Attention people of Panem: the book trilogy we know and love, The Hunger Games, isn’t quite as over as we may have thought.
Announced via a statement made by author Suzanne Collins, the upcoming installment will dive deeper into The Hunger Games universe as a prequel to the original trilogy. The book is set to be released May 19, 2020.
Releasing over a decade after the first Hunger Games book, the prequel will be all about the dark days of Panem and the reconstruction period that happened 10 years after the first rebellion.
It’s important to remember that the whole purpose of the Hunger Games was to torture the people in Districts one through 12 because of their disobedience from the failed rebellion.
This forthcoming prequel is anticipated to cover the first Hunger Games, how Panem dealt with the aftermath of the war and new characters to root for in the corrupt struggles that lie within The Hunger Games universe.
“With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival,” Collins said in a statement. “The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days — as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet — provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.”
There is also a lot of speculation that the book will follow Mags, a beloved character who won the Hunger Games during the earlier years of the games. Though we won’t get to read about our favorite characters, including Katniss and Peeta, there’s a great chance we’ll read about a familiar face with Mags.
Lionsgate has also announced its plan to work closely with Collins on the film version of the new novel, as Lionsgate is the home to the other four Hunger Games films.
A lot of people who were heavily invested in The Hunger Games are excited to read Collins’ new addition to the trilogy. However, there is a lot of skepticism about whether or not this novel will ruin the trilogy by weighing it down and being too much when she could have just left it alone.
Here’s how people reacted to the announcement on Twitter:
