Minor spoilers ahead, proceed with caution!
"And may the odds be ever in your favor."
The iconic slogan reappears in the mind of Hunger Games fans everywhere as they revisit the world of Panem this year with the release of "Sunrise on the Reaping." The new novel, alongside "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" from 2020, gives readers a ticket to Panem's past. And with new information comes new understandings.
The beauty of "The Hunger Games" is the sheer amount of history baked into the series. Readers only get so much from Katniss and her understanding of the 74th games and beyond. This lack of knowledge invites questions — Fans wondered how the Capitol, specifically President Snow, came to power and how that power poisons everything it touches.
The "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is a story about control, or rather the lack of it, in a young Coriolanus Snow's life. Instead of being set in the district, this book is focused on the capital and how it's still reeling from the rebellion.
Readers find a struggling Snow who wants nothing more than the status he feels entitled to, the status that was stripped by the hands of the districts.
In Chapter 11 of "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," Snow says, "If the war's impossible to end, then we have to control it indefinitely. Just as we do now … With reminders of who's in charge, like the Hunger Games. In any scenario, it's preferable to have the upper hand, to be the victor rather than the defeated."
This obsession with control is what drives Snow and why he becomes the dictator we meet in the original trilogy.
Sage Garcia, a junior studying criminology, criminal justice and forensic psychology, said the prequels are perfect in the way they are able to revisit the past and line up the events from the original series.
In reference to the "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," she said you get to look at not only Snow but also Panem. Readers learn the origins of the games and how they are transformed into the spectacle we see by the 74th year.
"You see Snow, first and foremost, how he became evil. Why the system was set up, which you don't entirely know. You're left assuming or guessing from the original trilogy," Garcia said. "Even going down and deep to why (Snow) specifically has a resentment toward District 12."
This world-building is expanded in "Sunrise on the Reaping." The book focuses on the second Quarter Quell, the year Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta's future mentor, won.
The book is able to do so much, it fleshes out Haymitch's character as well as others we've seen before, like Plutarch, Beetee, Wiress and Mags. It answers debated questions as well, like the names of Katniss' parents.
But the strongest point of the novel is the way it shows readers just how present the rebellion has been, a deep seed planted long before Katniss' time.
Jana Mohamed, a junior studying biological sciences said, "Sunrise on the Reaping" connects the dots. The book is able to connect characters and give readers insight into the rebellion decades before the events of the original trilogy.
"25 years before Katniss and Peeta were ever born, it just goes to show how long they've been working on this," Mohamed said, "And how many people they lost in trying to stop the games."
Sarah Wasson, a project manager at the ASU Outreach Hub, has been a longtime fan of "The Hunger Games" and thinks prequel books are an excellent way to expand the series and give fans new stories to love.
"I have memories of ... being in the fourth grade or something when it came out, staying up all night underneath the bunk bed with a flashlight," Wasson said. "I was just so enthralled with the story and just devouring those books."
Suzanne Collins has built an entire world fans are willing to come back to after almost 20 years. "Sunrise on the Reaping" and "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" have displayed her excellent storytelling but also cemented the franchise as something greater.
"Both the books and the movies are just, especially with our generation, such a staple, a monumental piece of literature," Garcia said. "For our generation, I think it will definitely be labeled as a classic."
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at jagon128@asu.edu.
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Jazlyn is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her second semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
