to where the Temple may be found:

"Where shall we go, maidens? Where shall we go? You must leave the garden. Leave it behind with a sad farewell. Down the river on the gorgon's grace, past the clutches of the slippery, nippery nymphs. Through the golden mist of magic. Meet the folk of the fair Forest of Lights. The arrows, the arrows, you must use wisely and well. But save one. Save one for me. For I shall have need of it. ...

"Offer hope to the Untouchables, for they must have hope. Travel on, far beyond the lotus blossoms. Follow the path. Yes, stick to the path, maidens. For they can lead you stray, away, with false promises. Beware the Poppy Warriors. The Poppy Warriors steal your strength. they will gobble you up. Gobble, gobble! ...

"Do not leave the path, for it is hard to find again once lost. And they will take song to the rock. Do not let the song die. You must be careful with beauty. Beauty must pass. There are dark shadows of spirits. Just beyond the Borderlands, where the lone tree stands and the sky turns to blood...in the Winterlands they plot and plan with Circe. They will not rest till the army is raised and the realms are theirs to rule.

"Go where no one will, where it is forbidden, offer hope....go where the dark hides a mirror of water. Face your fear and bind the magic fast to you!" (pgs 360-361)

Like I said after reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, I was terrified to read this story for fear that my expectations would be set so high that this book couldn't possibly live up to them.

In essence, I was right.

However, this book did not try to do what the last one did. I believe that the last book was of choices and living with the consequences of them. In this book, the underlying theme was secrets and lies: Gemma's family is falling apart because her father is addicted to laudanum; however, they are not to speak of it. Ann's experiences in London is because of a huge secret. Felicity's behaviour toward Polly and her parents is due to yet more secrets. Kartik has a secret mission from the Rakshana that was divulged in the beginning of the book.

This book explored more of the realms and the horrible burden of trying to live a lie; to pretend that a girl is what she seems to be: a girl but one who doesn't have a terrible secret that could ruin them in society's eyes. You learn that there is more to each person than what you'd expect. Like Felicity and the secret to why she is the way she is. Gemma's dysfunctional family and irritation brother, Tom, are more of a focal point and how they rally together to hide their father's laudanum addiction. Even beautiful Pippa, the independent Miss Moore, priggish Miss McCleethy and mad Nell are not what you expect.

This book was fantastic and I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to the third and final book in this trilogy: The Sweet Far Thing, which, I'm sure, will be as well written and enjoyable as the first two. However, I am curious to discover the underlying theme in that book as well.