The
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins.
Young
Adults.
The acclaimed author of ‘The Hunger Games’ Suzanne Collins
has done it again: created another
heart-stopping episode in her Dystopian fantasy series of America ‘After the
War’, this time giving her millions of fans (including me!) a forerunner to
Katniss Everdeen’s heroic exploits for her people in the first trilogy.
In this prequel we follow the teenage life of President
Snow – hard to believe such a man was ever a young man with normal hopes and
dreams, but as a teenager, Coriolanus Snow (Ms Collins has a lot of fun with
Latin names for her characters here) is no different
from his other classmates at the Academy, an elite school in the Capitol, famed
for producing future leaders – and he has a shameful secret: despite living in a penthouse in one of the
most desirable apartment buildings in the city, he, his Grandmother and cousin
Tigris are struggling to put food on the table;
their family’s former rich holdings were all destroyed in the war, and
Tigris has had to work long hours at menial work to keep the household
afloat. The Snows could not bear the
humiliation and shame of their neighbours learning of their dire straits, so
try to keep up appearances, and Coriolanus is very accomplished at presenting
himself as that which he is not – rich.
A
prize-winning opportunity arises with the introduction of ‘mentoring’ tributes
for the latest Hunger Games, providing back-up and support for whomever is
chosen for Mentors to sponsor. Initially
Coriolanus is hugely disappointed in Lucy Gray Baird, his tribute from District
Twelve – she doesn’t look like she’d last five minutes up against all the other
desperate youngsters, though most of them do look half-starved and ill. Oh well, time will tell, and it does: readers are treated to another horrific,
hair-raising and tragic account of the Hunger Games, resulting in victory for
Lucy Gray, and humiliating disgrace for Coriolanus who, instead of realising
his ambition of going to university, is shipped off to District Twelve as a
lowly PeaceKeeper.
And
his rich, would-be friend Sejanus goes too, but for entirely different
reasons: he wants to escape from the
Capitol, that hotbed of privilege and corruption, and join rebels that surely
hide in District Twelve. He wants to
live a peaceful, honourable life some day.
Ms
Collins brilliantly conducts us all yet again through a tightly plotted and
suspenseful adventure that juggles ambitions, excuses and rationalisation with
morals, principles and ideals: guess who
comes out on top? SIX STARS
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