Prelude

My dear reader,

There are many things one can accomplish in a lifetime: they can win the lottery, or give birth to ten children comprised of two sets of quintuplets, or wake up as the richest person in all of Panem despite no indication of such a thing occurring when they tucked themselves into bed the night before. Indeed, they could even lead a personal enquiry into the ethics of a nationwide, beloved event such as, among others, the annual Hunger Games and detail their findings in a comprehensive report that they will publish covertly to widespread mayhem, without their identity ever being unearthed and avoiding "accidents" during a public soiree that could, by some certain subversives, be misconstrued as an assassination. The one thing these aforementioned events all share in common is that they are all absurd, unlikely to ever occur. In fact, one is more likely to win the Hunger Games (a lottery in and of itself) than succeed in any of those other endeavours.

The material you are about to consume will transform you irreparably beyond a shadow of a doubt. Ownership of this book amounts to treason and blasphemy against Panem. Discovery of it within your possession will inevitably culminate in a lifetime spent in the drabbest of prison clothes in the Maze, if not an invitation to a fatally short dinner party at our beloved President's humble, marble-embossed abode. Therefore, it is paramount that you disclose the existence for this to none but your most trusted confidantes or to those already on their deathbed. I beg of you, dear reader, speak of this to no one - he has Eyes and Ears everywhere.

Upon reading this, you will no longer be able to look the kind-faced patissier from whom you collect your freshly-baked and daintily-decorated croissants every Monday morning in his jolly, sparkling eyes. Your friends will no longer be your friends. Shadows shall jump out at you from behind every street corner. Celebrities will no longer be mere celebrities. Your idea of home will change forever. Panem is not what you believe it to be.

Do not pretend that you have not been warned. I understand, dear reader, that it is often far easier to live on in ignorance than to burden yourself with the truth, but I abashedly believe that it is our duty to hold that burden, if only out of deference to those denied that choice.

Your humble author,

A.C.