The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes review – back to an empty future
Prequel to the hit teen dystopia recruits Rachel Zegler and Jason Schwartzman to labour over IP that is now starved of inspiration
The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey review – a tale of Australia’s obsession with home ownership
The Miles Franklin-winning author’s latest novel, about a couple’s choice to renovate a church into a home, is a morally nuanced and wise work
Stamped from the Beginning review – tracing racism throughout American history
Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams talks to high-profile Black women in a hybrid documentary/animation based on Dr Ibram X Kendi’s landmark book
The Box of Delights review – the RSC makes merry with Masefield’s fantasy
This is a well-crafted, brilliantly acted version of John Masefield’s classic novel about an orphan who travels through time
Listen: On Music, Sound and Us by Michel Faber review – bum notes
The author of Under the Skin’s eccentric take on music fails to reverberate
Blackouts by Justin Torres review – a queer-gothic dreamworld
A marginalised history is salvaged from real‑life medical records in this strange and glorious novel
The Future by Naomi Alderman review – an apocalyptic techno-thriller
An AI program predicts the end of the world in this wobbly rollercoaster ride from the author of The Power
The Letters of Seamus Heaney review – amazing grace
Generosity, warmth and joie de vivre characterise this collection of the great poet’s letters
A Nasty Little War review – the west’s chaotic campaign to undo the Russian Revolution
Journalist Anna Reid’s thrilling history throws much-needed light on the dark, bloody and sometimes absurd attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks by the US, Britain and others
Manchester Unspun: How a City Got High on Music by Andy Spinoza – from Cottonopolis to Manc-hattan
A hugely entertaining account of the city’s resurrection over four decades, relayed by a well-connected former journalist, focuses on the catalytic role of Factory Records and the Haçienda
The Cliff by Manon Debaye review – misfits with a monstrous plan
This deceptively charming story of preteen friends seeking refuge in the French countryside is a modern-day Lord of the Flies
A Forgotten Man review – watchable account of central figure in Swiss wartime guilt
Laurent Nègre’s stagey film is also a free adaptation of Thomas Hürlimann’s play on the same subject, and may have worked better in the theatre
Notes from the Henhouse by Elspeth Barker review – little masterpieces from the author of O Caledonia
The wife of poet George Barker ought to be better known and this book should be on every bedside table – to cheer, reassure and inspire
In brief: The Golden Mole; Mistletoe Malice; The Deorhord – review
Dazzling essays detail the world’s most wondrous creatures; Kathleen Farrell dissects a dysfunctional family Christmas; and Hana Videen decodes an Old English bestiary
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang review – an intriguing tale of post-apocalyptic cuisine
The acclaimed novelist’s second book imagines a world beset by smog in which an elite few dine finely, while the masses subsist on algal scum