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The latest book in The Hunger Games series has been described as a “heart-wrenching” addition to the franchise by critics.
Sunrise On The Reaping, the hotly anticipated fifth book in the series, is a prequel set more than two decades before the original dystopian trilogy, which was made into popular films starring US actress Jennifer Lawrence.
It is the first published by American author Suzanne Collins since the prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes in 2020.
The new novel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, one of the few Hunger Games victors from the same area, District 12, as Katniss Everdeen, who was played by Lawrence.

Haymitch, played by Zombieland actor Woody Harrelson in the films, is first introduced to readers in the original trilogy as an alcoholic mentor to protagonists Katniss and Peeta Mellark before they are sent off to fight to the death in a televised arena.
The prequel sees Haymitch drawn to fight in the 50th annual Hunger Games, a violent, televised event set up to maintain control in the fictional country of Panem.
Reviewers have applauded the author’s ability to bring Panem back nearly two decades after the first volume was published in 2008.
The Guardian’s Philip Womack said: “Collins is an excellent writer, and there are moments of surprising lyricism, which help to leaven the grimness.
“The books’ success partly lay in Collins’s skilful refashioning of an ancient story, the myth of the Minotaur, which she placed in a futuristic world, giving agency to the weak to overthrow the powerful.”

Jennifer Harlan, from The New York Times, said it “is a propulsive, heart-wrenching addition to The Hunger Games, adding welcome texture to the cruel world of Panem”.
“In expanding Haymitch’s story, Collins paints a shrewd portrait of the machinery of propaganda and how authoritarianism takes root,” she added.
Meanwhile, NPR’s Dhanika Pineda praised the author for continuing not to be subtle “with her commentary on propaganda and censorship”, saying the latest book is “no exception”.
The first Hunger Games trilogy was turned into a blockbuster film franchise that also starred US actor Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta.
Collins had seemingly ended the series after 2010’s Mockingjay, writing in 2015 that it was “time to move on to other lands”, before returning with The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, set 64 years before 2008’s The Hunger Games.
That prequel follows the life of a young Coriolanus Snow, the antagonist in the original series. That book was adapted into a film starring English actor Tom Blyth. In the original film franchise, he was played by Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who died aged 88 in 2024.

Collins said that it was “a relief” to take on Haymitch’s voice and character after having to write from Coriolanus’ perspective.
“He has a much greater capacity for hope and love and joy. More than Coriolanus – or Katniss, for that matter,” she added.
“Sadly, at the end of the book you see his concentrated effort to strip all that away, so by the time you reach the trilogy, his language has lost the musicality of his youth.
“A combination of his desperation to forget combined with years of Capitol TV erase it. I like to think in his remaining years after the war, he reclaims it. You can hear it coming back in the epilogue.”
It was announced in the summer that Sunrise On The Reaping will be adapted into a film, with a release set for November 2026.


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Books and literature

Hunger Games prequel novel Sunrise On The Reaping hailed as ‘heart-wrenching’ and lyrical

(From left) Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson and Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Harrison plays Haymitch Abernathy in the movies adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novels. Her latest explores Abernathy’s youth. Photo: Lionsgate

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a still from The Hunger Games. Photo: Lionsgate

The cover of the new book by Suzanne Collins.

A still from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, starring Rachel Zegler (right) and Tom Blyth. Photo: Lionsgate

As Assassin’s Creed Shadows hits, how the series became a multibillion-dollar franchise

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A screen grab from Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Photo: Ubisoft 

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She was turned down by Keanu Reeves. 80s teen actress Ione Skye recalls a steamy encounter

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Ione Skye and Keanu Reeves in a still from 1986 film River’s Edge. In a tell-all memoir, Say Anything star Skye writes about a shower encounter with the actor during which he rejected her advances. Photo: TNS

Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye in a still from River’s Edge.

Skye at the premiere of Runt in 2024, in Sydney, Australia. She is now 54 and a working artist. Photo: TNS

John Cusack and Skye in a still from Say Anything (1989). 

In memoir Anthony Hopkins covers his personal struggles, mortality and how he did as actor

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Anthony Hopkins in a still from The Father. In his coming memoir, We Did OK, Kid, the actor, 87, delves into his childhood, career, and personal struggles. Photo: Lionsgate

The cover of the memoir by Anthony Hopkins. Photo: Summit Books via AP

From Seven Swords to Sword Master, how Chinese wuxia films got an update in 21st century

Lin Gengxin as Third Master in a still from Sword Master. Photo: Bona Film Group

Donnie Yen in a still from Seven Swords, Tsui Hark’s 2005 sword-fighting epic and one of three notable wuxia films shot this century. Photo: Handout

Martial arts master Lau Kar-leung (front) in a still from Seven Swords. Photo: Handout

Charlie Young in a still from Seven Swords. Photo: Handout

Chang Chen in a still from Brotherhood of Blades. 

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Peter Ho in a still from Sword Master.

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Books

District 12 victor Haymitch Abernathy’s past is explored in ‘propulsive’ fifth book by Suzanne Collins set in fictional dystopia she created


District 12 victor Haymitch Abernathy’s past is explored in ‘propulsive’ fifth book by Suzanne Collins set in fictional dystopia she created.


American cinema

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