He’s one of the greatest movie and book villains of all time. But how did he become so monstrous? We knew that President Snow relied on the Hunger Games to maintain his power and status quo, but the horrifying truth of how closely his fate is twisted up with the horrifying spectacle is about to be revealed. Fans can read the chilling opening of the upcoming book which introduces us to Snow as an ambitious young man – and a Hunger Games very different from what was to come – but equally horrifying in a different way.
The new book will also certainly be adapted for the big screen and promises a chilling look into how the butchering of young people became national entertainment.
The excerpt is from Chapter One and introduces a young student Coriolanus Snow. He is from a prominent but impoverished family and is already looking for advancement.
We are told The Hunger Games, created by the marvellously-named Casca Highbottom, have failed to hold public attention and are being revamped.
The 18-year-old Snow senses an opportunity.
READ MORE: Game of Thrones books: Jon Snow was NEVER heir to the Iron Throne
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes excerpt:
As in the past, the tributes would be dumped into the Capitol Arena, a now-dilapidated amphitheater that had been used for sports and entertainment events before the war, along with some weapons to murder one another.
Viewing was encouraged in the Capitol, but a lot of people avoided it.
How to make it more engaging was the challenge.
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes excerpt:
Coriolanus was beginning to think they had forgotten him — perhaps they were giving him some special position? — when, to his horror, he heard Dean Highbottom mumble, “And last but least, District Twelve girl . . . she belongs to Coriolanus Snow.”
And so Snow’s association with the District of Katniss Everdeen begins.
Despite his disappointment, the opening chapter contains plenty of evidence Snow is about to start his rise to the top.
It is stressed that Highbottom is dissolute and drugged out – and soon to be replaced. Meanwhile, Snow actively ‘works’ the room, his silver-tongue and politician’s guile already starting to flourish.
But will something happen with that District 12 girl which sets Snow and the Districts on the path that leads all the way to the Mockingjay herself, Katniss Everdeen?
Read the tantalising teaser from the book by clicking the link below.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL EXTRACT FROM THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be published on May 19, 2020, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.