Author Suzanne Collins stated she is set to publish a new prequel to the massively popular hunger games novels on Friday. The new arrival is due to be released next year and supposedly focuses on the use of propaganda during war, peaking the interest of fans as to where she got her inspiration for the novel from. There is even rumours that some believe it will be a "commentary about Gaza."
The book, titled Sunrise on the Reaping, will be the fifth addition to the bestselling series, yet will serve as a prequel to the original trilogy she wrote. Her books have also been adapted into a successful movie franchise with the latest 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' being released to cinemas just last year.
Inspired by the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume, Collins mentions her fascination with his concept of implicit submission, where, as he put it, "the ease with which the many are governed by the few" intrigued her. Collins told the AP, “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.”
It appears Collins' was motivated by the recent spread of misinformation and propaganda vs. reality, inclining her to write the book based on such subjects. Is her book a message for us to reflect on such issues in our own world?
Some opinions believe it is drawing comparison on the news coverage regarding the Israel-Gaza war, though this is yet to be confirmed by the author.
Her books, a mix of dystopian apocalyptic themes, attracted a mass of fans since the books first release in 2008. The movies too, became a blockbuster and it is expected with the latest release there will indeed be an adaptation to film as with the others.
Indeed with Collins' desired focus to be on power, resistance, propaganda, corrupt governments, and the theory of being able to justify war, it deems correct for fans to draw parallel's between Panem and the war in Gaza.