The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

North American first edition cover
Author	Suzanne Collins
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Hunger Games
Genre	Adventure War Science fiction Romance Action Thriller
Publisher	Scholastic
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Pages	517
ISBN	9780702300172
Followed by	The Hunger Games

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a dystopian action-adventure novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is a spin-off and a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy. It was released on May 19, 2020, by Scholastic. An audiobook of the novel read by American actor Santino Fontana was released simultaneously with the printed edition.^[1] The book received a virtual launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] A film adaptation from Lionsgate is set to be released on November 17, 2023.

Plot

Set in the universe of The Hunger Games, 64 years before the first installment, the book follows young Coriolanus Snow, who is far from the cold, calculating dictator seen during the events of the original trilogy.

Following a long and costly war with the Districts, in which the Capitol was under direct siege for several months, the Capitol remains heavily damaged and is only beginning to recover. The once-wealthy and powerful Snow family, whose patriarch, General Crassus Snow, led the Capitol's forces as a key strategist and war hero until he was killed in action, has fallen on hard times. While determined to keep up appearances, 17-year-old Coriolanus Snow, his cousin Tigris Snow and their grandmother (nicknamed "Grandma’am") are running out of options and resources. Though faced with the imminent loss of both their grand apartment and the family's great social prestige, Coriolanus remains determined to restore his family to prosperity, taking pride and assurance in the family saying, "SLOT"; "Snow Lands On Top."

Based on his academic excellence at the Academy, the Capitol's most prestigious high school, Coriolanus is chosen to mentor a tribute in the upcoming tenth Hunger Games. He is assigned the District 12 female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, member of a traveling musician group known as the Covey, who were forced into staying in District 12 after the war began. Lucy Gray sparks the Capitol's attention after slipping a hidden snake into the clothing of the mayor's cruel daughter Mayfair, who had arranged for her to be reaped over jealousy about a boy named Billy Taupe, as well as singing during the reaping. Coriolanus is determined to make a good impression, since his success in the games will most likely guarantee he will win the monetary prize he needs in order to attend University.

Coriolanus decides to meet Lucy Gray at the train station where the tributes are set to arrive, but accidentally ends up with them in their transport vehicle. Some of the tributes consider killing him, but are dissuaded by Lucy Gray when she warns them that their families would likely be punished. The transport vehicle drops the stunned Coriolanus and the tributes inside a cage in the Capitol Zoo. He and Lucy Gray seize the opportunity to put on a show and begin earning the sympathy of the Capitol's citizens.

Coriolanus starts sneaking Lucy Gray food from the Academy, as the Capitol is not feeding the tributes. The other mentors follow suit, including Sejanus Plinth, the only child of Strabo Plinth, whose ingenuity constructing a munitions empire brought him considerable wealth and political favor, allowing him to buy the Plinth family's way into the Capitol from District 2 after the war. Sejanus gets nowhere trying to use food to build a rapport with his tribute, Marcus, a former classmate of his from District 2. Another mentor, Arachne Crane, mocks and taunts her tribute, leading to her being attacked and killed when she gets too close to the cage bars. Clemensia, Coriolanus's classmate, is distraught by the murder, leaving him to complete an essay on ways to increase viewership for the games – which they were supposed to do together – by himself. He presents the essay to the Head Gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, proposing a betting scheme and sponsorship of the tributes to engage the people of the Capitol in the outcome of the Games. Dr. Gaul drops the essay into a tank of genetically modified snakes. Coriolanus is forced to retrieve a few pages of the essay from the enclosure but is ignored by the snakes. However, they attack Clemensia when she reaches in, proving that Coriolanus was the sole author of the project since the snakes did not recognize her scent in the paper. Clemensia is severely poisoned and hospitalized, though Gaul brushes this off, only concerned with learning what she had wanted to.

During a tour of the arena – implied to be a former football stadium – undetected bombs explode and kill several tributes and mentors. Lucy Gray considers escaping in the chaos, but decides to help an injured Snow, saving his life. Despite the bad publicity this generates, the Games begin, with many tributes quickly dying from starvation, disease, or injuries. Meanwhile, Dr. Gaul enacts Coriolanus's proposals for the Games. Sejanus, resentful of both the Capitol and the Games, enters the Arena at night intending to die as a martyr; Dr. Gaul orders Coriolanus to extract him. He convinces Sejanus to leave, explaining that his suicide would not be seen by anyone due to the footage being altered and that he could make more of a change if he decided to live. As they leave, they are attacked by a group of tributes who had noticed them. In the ensuing chase, Coriolanus is forced to bludgeon one of the tributes to death in self-defense, marking his first ever killing of another human.

