LONDON, Feb 6 — I quickened my steps to escape the wind lashing Waterloo Bridge and ducked left, looking around for a sign. I was searching for what I had imagined to be a gritty pub, where members of the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club were congregating: The Coal Hole.

The names had strangely lyrical echoes resonant of a secret society meeting, but of course, it was just my overactive imagination at work. This was the Strand, one of London’s main arteries, and I’d found the Club on Meetup.com, where over 45 people had RSVP-ed “attending” to validate and fortify each other’s love for “The Hunger Games”, the first book of the celebrated young adult trilogy by Suzanne Collins which, may I stress, is not “the new Twilight.”

Leila, the club’s organiser with the flaming red hair, was delighted to report that this was the biggest book club they’d ever had; the usual turnout is 15-20 people. Previous books that had also drawn large numbers of readers were “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell, “World War Z” by Max Brookes, “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson (“It’s the original vampire/zombie post-apocalyptic book and still the best!”) and “The Traveller” by John Twelve Hawkes. The last one, surprisingly, didn’t rate very well with the readers, but Leila explained: “Sometimes you have more to say about a bad book than you do about a good one!” 

Leila is in her early thirties. She works in the fashion industry by day and is a dedicated bibliophile by night. She is originally from the north of England but has lived for five years in London, a city she says fires the dystopian imagination. Such famous authors as George Orwell, JG Ballard (“Crash”, “Empire of the Sun”), Alan Moore (“V for Vendetta”) and John Wyndham have set their stories here.

“London has survived many wars, a plague and a great fire. To everyone who lives here the city is a reassuring constant,” she writes on the club’s blog, adding that “London has it all, the old sitting beside the new, dark alleys contrasting with the wide open spaces. Both prosperity and revolution feel comfortable here.” She’s even created a map of dystopian London, a work in progress, which will continually be updated with references from the club’s growing reading list. 

The club has read 38 titles, including “The Hunger Games”, but it isn’t all about books; they also go to films, exhibitions and author events. “We’ve also just had our first short story competition where our members had to end the world!” she added.

The Post-Apocalyptic Book Club was Leila’s first, back when it started in May 2009 reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” with only six members. Since then, she’s read every book and has attended nearly every meeting. 

Responding to my question as to whether she feels the need to play “host”, she said, “I always feel responsible for everyone! My biggest fear is that someone will feel left out so I always make an extra effort with newcomers to make sure they feel welcome and get involved. Having said that, I am also a great believer in things finding their own level so I am constantly learning how to balance the two,” she said.

Certainly, things sorted themselves out just fine. There was a good mix of people (most of whom were definitely not “young adults”), and I was enthused by how closely they dissected the book, flogging every detail. Leila had printed out copies of some questions she had prepared to get the discussion going — not that the group needed it.

For those who don’t know, the Hunger Games is an event that takes place every year in a country called “Panem”, which occupies what used to be North America. The games are organised with much fanfare by the ruling city, the “Capitol”, to keep its citizens in the 12 surrounding districts at bay. A boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen by ballot from each district as “tributes” to compete in a televised battle in which only one will survive. As a reward, the winning tribute and his district will be showered with food and gifts, while the residents of other districts starve.

There was plenty to talk about: the parallels of power, oppression and entertainment between Panem and the real world, the political illusion of other enemies to distract from the real enemy: the state, and whether a world like Panem is really that far removed from our current reality (the general consensus seemed to be that it wasn’t.) And there was love, something that I felt went beyond the typical like me, like me not preoccupations assumed of teenagers.

Someone called the book out on its name. 

Why “The Hunger Games”? It gives it all away.

It would make sense if it’s the underground name, like… what people call it on the streets. But you’d think that the authorities would officially call it something more sparkly and glamorous…

Maybe it’s a sign that the Capitol has so much power that they don’t even have to dress it up. They can call it exactly what it is!

We tried to imagine the map of Panem — which districts might be the equivalent of today’s modern day America? — and an American abroad was put to the task.

We thought of ways to rig the Hunger Games. 

We even put ourselves in the Games: what would we do to win? Who would win?

“It’s a running joke that people are drawn to this group in order to try and improve their chances of survival, but it’s actually just down to a damn good story,” Leila said.

And as with any story with a brewing love triangle, the boys are pitted against each other. Team Gale or Team Peeta?

What does Peeta even do during the Games? Katniss is always looking after him!

She clearly wears the pants!

It’s the same old dilemma, isn’t it? Who do you choose? The nice boy or the bad boy? 

But Gale isn’t really a bad boy…

He’s a rebel without a cause!

How do you know? Have you read the rest of the books? 

Knowing looks were exchanged. It’s always tricky debating just one part of a trilogy. Having read all three, I have a soft spot for Peeta, though it’s hard to deny Gale’s smouldering grey gaze. I tried to defend Peeta as the “quiet strategist”, but failed. For the rest of the night, Peeta is nicknamed “the cake decorator.”

The discussion wasn’t academic. Some insightful points were made, which I won’t repeat here for the risk of spoilers, but it was mostly lighthearted and conversational. It made me wonder if discussions had ever come to verbal blows in the past.

“We have a lot of strong personalities in the group, which means that when we have a book you can get your teeth into, discussions do get very heated. We also have a few members who like to play Devil’s Advocate, which makes for an interesting night. I do feel that it’s part of my role to make sure we don’t digress too much, but I think we’re lucky that everyone’s really easygoing and always interested to hear what other people have to say,” Leila said.

Almost three hours later, we were each asked to rate the book. It seemed unanimous that the plot was exciting and addictive. Many agreed, however, that the book fell somewhat on the writing and in the lack of detail about how Panem had come to be. It’s a great book, but with such a great plot, it could have been so much better, seemed to be the sentiment of the night. Young adult novels aren’t just for young adults anymore, just as young adults don’t just read young adult novels, and in this way, perhaps novelists would do better to keep in mind the needs of an older audience, who require more persuading to suspend reality for the sake of fiction.

In the end, “The Hunger Games” received an official rating of 7/10. Amongst the highest-rated books in the club’s reading history were “Children of the Dust” by Louise Lawrence (10/10), “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson (9/10), “Day of The Triffids” by John Wyndham (9/10) and “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell (9/10).

I asked Leila if the book club, being so exclusively themed, would ever run out of books to read. She didn’t think so. 

“We also read dystopian fiction, which has a looser definition than post-apocalyptic fiction. I’ve found that the genre is much wider than I anticipated. It’s not strictly science fiction as many people believe it to be. What is also very interesting is that each era has a fear that is echoed in its literature. The mid-20th century focuses on nuclear disasters, the ‘70s and ‘80s seem to be preoccupied with plagues, and right now, it’s all about the zombie. It’s also a great indicator of attitudes and politics. It’s more about the now than the future.”

So, post-apocalyptic fiction is pretty self-explanatory, but what is the difference between that and dystopian fiction?

“We’ve had many arguments over the definition of ‘dystopian.’ ‘Dystopia’ actually means ‘bad land.’  From my experience, there is usually a character slowly waking up to the fact that there is something not quite right with the world around him. This could be anything from a totalitarian government to the plight of the homeless, as in “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman. Some members believe that a novel is only truly dystopian when malignant political forces are present. We also argue over how interdependent dystopia and utopia are and where the line is drawn between a dystopian society and current political regimes in war-torn countries.”

To lighten things up, I asked Leila if she had a personal anecdote to share as a veteran of the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club. Cheekily, she said, “My lips are sealed. What happens in book club stays in book club.”