Fans of the Hunger Games felt a roller coaster of emotions on Tuesday when an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming prequel was debuted by Entertainment Weekly.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is set 64 years before the first Hunger Games novel, features Coriolanus Snow as a young man. According to Entertainment Weekly, the young President Snow may even be portrayed as a hero, a deviation from the Snow portrayed in the original Hunger Games trilogy and their on-screen counterparts.
“I’m so disappointed in the premise of the new #HungerGames book…protagonist President Snow,” Twitter user @arsamandica wrote. “I read the excerpt and I hope there’s more to it than that, but I’m tempted to cancel my preorder and use the Audible credit on a Witcher audiobook instead.”
I’m so disappointed in the premise of the new #HungerGames book…protagonist President Snow? I read the excerpt and I hope there’s more to it than that, but I’m tempted to cancel my preorder and use the Audible credit on a Witcher audiobook instead.
— Amanda Butler; poet (@arsamandica) January 22, 2020
Others are not as hopeful and believe there were much better characters to base the story around, such as Katniss Everdeen’s stylist Cinna.
“’Fuck all the characters of colors, let’s write about the evil white dude,’” Twitter user @fangirlJeanne sarcastically wrote.
Imagine the preorder records we would have broken for a prequel book about Cinna. pic.twitter.com/NXrZcIwH27
— Fangirl Jeanne polluted the shades of Pemberly. (@fangirlJeanne) January 21, 2020
“Fuck all the characters of colors, let’s write about the evil white dude.” 
I can wait to find he was queer and that the Capitol didn’t have toilets, so people shit on the ground and had robots clean up after them. 
https://t.co/AcBFpfvAdg
— Fangirl Jeanne polluted the shades of Pemberly. (@fangirlJeanne) January 21, 2020
Twitter user @cassiansnesta posted Keke Palmer’s “Sorry to This Man” meme to properly convey their disgust.
“You’re telling me I waited YEARS for a new hunger games book just for it to be a president snow origin story,” cassiansnesta wrote. The last Hunger Games book to be released was Mockingjay in 2010.
you’re telling me I waited YEARS for a new hunger games book just for it to be a president snow origin story pic.twitter.com/XxQxfiJnL9
— 𝐚 (@cassiansnesta) January 21, 2020
One user wrote that this may not be the right time to redeem a character like Snow, who, as an adult, is the authoritarian president of Panem.
“Imagine looking at the times we’re in now and thinking what’s needed is another tale about how a seemingly-nice privileged white boy grows into a genocidal leader,” Twitter user @GeekMelange wrote. “As if we don’t already know how this happens. As if marginalized people haven’t yelled forever why this happens.”
Imagine looking at the times we're in now & thinking what's needed is ANOTHER tale abt how a seemingly-nice privileged white boy grows into a corrupt genocidal leader. As if we don't already know how this happens. As if marginalized ppl haven't yelled FOREVER why this happens. https://t.co/wMZrl6pTwL
— M. Trota Fieriosa 
(@GeekMelange) January 21, 2020
While some fans haven’t entirely written the prequel off, the odds are definitely not in its favor.
I have very mixed feelings about this, not sure if I will be reading this https://t.co/K7kIquflGX
— Spiced out (@LLexilmao) January 22, 2020
I can think of a few ways where this could be not as bad as 'Wizards were so racist they'd rather crap their pants than use a toilet,' & I'm going to hope for those, but something about that description sows a great deal of doubt. At least we'll always have the original books. https://t.co/ISDI94BaOr
— Katie Taylor (@kate_is_writing) January 22, 2020
READ MORE:
Suzanne Collins is writing a ‘Hunger Games’ prequel
Trump proposes media Hunger Games, winner gets ‘Fake News Trophy’
Girl may have saved a friend’s life with first aid learned from ‘The Hunger Games’
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