WARRIORS
By Erin Hunter
Review by:Brunnhilde
Warriors is a popular book series for kids about four Clans of cats living in the wild (the Clans are known as ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan). All the Clans follow a set of laws known as the warrior code. There are many books in it, and each series (each made up of six books that follow the next generation of cats) follows a particular storyline, mainly having to do with a prophecy given to the Clans by a cat "heaven" known as StarClan. The Clans have different ranks of cats in them: Kits (kittens who live in the nursery whose names end in "kit"), apprentices (young cats training to be warriors whose names end in "paw"), warriors (cats who hunt and protect the Clan), deputies (second-in-commands of the Clans who replace the leader after he/she dies), medicine cats (the "doctors" of the Clans who are skilled in using healing herbs and interpreting omens from StarClan; med. cats are forbidden to have mates and kits, for that would interfere with their work), leaders (leaders of the Clans who have nine lives given to them from StarClan; their names end in "star"), and elders (old, retired cats). It is an awesome, epic series, written by one of my favorite authors. There are many Warriors series, which include:Warriors, Warriors:The New Prophecy, Warriors:Power of Three, Warriors:Omen of the Stars, and the newest one, Warriors:Dawn of the Clans. I have read all of the books from each series except Dawn of the Clans. Here is the plot of each series:
WARRIORS:A curious kittypet (normal pet cat) named Rusty wanders into the forest one day, only to discover the world of the Clans. He is invited to join ThunderClan by Bluestar, leader of that Clan. He accepts the invitation, and joins ThunderClan. In some of the first books of this series, the following things happen: Rusty, now named Firepaw, helps ThunderClan capture ShadowClan's evil, cruel leader, Brokenstar, with the help of Yellowfang (ShadowClan's former medicine cat), some ShadowClan cats who have had enough of Brokenstar's tyranny, and Firepaw's Clanmates. Firepaw is promoted to the rank of a warrior, along with his best friend, Graypaw/Graystripe. Fireheart and Graystripe go on a journey and bring back WindClan (who were driven out by ShadowClan during the reign of Brokenstar), and during their time back home Graystripe falls in love with a RiverClan she-cat named Silverstream. Unfortunately, SPOILER Silverstream dies giving birth to Graystripe's kits, Featherkit and Stormkit, who are raised in RiverClan. Shortly after Fireheart exposes the treachery of the ThunderClan deputy, Tigerclaw (who killed Redtail, one of Bluestar's former deputies, plotted with Brokenstar to help him escape ThunderClan, and even tried to kill Bluestar herself), Graystripe moves to RiverClan to be with his kits and Fireheart is made ThunderClan deputy. In the last few books of the series, Bluestar has been mentally shaken by Tigerclaw's betrayal. Ticerclaw becomes allies with various rogues and sets up all kinds of traps to kill ThunderClan cats, including ambushing ThunderClan patrols and even luring a pack of killer cat-eating dogs into ThunderClan territory. Eventually, Bluestar's sanity returns during a battle with the dogs, SPOILER but just as it does she saves Fireheart from a dog by shoving the dog-and herself-into a gorge. Thus Fireheart/Firestar becomes ThunderClan leader. Meanwhile, ShadowClan's current leader, Nightstar, dies from sickness and is replaced by Tigerclaw/Tigerstar, who rebuilds a weak ShadowClan with amazing efficiency. Still wanting to rule the forest, Tigerstar makes RiverClan unite with ShadowClan and become TigerClan, and Tigerstar also brings a group of evil cats, BloodClan, into the forest to help him. Tigerstar is killed by the leader of BloodClan, Scourge, who wants the forest for himself, and Firestar gets the four Clans to unite, become LionClan, and fight against BloodClan in order to keep the forest for themselves. When BloodClan is finally driven out after Scourge and his deputy, Bone, are killed, Firestar has fulfilled a prophecy about him, (the prophecy is "Fire alone can save our Clan.") and peace is restored among the Clans.
