Set to be released to the public on May 19, 2020, fans around the world can already pre-order The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Scholastic describes the book in this manner, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will revisit the world of Panem sixty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Tenth Hunger Games.”
Amazon’s description however is a bit more telling:
Ambition will fuel him.
Competition will drive him.
But power has its price.It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
Now the real controversy concerning this Collins’ prequel is not its protagonist or plot line, but rather its cover art and title!
Some have gone so far as to refer to the bird as the exorcist bird (referencing the twist in its neck I believe). What do I think?
I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. It feels a lot busier than Collins’ other books’ cover art.
I think the simplistic look has worked really well for Collins’ in the past.
However, that being said, I love trying to analyze the symbols currently present on the new title. We clearly have the familiar bird image, but this bird looks different from the Mockingjay. Could it possibly be a Jabberjay (an ancestor of the Mockingjays)? There’s the golden circle that looks to be covered in thrones, could that be a reference to the Victors of the Games? And lastly, there is of course the snake, which must be a clear reference to President Snow, right? I guess we will all find out in May!
KaylaAnn 
I can’t wait for this book to come out! I work for Barnes and Noble so I am TOTALLY getting it as soon as it arrives! As for the cover art….eh..I don’t hate it. But I don’t necessarily like it either, does that make sense? LOL.
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MAN, I am so jealous! (In the best way, of course!) I also feel like working at Barnes and Noble would be so much fun, but also that I would be broke because I would spend my whole paycheck on books!
I totally agree. I don’t hate it, don’t love it.
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I think the cover art is okay. I wouldn’t say I hate it though. It still looks like one of her books.
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I agree. It’s close enough to the others that it still fits in the set, and yet, it’s different enough that it is clearly apart from the first three. Maybe that was her intention?
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I think that was her intention. Cause it’s a different story, so she wants people to recognize that, but it also needs a clear call back to the original world since it’s set there.
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Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting the story to be about Snow! I swear, if she makes us feel sorry for Snow the way JKR made us feel sorry for Snape…. 😞
I actually find the cover art intriguing! Although I do not see the Exorcist reference, because to me it just looks as though the bird has its head turned to the side, I do think it’s probably a Jabberjay. It makes sense that it would be.
I have a strange feeling the snake is going to represent something more than Snow, though. I think it’s going to be less obvious until we actually read the book. I wonder if it will represent whatever twists Snow into the vile man he becomes? Or maybe something we haven’t even begun to think about or suspect?
Either way, I don’t think we will be disappointed!
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I’ll be honest. . . I do not feel sorry for Snape . . . he did the right thing in the end, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a good person.
I agree, the bird’s head looks like a normal bird’s head to me! They’re birds, their heads just tilt weird sometimes ha.
Oh, I like where you’re going with that. Collins has been known to surprise us before! I definitely believe that I will not be disappointed. I’m holding my breath waiting for this next installment to come out!
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I hear you… no, Snape was not a good person, but I could understand how he became what he was. I’ve been in some dark emotional places, where I had to choose how I was going to let those emotions shape me. I could understand how it was easier to let it make him bitter and angry. Sometimes it’s easier to give into the bad emotions rather than processing them and rising above them. So I guess I could just understand him to some degree. Not that his circumstances excused his poor choices. But I understand why it might have been easier to give in.
The upcoming book definitely sounds exciting. I know my girls are looking forward to it as well. I read the trilogy to them a couple years ago and we watched the movies together. One of the girls even went back and read them again on her own, so she might be the most excited for the next book! (Other than me, of course! 😉)
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I can understand that at least.
That’s so wonderful that you can share this with your girls!
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