On June 6, 2024, author Suzzane Collins announced that she will be releasing another prequel to her worldwide bestselling series, “The Hunger Games,” called “Sunrise On The Reaping.” The franchise currently has four installments; three books and one prequel. The first book was released in September of 2008, and the most recent, the prequel, “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” was released in 2020. There have also been movie adaptations for each novel, the most recent being the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November of 2023.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, the film was a prequel that follows the story of 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who would grow into the series’ main antagonist. The new prequel, “Sunrise On The Reaping” novel is set to release March 18, 2025 and the movie adaptation is set to release Nov. 20, 2026. It is said to take place during the time of the 50th Annual Hunger Games, so you may be asking, why is this such a big deal and why are “Hunger Games” fans so excited for this installment?
The Hunger Games themselves are held by the Capital of the fictional country, Panem, each year. In the Games, two tributes, one man and one woman of ages 12 to 18, from each of the 12 districts are randomly drawn to fight to the death in an arena, and only one may come out on top. The 50th Annual Hunger Games is special because it is what is known in the novel as a “Quarter Quell.” Every 25 years, President Snow and the game makers throw a game changing twist at the tributes. There are normally 24 tributes in each of the games, 12 men and 12 women. The twist of the second Quarter Quell is there were 48 tributes, two men and two women from each district. Fans were beyond ecstatic over the announcement of this new book because the 50th Hunger Games was the year Haymitch Abernathy became a District 12 victor.
Abernathy is second of the four District 12 victors, who are: Lucy Gray Baird, winner of the 10th Annual Hunger Games, Haymitch Abernathy, winner of the 50th Annual Hunger Games, and finally, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Lucy Gray’s story was told in the prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and Mellark and Everdeen’s story was told in the original trilogy. Abernathy has been a character in the series since the first book. He first appears as a tribute mentor for the District 12 tributes, Mellark and Everdeen after the reaping ceremony. In both the books and movies, Abernathy shows characteristics of being extremely cunning but incredibly shrewd. He is often a realist and faces the truth over having hope. When asked to describe what it is like to win the games, he says: “Nobody ever wins the games. Period. There are survivors… but there are no winners.” At the end of the day, Abernathy did his best to protect Mellark and Everdeen and indeed turned out to be a sympathetic character. In the books, he acted as both a mentor and a father figure to Everdeen when she had no one.
In the original “Hunger Games” novels, we don’t find out much about what happened during Abernathy’s games. Readers only got small details about his experience in the arena when he revealed them to Everdeen. While the official announcement only confirms the novel’s setting, most fans are expecting “Sunrise On The Reaping” to reveal how Abernathy achieves victory in the arena, so let’s break down what we know about his games so far.
Abernathy was 16 years old when he won his games. We know he killed two career tributes, one using his quick skills with a knife, but the second was the one that made him stand out. The second tribute he killed was when he discovered the arena’s forcefield and used it to his advantage by letting his opponent’s axe bounce off of the forcefield and back into her chest, making Abernathy the last standing tribute. However, the Capitol saw this as an act of defiance, so as punishment, President Snow sent troops to kill his brother, mother, and girlfriend at the time. This is also quite interesting, because Everdeen, Abernathy’s mentee, discovers the forcefield in the second novel “Catching Fire” when she competes in the 75th Annual Hunger Games, coincidentally, the third Quarter Quell. Everdeen uses an electrified arrow to destroy the arena’s forcefield.
Author Suzanne Collins also stated in an interview that the story also lent itself to a “deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘real or not real?’ seems more pressing everyday.” In past interviews about her novels, Collins has also made it clear that all her books are inspired by real-life events, which is why they can be so relatable. Although we don’t know much about the context, this new installment has all “Hunger Games” fans eagerly awaiting its release.