WARRIORS:THE NEW PROPHECY:It's time for the next generation of cats to rise! A new prophecy has come, where SPOILER four cats from each Clan (although six went on the journey; the six include: Tigerstar's son, Brambleclaw of ThunderClan, Firestar's daughter, Squirrelpaw of ThunderClan, Graystripe's kits, Feathertail and Stormfur of RiverClan, Tigerstar's daughter, Tawnypelt of ShadowClan, and the son of a WindClan warrior named Ashfoot, the feisty apprentice Crowpaw) have been chosen to go on a journey to the sun-drown-place (the western ocean where the sun sets). So, without telling anyone (with the exception of Squirrelpaw's sister Leafpaw, the apprentice of Cinderpelt, the current ThunderClan med. cat), the six embark on a long journey towards where the sun sets. During their travels, they get lost in a huge Twolegplace (town), but an elderly, good-humored cat named Purdy helps them get out. Eventually, after many days of traveling, they get to the sun-drown-place and meet Midnight, a wise, friendly badger, who ANOTHER SPOILER warns them that humans are going to destroy the forest to make a new Thunderpath (road), and that upon returning home they should stand on the Great Rock, for a dying warrior will show the way to the Clans' new home. Meanwhile, giant monsters (cars, bulldozers, and other machines used by Twolegs/humans) have suddenly began to start churning up the earth and ripping out the trees back home-the destruction of the forest has begun. The cats soon begin on their journey back, but instead of going through the Twolegplace again they go through a giant (fictional) mountain range, where they encounter a strange group of cats who live in a cave behind a waterfall-these cats are called the Tribe of Rushing Water...and they have a prophecy to fulfill. They have been terrorized by a mountain lion named Sharptooth for countless moons, and their ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting, have foretold that a silver cat will save them from Sharptooth. When the Clan cats finish staying there and try to leave, the Tribe forbids Stormfur from leaving, for they think he is the silver cat; but, days later, after the Clan cats agree to help the Tribe rather than run away with Stormfur, Sharptooth attacks, SPOILER and it is not Stormfur who kills Sharptooth but Feathertail, his silver-gray tabby sister, who brings a stalactite down on Sharptooth but dies from the fall in the process. Stormfur and Crowpaw (who loved Feathertail) are devastated. The next day, the Clan cats leave the mountains and then, over the course of more days, return home to find that by now prey is extremely scarce (most of it has left or been poisoned by humans) and the Clans (except for RiverClan, which is still untouched) are suffering horribly. The traveling cats get their leaders to go to Fourtrees (the place the Clans meet peacefully every full moon, but now the four great oaks that were once there have been chopped up) and stand on the Great Rock (a giant rock in the middle of the clearing), but no sign comes. While Firestar insists that the Clans must leave together, Blackstar (the ShadowClan leader) plans to move to the Twolegplace and Leopardstar (the RiverClan leader) doesn't want to leave. Days later, however, RiverClan begins to suffer from starvation too, and all four Clan leaders finally agree to leave together. The Clans make a long journey (with the help of the Tribe of Rushing Water when they cross the mountains) to their new home-the lake. Shortly after arriving, SPOILER Tallstar dies, but just before he does he changes his deputy from the tough warrior Mudclaw to Firestar's WindClan friend Onewhisker. Mudclaw and Brambleclaw's RiverClan half-brother Hawkfrost (another son of Tigerstar) lead a rebellion consisting of Mudclaw's supporters against Onestar and his supporters; ThunderClan helps Onestar, and Mudclaw is killed by a tree that is struck by lightning and falls on him. During the battle, Leafpaw is hit by fleeing ShadowClan warriors during the battle and nearly falls into the hollow ThunderClan now lives in; however, Crowfeather (Crowpaw was made a warrior during the journey through the mountains with the Clans) saves her from falling to her death and admits that he has fallen in love with her. Leafpaw confesses her love to him too, but also says "But I'm a medicine cat." The battle soon ends and Crowfeather is forced to return to his Clan. By now borders have been set among the Clans and soon Leafpaw finds a way for the medicine cats and leaders to communicate with StarClan-the Moonpool, a special place where if a cat drinks from the water and goes to sleep, he/she will meet StarClan