2025 marks 17 years since Suzanne Collins debuted the brutal world of The Hunger Games and its heroic insurgent chief, Katniss Everdeen. With a brand new prequel set to launch in simply a few weeks, now could be the proper time to revisit the unique books that began all of it.
Set in a dystopian world the place youngsters kill one another yearly as a method to quell a rebellious and fractured nation, The Hunger Games sparked a YA frenzy and impressed ladies all around the world to take up archery. If you feel such as you wish to revisit the franchise however do not know the place to start out, we’re right here to information you thru the Hunger Games books so as. You also can try our information to The Hunger Games motion pictures in addition to our record of one of the best books like The Hunger Games.
How to Read the Hunger Games Books in Order
While the latest version to the collection, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is ready earlier than the unique trilogy, the context supplied by the three Hunger Games books is vital to actually having fun with the prequel. With that in thoughts, we suggest studying the originals earlier than that entry. But if you need a chronological journey by means of Panem, then be at liberty to start with Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes earlier than hitting the others.
1. The Hunger Games
It was this dramatic YA hit that launched the epic Hunger Games franchise. After creator Suzanne Collins discovered herself flicking between protection of the continued conflict in Iraq and actuality TV late at night time, she was impressed to create her bestselling novel a few world the place youngsters should battle one another to the dying for the leisure of their fellow countrymen. It’s a brutal entry into the dystopian YA canon that launched 1,000 imitators and a smash-hit field workplace franchise that is nonetheless going robust at present.
The story of this primary novel follows Katniss, a younger girl within the impoverished District 12, who scavenges to assist her household survive removed from the watchful eye of the Capitol. But when the annual reaping ceremony sees Katniss’s younger sister picked as a Tribute for that 12 months’s Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers, sending herself on a nightmarish journey of survival. Fighting in opposition to different kids from Panem and alongside her fellow District 12 tribute, the sweet-hearted baker Peeta, she should outsmart not solely her opponents but additionally the maniacal authorities that despatched them there.
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Following their stunning survival within the Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss ought to be dwelling a peaceable life as champions. But after tricking the Capitol into letting them each survive, the pair are in additional hazard than ever. Their radical survival has impressed cells of resistance throughout Panem, and President Snow blames Katniss, threatening dying to her family members if she does not play together with the Capitol narrative. But Katniss can not help however be impressed by the bravery of the Districts that she and Peeta go to on their “Victory Tour,” and shortly the pair finds themselves within the area of the Hunger Games as soon as once more. Taking her bestselling components and increasing the world and lore whereas introducing new fan-fave characters like Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason, the second entry within the collection units up the stunning finale brilliantly with a world-shifting twist that modifications the whole lot we learn about Panem.
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
In the action-packed finale of the unique Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss and her rise up pals are flung right into a nightmarish conflict in opposition to the Capitol. As they intention to take down President Snow and set up their very own chief, Alma Coin, Katniss finds herself the reluctant face of a battle that places her family members within the crosshairs. Instead of a return to the Hunger Games area, Snow brings the Hunger Games to the streets of the Capitol, the place Katniss and her crew should battle by means of nightmarish traps and horrific violence with the intention to obtain their aim of bringing freedom to Panem. But, as she learns, nothing is what it appears, and a few individuals do not wish to change the system a lot as take management of it. This trilogy-ender stands out as a surprisingly miserable and real looking finish to a blockbuster collection.
Note: The theatrical model of this closing ebook was break up into two movies, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2.
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
As famous above, this prequel is ready 64 years earlier than the unique ebook, although Collins wrote it with audiences who have been aware of her collection in thoughts. That’s why the prequel finally ends up on the finish of our record, so you may totally benefit from the context and worldbuilding of the unique trilogy earlier than having your coronary heart damaged by the origin story of the villainous President Snow.
Chronicling the origins of the Hunger Games as we all know them, this story facilities on the planning of the tenth version of the Games and the impoverished 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who’s chosen as a mentor for District 12. It’s there he meets their feminine tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, who turns into an influential half within the historical past of the Games, because of the best way she makes use of her abilities as a musician to interact the viewers. As Snow and Lucy develop nearer, each their lives change without end as they put together for the Hunger Games and fall for one another within the course of. This is an intriguing have a look at the early days of the Games and the way each Lucy and Snow formed them. If you are already a fan, it is an growth full of Easter eggs. And if you happen to’re a newcomer, it is an attention-grabbing jumping-on level that’ll change the way you learn the collection.
Will There Be More Hunger Games Books?
Four years after the preliminary ebook launch of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins introduced her plans for a brand new installment within the Hunger Games collection. “Sunrise on the Reaping,” one other prequel to the unique trilogy, will likely be revealed on March 18, 2025. According to the Associated Press, the brand new ebook will happen 40 years after the story of Lucy Gray and 24 years earlier than the unique novel, that includes fan favourite Haymitch Abernathy and the notorious Second Quarter Quell. A film adaptation is already within the works, set for launch on November 20, 2026.
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Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN protecting the whole lot from anime to comedian books to kaiju to youngsters motion pictures to horror flicks. You can discover her on social at @rosiemarx.