Suzanne Collins improves on The Hunger Games in sequel Catching Fire

October 4, 11:39 AMDenver Young Adult Fiction ExaminerBarbara Steinhauser

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Sequels rarely achieve more than the book they follow: 

Lord of the Rings was a steady read, as were The Gemma Doyle Trilogy  and The Earthsea Trilogy.  Promises made in the first book moved in steady rhythm through the books and wrapped with satisfying sighs. 

More often, anticipation falls flat:

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy opened with a captivating first book, The Golden Compass in which a spirited protagonist and her polar bear comrades fought for the souls of vulnerable children with imagination and valour.  By the second and third books, Pullman's characters- and readers- had become lost within swirling blizzards of confused intention.

Pullman's failure makes perfect sense considering Colorado Romance Writer Karen Docter's comment at a local writer's conference: Take time with your first book.  Once it is published, your time is not your own;  you must produce on deadline or deal with Your Publisher's wrath!

Fans of Suzanne Collins needn't be alarmed.  While The Hunger Games was an exciting read- a beauty contest on the scale of Kim Jong-il sponsors Wanda Holloway-- all personal power, survival and self-preservation-- Catching Fire  raises the series a chakra or more.

In other words, whatever lessons Collins was working through when she wrote The Hunger Games has been transcended in Catching Fire. 

How high readers will ascend with this trilogy, won't be revealed until the third book-- rumored to be titled, THE VICTORS-- is released in 2010, but my guess is it will be written straight from the heart.

While waiting, consider checking out her earlier work, listed on Suzanne Collin's website:

"Thinking one day about Alice in Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you’re much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you’re not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Well, that’s the story of Gregor the Overlander, the first book in her five-part fantasy/?war series, The Underland Chronicles."