{"id":662,"date":"2016-05-04T13:05:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T11:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/?p=662"},"modified":"2016-05-04T13:11:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T11:11:27","slug":"endgame-review-the-hunger-games-now-with-more-transmedia-synergy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/endgame-review-the-hunger-games-now-with-more-transmedia-synergy\/","title":{"rendered":"Endgame Review: The Hunger Games. Now With More Transmedia Synergy."},"content":{"rendered":"

This is going to be a cynical review.<\/p>\n

Because this book is cynicism personified.<\/p>\n

As a computer science major, years ago, I had a pair of classes that were about writing.\u00a0 Very specifically, in order to become a Doctor of Science you had to write a research paper.\u00a0 We had two very different classes with two very different lecturers for those classes.\u00a0 The first – and most vital subject was called Research Methodology.\u00a0 That guy hated us.\u00a0 He didn’t get tenure and he was frustrated at us and everything around him.\u00a0 So he set crazy rules for every essay we ever wrote.<\/p>\n

The second guy was way more mellow.\u00a0 That particular class was Thesis Writing.\u00a0 Both of these two classes combined went together to form our Thesis Project and one of the very few lessons that stuck with me came from very early in the writing cycle:\u00a0 If you’re writing a Thesis, you NEVER write from the conclusion backward.\u00a0 Never.<\/p>\n

You set up a working hypothesis.\u00a0 You devise tests for the hypothesis.\u00a0 You analyse the data.\u00a0 In short, you make sure that you’re surprised in the end so that your conclusion isn’t a foregone thing.<\/p>\n

But some writers don’t like that approach.\u00a0 It’s time-consuming.\u00a0 There’s so much you have to do to arrive at a completely novel [or at least unexpected] result.\u00a0 All those tests you have to devise?\u00a0 They take time.\u00a0 All that analysis?\u00a0 Why bother?<\/p>\n

\"Puppies<\/a>
Here’s a puppy. Because I’m not giving you an image of the book cover. Because James Frey doesn’t deserve that much as a writer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it’s in this vein that I want to introduce the Endgame cycle.\u00a0 I’ve now read two books and while this particular review will only really cover the first, understand that I’m talking about the series as a whole, because what I’ve read, well…<\/p>\n

…let’s start with the conclusion.<\/p>\n

So, once upon a time there was a division of Harper Collins.\u00a0 This division of Harper Collins saw and understood that the Hunger Games became a publishing phenomenon much like the Harry Potter books before it.\u00a0 Various people had tried various spins on the Hunger Games to no real avail.\u00a0 There was Allegiant.\u00a0 It didn’t really stick.\u00a0 There was the Maze Runner.\u00a0 It didn’t really take off.\u00a0\u00a0 There were all of these things but they didn’t seem to go places or do things.<\/p>\n

But Harper Collins desperately wanted some of that pile of money.<\/p>\n

Now, while I can’t be sure that it absolutely went down like this, I have a strong suspicion that it totally did.<\/p>\n

So.\u00a0 That pile of money was sitting there waiting to be collected.\u00a0 And Harper Collins figured that the best way to write a book that took off like the Hunger Games was just to flat out write that book but in a different way, but to also add a media frenzy to the whole thing.<\/p>\n

And this is how I think Endgame came about.<\/p>\n

\"Rainbows<\/a>
Double Rainbow In The Sky! What Could It Possibly Mean?! That double rainbows are more awesome than Edngame. That’s for sure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think that Harper Collins decided to write a blockbuster that they could churn into a movie as soon as possible.\u00a0 But of course, to do that, they needed to have some kind of media surrounding the actual book, so they tacked on a clue-ridden game and an application that fed off the books.\u00a0 Most modern media call this “transmedia synergy.”<\/p>\n

And it’s about as lame as it sounds.\u00a0 Bundle many things together!\u00a0 Make sure that no one gets the full experience until they see all the other bits!\u00a0 It’s cynical.<\/p>\n

And at the helm of this current fiasco?\u00a0 The guy responsible for the “transmedia synergy” of “I am Number Four,” James Frey.<\/p>\n

This is a guy I’ve never heard of before, but just judging from his Wikipedia page, he’s all about the cynical.<\/p>\n

Here, go see for yourself:\u00a0 James Frey’s Wikipedia Entry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, so this was written with the end-goal of becoming a blockbuster movie and 20th Century Fox bit.\u00a0 It’s a sad day for fiction.<\/p>\n

\"Kittens<\/a>
And here’s some kittens. Do yourself a favour and go and look up kitten Assassin’s Creed. I’ll wait here. Even THAT’S better than this travesty of a cynical, cash-grab book and you’d be spending your time more productively.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’re 630 words in and I haven’t even talked about why this whole thing is such a travesty, but really, there’s not much to see here:\u00a0 Frey takes the idea of “12 youngsters” bundles it up into a pre-Armageddon setting where in order for Earth to survive, they must play Endgame – a “game” to the death where only one can survive.\u00a0 That lone survivor and their line [a bloodline they can trace back generations] will be spared and the world will be reborn with that line as the only humans left alive.<\/p>\n

Spot any similarities yet?\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 I thought so.<\/p>\n

About the only good thing here is that he tries to connect several dots together with regards to our ancient history that historians don’t really have answers for, yet.\u00a0 But otherwise, it’s [basically] twelve psychopaths, a quest with “three keys” and a doomsday scenario instead of President Snow.<\/p>\n

And it feels so empty.\u00a0 Literally like he’s writing for the money.\u00a0 [Again, given his Wikipedia entry, this wouldn’t even be alarming or surprising.]<\/p>\n

Conversations go like you imagine, with him busting out “Hollywoodese” at every turn.\u00a0 Set-pieces are all high-speed, action-packed, gun-toting and knife-wielding fury.<\/p>\n

I do have to give him a tiny, tiny sliver of credit, though:\u00a0 one of his characters, Aisling Kopp, very much reminds me of YT from Snow Crash.\u00a0 But now we’re talking about a good book, with an interesting plot, witty writing and an intriguing set of characters, so we’d best stop that right in it’s tracks.<\/p>\n

So, should you buy this?<\/p>\n

Oh goodness, no.\u00a0 Allow me to have been your guinea pig.\u00a0 This man and his cynical writing does not deserve your money.\u00a0 And Harper Collins should certainly feel ashamed for publishing this particular bit of drivel.<\/p>\n

They wanted their conclusion before their hypothesis.<\/p>\n

They certainly published something incredibly cynical and designed as a cash-grab.<\/p>\n

But I can understand their motives.\u00a0 They desperately wanted that Hunger Games money.<\/p>\n

\n

Images courtesy of Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is going to be a cynical review. Because this book is cynicism personified. As a computer science major, years ago, I had a pair of classes that were about writing.\u00a0 Very specifically, in order to become a Doctor of Science you had to write a research paper.\u00a0 We had<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[54,61,222,217,218,219,220,223],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}