Books Similar to the Hunger Games - Not the Usual List

Of course if you haven't read the sequels to the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins then you should  start there. Most reviewers seem to prefer the first novel, but I found Catching Fire and Mockingjay to be much more engaging. 

I've read a lot of Sherri S Tepper's books. She's very good at building strong characters that you really care about. Many of her books explore social structures and fantasy themes through the eyes of teenage girls and women. 

One book that has similar themes to the Hunger Games is The Gate to Women's Country. Like the Hunger Games, The Gate to Women's Country is set in a dystopian future, post-holocaust in this case. 

It's a feminist society where the women have taken control to prevent another world war. We follow Stavia, who is a child of 10 at the start of the book as she grows to adulthood in this society where men are segregated into garrisons and fight barbaric battles. 

As I was reading the Hunger Games it kept taking me back to the Clan of the Cave Bear series of books by Jean M Auel. 

Rather than being set in the future, these books are set deep in the past - in prehistoric times when Neanderthal's and our human ancestors co-existed. 

It was the second book in the series The Valley of the Horses that I was most reminded of. Ayla the lead female character is 5 at the beginning of the first book, but in Valley of the Horses Ayla is older and out on her own, using her survival skills. 

She meets Jondalar, a young man who has been seriously injured by a cave lion and must use her skills to save him. It's this aspect of young people using their wits, skills and natural resources to survive in a hostile environment and a different world that reminded me of the Hunger Games. 

I read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern novels when I was a teenager. There are lots of them so if you enjoy this series you'll have plenty to read. 

In Dragonflight Lessa is a kitchen girl on Pern, a planet colonized by humans. Her father was betrayed and she serves people who took over his land. 

Lessa meets and bonds with a dragon, and when her world is threatened she finds herself in the front line. 

If You Like the Hunger Games
Recommendations from Barnes & Noble on what to read if you like The Hunger Games.

If You Like the Hunger Games, Check Out
Recommendations from Scholastic.

What to Read After the Hunger Games
Dystopian titles for teens from Amazon.