The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is expanding with a new installment. The four novels so far—The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—will be joined by a fifth book titled Sunrise on the Reaping, set to be released on March 18, 2025.
This upcoming novel is a prequel to the original trilogy, set 40 years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and about 24 years before the first book in the series, The Hunger Games, which was published in 2008.
According to Collins, she was inspired by philosopher David Hume’s concept of “implicit submission” and his observation about the ease with which the many are governed by the few. The novel will explore themes of propaganda and the power of narrative, encapsulated in the series’ recurring question, “real or not real?”
The title, Sunrise on the Reaping, refers to the Reaping ceremony in Panem, where children from each District are selected to participate in the Hunger Games. The new book is set during the second Quarter Quell, the 50th anniversary of the Games, which is particularly brutal as the number of participants is doubled to 48, selecting four from each District, yet only one victor emerges.
This event is historically significant as it was when Haymitch Abernathy won, a key figure who later mentors Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
Given the timeframe, the novel is likely to focus on Haymitch’s perspective, offering a more brutal and raw narrative than previous books.
The Hunger Games franchise has been immensely successful as a book series and in its film adaptations. The film series, which began in 2012 with Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide. The latest film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, and others, was released in November of last year and earned $327 million at the box office.
