New Hunger Games book: ‘The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes’
With its golden snake and mockingjay, the book cover for the new Hunger Games prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” pays tribute to the original trilogy. Photo by Polygon
By Emma Ralls
A&E Editor
While the original Hunger Games trilogy concluded over a decade ago, that doesn’t mean the story is anywhere near over. On May 19, the prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” was released, and within its first week of being published, it sold over 500,000 copies. The release and sales were amid the COVID-19 pandemic and included print, ebooks and audiobooks, according to the book’s publisher, Scholastic.
The book takes place 64 years before the original trilogy and follows an unlikely character, the main antagonist of the previous books, Coriolanus Snow. Instead of the cruel and black-hearted president, the new book follows a young Snow during “The Dark Days,” a 10-year period after the civil war that resulted in the games being created. Snow is a struggling teenager who is selected to mentor a girl from District 12, “to his horror.” This is a stark contrast from the man in the first three books who directly manipulates and threatens the games’ tributes and administers.
On June 17, 2019, Scholastic issued a statement, announcing the book’s future publication, including a statement from its author, Suzanne Collins.
“With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are and what we perceive is required for our survival,” said Collins. “The reconstruction period, 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days—as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet—provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and, thereby, define their views of humanity.”
In the months leading up to the novel’s release, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” gained attention.
Besides making it on The New York Times’ “20 Books We’re Watching For in 2020″ list, CNN said it was “undoubtedly one of the most exciting book releases for the month of May.”
“Collins’s themes of friendship, betrayal, authority and oppression, as well as the extra layers of lore about Mockingjay and Capitol’s history, will please and thrill,” said The Guardian, adding to the book’s praises.
However, not everyone was impressed with the latest Hunger Games installation.
The Telegraph said it was “not the most promising opening [fans expected]” and that Collins should “stick to plucky heroes and dazzling plot-twists. When it comes to writing the murkiest backwaters of the human psyche, Collins is fathoms out of her depth.”
“The storytelling, itself, trends desperate at times,” said Entertainment Weekly. “Chapters close on violent cliffhangers that edge into parody. There are too many folk music interludes [and] some ludicrous franchise callbacks. It is a major work with major flaws, but it sure gives you a lot to chew on.”
The book was known as “Untitled Panem Novel” until the book cover and title were revealed on Good Morning America on Oct. 4, 2019. The cover features a golden snake and mockingjay, a nod to the protagonist of the original trilogy, Katniss, and the symbol of the rebellion.
While none of the primary beloved characters will make appearances because of the book’s time period, two original characters that make appearances are President Snow and Mags. In the original trilogy, Mags was a District 4 mentor and a victor in the eleventh Hunger Games.
Since the book’s announcement, the chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Joe Drake, revealed that they had been in communication with Collins during the writing process, and movie production of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is officially happening.
Oscar-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay, and Francis Lawrence from the first four movies will direct again. Collins will be an executive producer and will write the film’s treatment. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are also returning as producers.
Anyone interested in purchasing the newest installment of the Hunger Games saga can find “The Ballad of Song Birds and Snakes” at a plethora of book-selling locations, including Walmart, Barnes and Noble and Target. The book is also available through online retailers, like Amazon and eBay.