While in Dr. Gaul's lab, Coriolanus notices a tank of the same genetically modified snakes he and Clemensia encountered being transported. Deducing that they are going to be dropped in the arena, he drops a handkerchief with Lucy Gray's scent inside the tank to accustom the snakes to her. As Coriolanus predicted, the genetically modified snakes are dropped into the arena. They attack several tributes except Lucy Gray, surrounding and climbing her but not biting. After several days, Lucy Gray wins the Games thanks to the snakes and a compact full of rat poison Coriolanus had given her earlier that belonged to his late mother. At a celebration party at the Academy, Coriolanus is smugly confronted by the academic dean, Highbottom, with evidence implicating him in cheating in the Games and stealing food from the Academy. Threatened with being publicly disgraced unless he agrees to enlist, Coriolanus reluctantly joins the Peacekeepers and is sent to the garrison in District 12.

Coriolanus reunites with Lucy Gray in District 12, and begins to develop romantic feelings for her. Sejanus, who was forced into the Peacekeepers due to trouble of his own, has grown further opposed to the Capitol's authoritarianism and soon plans to help a group of District 12 residents escape to a place north of the district, rumored to be beyond the Capitol's control. Coriolanus surreptitiously sends word to Dr. Gaul in the Capitol using a jabberjay that recorded the evidence. Lucy Gray's former lover Billy Taupe and Mayfair overhear a conversation between Sejanus and a rebel named Spruce, and are subsequently shot dead by Spruce and Coriolanus (who stumbled upon the meeting with Lucy Gray) to prevent them from blowing their cover. A few days later, Spruce is found severely injured and eventually dies, while Sejanus is arrested by the Peacekeepers and hanged for treason, leaving Lucy Gray and Coriolanus as the only remaining witnesses of the murders. Lucy Gray tells Coriolanus that she is going to escape to the North and he decides to leave with her, despite being offered a spot in officer training school in District 2.

On their way to the North, Coriolanus accidentally finds the hidden guns used to shoot Billy Taupe and Mayfair. Coriolanus realizes that with the evidence in hand, he could bury what had happened and make a new life for himself. Worried that Lucy Gray had discerned that he was responsible for Sejanus's death, he goes after her with a rifle. He is bitten by a snake and, after expending his ammunition and hyperventilating due to the bite, is unable to tell whether he killed her, or she managed to get away. After dumping the incriminating weapons into a lake, Coriolanus returns to District 12 and is sent back to the Capitol, where Dr. Gaul explains that she had arranged for him to be sent to District 12 so he could obtain more experience and ultimately come to terms with her view of human nature as inherently violent, and the need for an authoritarian government to keep this nature in check. Coriolanus is given a spot at the University under her tutelage. He is effectively adopted by Sejanus's parents as their heir, with neither knowing the central role Coriolanus played in their son's death.

Coriolanus pays a visit to Dean Highbottom at the Academy, where he learns that, while Highbottom did indeed co-author the original proposal for the Hunger Games, he never intended for them to become a reality. While he and Crassus Snow were classmates and friend at the University, they got drunk one night and Highbottom told Crassus of his idea for the Games, but as a simple thought experiment. Seeking to gain favor, Crassus took the idea and submitted it to Dr. Gaul, who made the Games a reality soon after. Highbottom never forgave Crassus for this and adds that he sees much of Crassus' deceitful, manipulative nature in his son. Thoroughly tired of Highbottom's obstructive actions and antagonism towards him, Coriolanus slips rat poison into Highbottom's drug stash, marking the first of the trademark killings that would fuel his rise to power. In the meantime, Coriolanus implements many of his ideas into future Hunger Games as a Gamemaker. Having either died or successfully escaped the country of Panem, Lucy Gray is never seen or heard from again.

