Seventeen years after the release of the first Hunger Games book, Suzanne Collins returns with the much-anticipated prequel: Sunrise on the Reaping. With only a month left to wait before the book’s release on the 18th of March, what can we expect from this best-selling series’ return to shelves?
Set 24 years before the original trilogy, Sunrise on the Reaping follows the story of Haymitch Abernathy during the 50th annual Hunger Games. Haymitch was first introduced to the series as Katniss and Peeta’s drunken mentor, and became an integral part of the revolution, while also becoming a friend and father-like figure to Katniss.
Throughout the series, there have been scattered references to Haymitch and his games, and fans are anxiously anticipating the full backstory of these brief allusions. If this book is anything like the first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020), Collins will weave an intricate web of both new and old characters, which slot seamlessly into the world of the story, and enrich the fictional universe.
From a brief sneak peek that was released online, it seems the Sunrise on the Reaping will follow Collin’s usual style of prose – first person present tense narration – that completely immerses the reader in the story.
It has become widely known that Collins only writes when she has something to say. Perhaps this is why fans had to wait 11 years between the end of the original trilogy and the release of the first prequel. And 5 years later, Collins returns with her second prequel. But the wait is always worth it, as her books provide not only entertainment, but social and political commentary.
The Hunger Games series has often been used to draw parallels between the fictional dystopian universe within the series and the political state of our real world. The citizens of the Capitol in Panem dress in extravagant and opulent fashions, while the citizens of the poorer districts suffer in extreme poverty. Fans were quick to draw parallels between this and real-life class divides, calling out events such as the Met Gala which dominated media coverage, while news of people suffering in impoverished and war-torn locations was forgotten. Whether you’re a long-time fan returning to the series, or just picking it up for the first time, Collins never disappoints. The fact that the series is just as popular now as it was at the peak of the “2014-era young-adult dystopian fiction craze” is a testament to the books’ engaging prose, plot, and social relevance. I’ve no doubt that we can expect the same from Sunrise on the Reaping.
Book cover of “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins