Get ready to go back into the arena. Suzanne Collins and Scholastic have announced a new Hunger Games prequel book will arrive on shelves next year. And Sunrise on the Reaping will take fans back to a period that impacted the original trilogy. The novel focuses on one of the most consequential battle royales in Panem’s history. It’s set during the Second Quarter Quell, the supersized Hunger Games won by a young Haymitch Abernathy. Here’s what we know about this Haymitch-centric Hunger Games novel coming in 2025.
On March 18, 2025, fans will get a full account of the Fiftieth Hunger Games. That’s one of the most important Games ever. That’s when Haymitch became a victor in name only. The new Hunger Games book, set 24 years before the original novel (and four decades after The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), will start in the same way. It begins on the morning of the Games’ reaping.
“Suzanne Collins has done it again, bringing us back to the world of Panem in order to ask us important questions about our own world,” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade, in the book’s official announcement. “Sunrise on the Reaping is a remarkable book, bringing new complexity, perspective, and revelations to a piece of the Hunger Games story that readers have longed to know more about.”
In the release, Collins shared the inspiration behind her new entry into the Hunger Games world. “With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,'” she said. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”
There’s no word yet on this new Haymitch Hungers Games book getting its own film. It would be shocking, though, if Lionsgate didn’t ultimately adapt this book as it has Collins’ four previous installments. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes got its own movie just three years after the book’s release. And this story, which will include Haymitch, should have even more appeal to fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy.
When Will the New Hunger Games Book Sunrise on the Reaping Release?
As mentioned, the new Haymitch-centric Hunger Games book will release on March 18, 2025. Practically just around the corner.