The protagonist of the latest novel in the Hunger Games series has been revealed by Scholastic, and it’s someone fans are already familiar with.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, written by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, is a prequel set 64 years before the events of the series’ first book. While very few details were revealed when the novel was first announced, EW has now released an excerpt from the story, which reveals the main character is a young Coriolanus Snow, aka President Snow.
Snow served as the primary antagonist in Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. As the President of Panem, Snow was responsible for enforcing the cruel competition known as the Hunger Games and keeping all 12 Districts that made up the country subservient through fear and intimidation. However, while the character was Katniss Everdeen’s enemy in the original books, his younger self will appear as a hero in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The reveal came with official artwork of the character, who bears a striking resemblance to actor Donald Sutherland. Sutherland, of course, played the villain in all four Hunger Games films.
Here is a portion of the excerpt that can be found in full on EW.
The grand staircase up to the Academy could hold the entire student body, so it easily accommodated the stream of officials, professors, and students headed for the reaping day festivities. Coriolanus climbed it slowly, attempting a casual dignity in case he caught anyone’s eye. People knew him—or at least they had known his parents and grandparents—and there was a certain standard expected of a Snow. This year, beginning this very day, he was hoping to achieve personal recognition as well. Mentoring in the Hunger Games was his final project before graduating from the Academy in midsummer. If he gave an impressive performance as a mentor, with his outstanding academic record, Coriolanus should be awarded a monetary prize substantial enough to cover his tuition at the University.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins, arrives May 19.