Characters

• Coriolanus Snow - He is the protagonist of the novel. His family has faced financial difficulties following the war, and he now makes great efforts to maintain his social status. His mother died during childbirth and his father died during the war, leaving him under the care of his grandmother. He is cunning and strategic, taking whatever actions are necessary to improve his situation. Coriolanus becomes infatuated with Lucy Gray once he becomes her mentor. Coriolanus eventually decides he prefers power and status over love. He begins working as a Gamemaker and works his way up, eventually becoming president of Panem.
• Lucy Gray Baird - The female tribute from District 12 for the tenth Hunger Games. Lucy Gray is a member of the Covey, a travelling musician group forced to settle in District 12. She wears a beautiful rainbow dress to her reaping and draws the Capitol's attention with her charm, talent and by slipping a snake down the District 12 mayor's daughter's dress. She is smart and calculating, and eventually develops a romantic connection with Snow. Her fate at the end of the book is unknown.
• Tigris Snow - Coriolanus' older cousin. She is the breadwinner of the family, leaving school and working for a fashion designer in order to support herself and her family. It is also implied she is forced to sell her body in order to keep food on the table. It is unclear what the cause of death of her parents was. She is gentle and kind towards her cousin, sacrificing a lot for his well being. It is unclear how her relationship with Coriolanus developed from what it is now to the state it is in at the end of the original trilogy, in which she smiles upon learning Katniss' intention of killing him.
• Sejanus Plinth - Coriolanus's classmate and fellow mentor in the Games. Originally from District 2, Sejanus now lives in the Capitol because of his father's connections and business during the war. He is rebellious and idealistic, and strongly opposes the Capitol's treatment of the Districts and the existence of the Games. Sejanus ends up a Peacekeeper alongside Coriolanus and considers him one of his closest friends.
• Dr. Volumnia Gaul - Head Gamemaker and the person responsible for the implementation of the Hunger Games. She has a twisted view of human nature and believes in an authoritarian government and the need for punishment and control over the Districts. Hated by many people of all districts.
• Casca Highbottom - Dean of the Academy. He is credited as the intellectual author of the Games and holds great disdain towards Coriolanus and the whole Snow family. He is addicted to morphling, a drug similar to morphine.
• Grandma’am - Coriolanus' and Tigris' grandmother. She is the mother of Coriolanus' father, Crassus. Her grandson gave her the nickname "Grandma'am" since he believed she deserved something that sounded imperial. During the war, she took care of her grandchilden, and ensured their survival; though currently her age seems to be catching up to her.
• Mayfair Lipp - She is the daughter of District 12's mayor. Jealous of Lucy Gray and her relationship with Billy Tupe, she arranges for Lucy to be reaped.
• Billy Taupe - Lucy Gray's ex-boyfriend and Mayfair's current boyfriend
• Strabo Plinth - Sejanus' father. He is the head of a munitions empire in District 2 that sided with the Capitol during the war, thus allowing him to buy his family's way into a new life in the Capitol. At the end of the novel, he sponsors and names Coriolanus' his heir.
• Crassus Snow - Coriolanus' father. He died during the war, leaving Coriolanus' orphaned.

Reception

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has received generally positive reviews from critics. Upon its release, book critics had an overall mixed reception to the novel.^[3][4] The review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, indicated that the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 19 reviews.^[5]

The Guardian praised the book: "Collins's themes of friendship, betrayal, authority and oppression, as well as the extra layers of lore about mockingjays and Capitol's history, will please and thrill."^[6] Similarly, Time stated that Collins shines most "as she weaves in tantalising details that lend depth to the gruesome world she created in the original series."^[7] Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying the book is "both a tense, character-driven piece and a cautionary tale."^[8]

Meanwhile, The Telegraph criticized it as "not the most promising opening [fans expected]" and that Collins should "stick to plucky heroes and dazzling plot-twists. When it comes to writing the murkiest backwaters of the human psyche, Collins is fathoms out of her depth."^[9] Entertainment Weekly said of the storytelling: "The storytelling itself trends desperate at times. Chapters close on violent cliffhangers that edge into parody" and that "there are too many folk music interludes [and] some ludicrous franchise callbacks" but overall it "is a major work with major flaws, but it sure gives you a lot to chew on," ultimately giving it a grade of B−.^[10]

The songs from the novel spurred several original covers on YouTube.^[11][12]

Film adaptation

In August 2017, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer expressed interest in spin-offs of The Hunger Games, with intentions to create a writers' room to explore the concept.^[13]

In June 2019, Joe Drake, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, announced that the company was working with Collins with regards to an adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.^[14] By April 2020, Collins and Lionsgate confirmed that plans were underway for the film's development. Casting had not yet begun, but director Francis Lawrence has been confirmed to return after his success with The Hunger Games trilogy. The film’s writer will be Michael Arndt, with Nina Jacobson and author Suzanne Collins as producers.^[15]

In August 2021, Lionsgate chairman Joe Drake revealed that the film was in pre-production with filming expected to begin in early 2022 for a targeted release of "either late fiscal 2023 or early 2024."^[16] On April 28, 2022, it was announced that the film will release on November 17, 2023.^[17]

On May 16, 2022, it was announced that Tom Blyth had been cast as the young Coriolanus Snow.^[18] On May 31, Rachel Zegler was cast as Lucy Gray Baird.^[19] On June 15, Josh Andrés Rivera was cast as Sejanus Plinth.^[20] On June 22, Hunter Schafer was cast as Tigris.^[21] On June 27, Jason Schwartzman was cast as Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman. In July, Peter Dinklage was reported to have been cast as Dean Highbottom.^[22]

On June 6, 2022, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group released a teaser trailer for the film.^[23]

On April 27, 2023, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group released a trailer for the film. ^[24]

References