in his/her dreams. Leafpaw is given her full name, Leafpool, at the Moonpool, and Onestar receives his nine lives. Meanwhile, Squirrelpaw (now Squirrelflight) has been suspicious of Brambleclaw despite her love for him-she has noticed that he trusts Hawkfrost, who she despises. She starts paying more attention to fellow warrior Ashfur to make Brambleclaw jealous, which starts a love traingle between the three. Leafpool has a romantic problem of her own-she and Crowfeather love each other deeply, but everything about their relationship is wrong and forbidden. Leafpool desperately confides in StarClan to give her advice on what to do, and they tell her to follow her heart. So she leaves the Clans with Crowfeather, only to bump into Midnight, who tells them that badgers are attacking the Clans because the area around the lake once belonged to them. Soon, guilt overwhelms the two cats, and they return to the Clans to help. The Clans drive out the badgers, but SPOILER Cinderpelt is killed and is reborn in the form of Cinderkit, one of Sorreltail's (a warrior who is Leafpool's best friend) kits. Crowfeather, who came to help ThunderClan, returns to his own Clan, knowing that deep down Leafpool chose her Clan over him and that their relationship was over. Later on, Leafpool has a dream where she is in a dark and dreary forest. She arrives in ThunderClan's original camp (not the new one) and sees Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost sitting by Tigerstar-who is teaching them his ways! Leafpool, like Squirrelflight, is suspicious of the ThunderClan deputy (note that Graystripe, the former deputy, was captured by Twolegs before the journey to their new home begun; Brambleclaw was eventually named the new deputy). During her dreams, Leafpool also receives a sinister prophecy: "Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red." Brambleclaw, urged on by his father in his dreams, plots with Hawkfrost to take over the Clans; however, when Hawkfrost catches Firestar in a Twoleg animal trap and urges Brambleclaw to kill Firestar and become leader, SPOILER Brambleclaw's loyalty to his Clan wins out and he kills Hawkfrost to save Firestar. Squirrelflight and Leafpool, noticing the absence of their father and Brambleclaw, run into the forest and find Brambleclaw and Firestar-and Hawkfrost, who is lying on the lakeshore, blood pouring out of a wound in his neck and turning the lake red. Squirrelflight eagerly chooses Brambleclaw over Ashfur to be her mate, and Leafpool is relieved, knowing that peace has finally arrived.
WARRIORS:POWER OF THREE:A long time ago, SPOILER Firestar received a strange prophecy foretelling that three cats with the power of the stars in their paws, who are also Firestar's kin, will be born. Now, back in the present, the third generation of heroic cats has come-the Three. As the three cats grow up, they go through rough times, and rifts are driven deeply among the Clans. They soon learn about the prophecy about them, and also SPOILER that one of the Three isn't even part of it-a different cat is. Will they bring peace to the Clans, or death?
WARRIORS:OMEN OF THE STARS:The remaining two of the Three have finally found the third cat. As they go through even rougher times, SPOILER it turns out that the Dark Forest (cat "hell") is rising in power, and going to wage war with the Clans. The Three also learn that there is a fourth cat that they need in order to survive. In the end, the final battle comes, and the fourth cat, who is really SPOILER Firestar, defeats the leader of the Dark Forest, his dead rival Tigerstar. Firestar gives up his life in the process. Peace is restored, and the Clans live happily forevermore.
WARRIORS:DAWN OF THE CLANS:All I know about this is that it takes you back in time to the literal dawn of the Clans, and you learn how the Clans came to be.
My Review
I have been reading Warriors for a long time now, and I REALLY like it. The adventures of the cats are always epic, full of awesome battles, and there is a lot of suspense that keeps you reading. However, occasionally I found a spelling mistake in every few books or so, and in some of the books there was a lot of "waiting"-in other words, the main characters had to wait in suspense before something epic came or happened. All the suspense did cause me to get bored, but just before I would give up on reading Warriors something epic would happen that would make me keep reading. The stories are also quite unique and interesting, and are always full of action and adventure. Overall, this is a really good book series.
Final rating:4/5 stars |
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