If you noticed the rustle of pages accompanied by hushed gasps as you walked by your nearest bookstore Tuesday, there's no need to panic. It was probably just the sound of "Hunger Games" fans speed-reading Suzanne Collins' latest novel, "Sunrise on the Reaping."
"Sunrise on the Reaping" is the second "Hunger Games" prequel Collins has published, as she released "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" in 2020.
As Collins expands the world of Panem, newer readers of her works are torn about how to start the series. As a longtime fan of her work, I have thoughts on the best order to read the "Hunger Games" books.
There are two prequels to 'The Hunger Games'
For those who weren't part of the original "Hunger Games" craze, the series was initially a trilogy. The first three books Collins published — "The Hunger Games" in 2008, "Catching Fire" in 2009, and "Mockingjay" in 2010 — follow Katniss Everdeen, a teenager living in the dystopian society of Panem.
In Katniss' world, two children from Panem's 12 districts are "reaped" to fight to the death against each other in a televised competition called the Hunger Games each year. Katniss volunteers to compete in the games after her younger sister's name is called in "The Hunger Games," and the trilogy follows her experience in the games against the backdrop of growing tension between the districts and the government of Panem, led by President Coriolanus Snow.
Collins' first three works feature a sweeping cast of characters, though they are all told from Katniss' perspective. She uses her prequels to focus on two characters that appear in the trilogy and offer insight into Panem outside Katniss' purview.
"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" takes place 64 years before the events of "The Hunger Games" and stars a teenage Coriolanus Snow. In the novel, Coriolanus lives in the Capitol in the initial years after the first Panem revolution, and he becomes a mentor for a tribute from District 12 in the games named Lucy Gray Baird.
The book functions as a character study into Coriolanus, showing the reader how he became the tyrant Katniss knew decades later — and offering insight into why he has particularly negative feelings toward District 12.
Meanwhile, in "Sunrise on the Reaping," Collins takes the reader into the life of Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta Mellark's grumpy, alcoholic mentor when they compete in the Hunger Games. Set 24 years before "The Hunger Games," the book follows Haymitch's time competing in the games for District 12, which Collins' keeps largely a mystery in the original series.
Don't read the prequels first
The five books in the "Hunger Games" universe occur over about 65 years. The events of the prequels occur around 40 years apart, and those of the three original books take place over about 18 months, excluding the epilogue at the end of "Mockingjay."
Although they weren't released as such, the "Hunger Games" books could be read in chronological order:
- "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"
- "Sunrise on the Reaping"
- "The Hunger Games"
- "Catching Fire"
- "Mockingjay"
However, I don't think that would offer the best reading experience.
Collins creates a vast world in "The Hunger Games," and Panem's complex government system is vital to the plot. The original trilogy does a good job of easing new fans into the universe. I think it would be a disservice to readers not to experience the careful world-building Collins does in her original books first.
I also think the prequels could confuse the reader about the significance of certain characters in the trilogy and offer some spoilers — from the extent of Snow's role in Katniss' story to Haymitch's experience in a Hunger Games Quarter Quell, which has some connections to "Catching Fire."
With all that in mind, I recommend reading the books in their publication order:
- "The Hunger Games"
- "Catching Fire"
- "Mockingjay"
- "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"
- "Sunrise on the Reaping"
And if you plan on watching the film versions of Collins' works after reading the books, I'd follow the same order. The movie version of "Sunrise on the Reaping" will hit theaters in November 2026.
