Margeret Atwood "The Handmaid's Tale"

Not the title I was recommended, but one I found nevertheless. This work of science fiction is a really classic example of the genre. Along the lines of create a different world, in this case the USA of the future ruled by some kind of male dominated theocracy similar to, but worse, than present day Iran, and explore what it means.  In a society like ours, where the last hundred years have seen a massive step forward in terms of rights for women, racial minorities, homosexuals and just about everyone except for perhaps body odor challenged polygamists, it takes an extreme example to get your attention, and that is what Atwood manages to do with this novel.

The book postulates an extreme society in which the presence of disease and infertility has led to the worse kinds of behavior by the men of the ruling classes.  Fertile women are enslaved and forced to provide children for the elite childless males.  The justification for the seizure of power, the denial of rights and the oppression of pretty much everyone is religion.

What makes the book interesting is the depth of the character development.  You learn a lot about the unnamed woman who is the handmaid of the title, and a lot about the depths that people will go to when it comes to justifying the hunger for power.  In some ways it was maybe a bit wordy when compared to other writers in the genre.  Atwood has essentially taken a common approach of literature that is rarely used in science fiction and applied it to a science fiction theme, so it is a bit different.  You could compare it directly to another novel along similar lines by Heinlein, "Revolt in 2100".  Heinlein has a similar theocracy ruled America, but packs in a lot more action. The difference in styles is remarkable, but both are well worth a read.

I enjoyed my first foray into this talented Canadians work and look forward to reading more of her works.

I look forward to reading more by Margaret Atwood!

"The Hunger Games" Suzanne Collins

J.K.Rowling's recent success has seen an absolute torrent of material in the fantasy genre for teens or young adults, but not so much in the way of science fiction.  Suzanne Collins is filling that void very nicely with the first in a trilogy that came a as a recommendation to me recently, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Suzanne Collins has imagined a future that seems much smaller than our, a sparsely populated post apocalypse north america where the majority of people are downtrodden and controlled.  One of the vehicles for that control involves a yearly draw which all the citizens in the districts, the areas that supply the capitol with goods and the stuff of life, must enter from the age of 12 for 7 years.  The draw decides who fights in the hunger games, a many day filmed combat to the death with a boy and  a girl picked from each of the 12 districts. The story follows a young girl, who steps forward to take the place of her 12 year old sister (yes they do make 12 year olds fight to the death) and becomes a tribute.

This first part of the trilogy is a story of good versus evil, but never falls into the trap of becoming trite.  It seems to me that it is the beginning of some kind of revolt against the Capitol, though it is nicely understated.  It also explores themes of love and growth. It manages to achieve what Heinlein achieved with his teen fiction, a strong empathy for the emerging adults as they shoulder an adults burden.  I particularly like the distance that is kept from the real villains of the piece, the rulers of Capitol that push children together to fight to the death.  This is an excellent book and I look forward to reading the following parts of the trilogy.