Warriors (novel series)

Warriors

Boxed sets of the Warriors and New Prophecy series.
Warriors Warriors: The New Prophecy Warriors: Power of Three Warriors: Omen of the Stars
Author	Erin Hunter
Illustrator	Wayne McLoughlin
Country	United Kingdom/United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature Fantasy
Publisher	HarperCollins
Published	2003–present

Warriors is a series of children's fiction novels published by HarperCollins and written by Erin Hunter, a pseudonym used by authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland; the plot is developed by editor Victoria Holmes. The series follows the adventures of four Clans of wild cats in their forest homes. The four Clans are ThunderClan, WindClan, ShadowClan and RiverClan. SkyClan, the long-forgotten fifth Clan of the forest, is later introduced in the stand-alone novel Firestar's Quest. The novel SkyClan's Destiny continues their adventure. There are currently four series, each containing six books. The first, Warriors (often called "Original Series" to differentiate it from the later series), was published from 2003 to 2004. Warriors: The New Prophecy, published from 2005 to 2006, followed the first series, chronicling the Clans as they move to a new home. The third story arc, Warriors: Power of Three, was published from 2007 to 2009. The current series, Warriors: Omen of the Stars, began with The Fourth Apprentice, which was released on November 24, 2009, and continues where the third series left off. A fifth series has been requested by HarperCollins. Major themes in the series include forbidden love, nature versus nurture, the reactions of different faiths meeting each other, and characters being a mix of good and bad. The authors draw inspiration from several natural locations and other authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and William Shakespeare.

Other books have been released in addition to the main series, including three lengthier individual books entitled Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, and SkyClan's Destiny. Four field guides and several volumes of original English-language manga, produced as a collaboration between HarperCollins and TOKYOPOP, have been published as well. In addition to the books, the authors have also written two short stories and two plays. The Warriors series, with the exception of the manga, has been released in an e-book format for popular e-readers such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle. The series has also been translated into several languages. In addition, the series has a website, which features games, promotional videos, quizzes, a message board, and news.

Warriors has received mostly positive reviews, but has also been criticized for having a confusingly large number of characters. Critics have compared it to the Redwall series, though commenting that the series is less elegantly written. Although nominated for several awards, Warriors has yet to receive any major literary prizes. The series has also reached the New York Times Bestseller List, and has found popularity in places such as Trinidad and China.

Setting and characters

Main article: List of Warriors characters

In the Warriors series, there are four Clans of cats that live in the forest: ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan. StarClan is a group made up of the Clans' spiritual ancestors who give guidance to the Clans. In the past, SkyClan was a fifth Clan that was driven out , as their territory was destroyed by humans building a town, but Firestar revives it in Firestar's Quest. Each Clan lives in their own territory, which they defend and hunt in. Each Clan has their own prey and special skills which suit their territory's terrain. As well, BloodClan is a group of stray city cats; however, they are not considered to be a true Clan, as they do not believe in StarClan.

After death, most of the spirits of Clan cats join StarClan. StarClan is said to be represented by the Milky Way (Silverpelt), and each individual star represents a single dead warrior. Upon joining StarClan, the cats' spirits take the form in which they were most happy while living (i.e. blindness and deafness can be cured). StarClan warriors keep watch over the Clans, usually watching the Clan they formerly lived in. They provide guidance to the Clans, often through dreams and other signs or omens. Often, this occurs when medicine cats go to the Moonstone/Moonpool. In an author chat, Holmes said that StarClan can "just get glimpses of" the future, which they occasionally pass on.

Cats who have caused great pain and suffering to others during their lives go to a place called The Place of No Stars, which is also known as the Dark Forest. Cats known to walk the Dark Forest include Tigerstar, Thistleclaw, Hawkfrost, Brokenstar, Darkstripe, Hawkheart, Shredtail, Snowtuft, Mapleshade, Sparrowfeather and Clawface.

The Clans' origin has been described in Secrets of the Clans. It stated that there were originally many small groups of wild cats who lived in the forest. Without a code of honor to follow or ancestors to provide guidance, they constantly fought for food and territory. One night at Fourtrees, a large battle occurred and many cats died. The spirits of the cats killed in battle returned and told the remaining cats to "unite or die." Thus, five cats, Thunder, River, Shadow, Wind, and Sky, came forward to become the leaders of the first Clans, ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and SkyClan. The dead spirits became StarClan, and slowly, the code of honor that the cats follow was created (as described in Code of the Clans).

Beyond the Clans' territories lies a mountain range, inhabited by the Tribe of Rushing Water. The Tribe is shown to be similar to the Clans, yet it follows a different set of ancestors: the Tribe of Endless Hunting. The Tribe has a Healer, cave-guards, and prey-hunters, who each serve a different function in the Tribe. The Healer leads the Tribe and acts as a medicine cat, the cave-guards defend the Tribe, and the prey-hunters hunt for the Tribe.

Clan hierarchy

The Clans have a hierarchical system, with different types of cats doing different jobs within the Clan. The leader receives his or her nine lives and name from StarClan. A leader conducts important ceremonies, such as promoting warriors and making kits into apprentices. A deputy is second-in-command, and succeeds the leader when he or she dies. The deputy's job is mainly organizing patrols and other everyday tasks. There is also a medicine cat in each Clan, who is in charge of receiving messages from StarClan and using herbs to heal sick or injured cats. One unique thing about medicine cats is that they are not allowed to have kits or mates, with the theory that it would distract them from their duties. At the half-moon, the medicine cats from each Clan meet at the Moonstone or Moonpool to talk with StarClan. A medicine cat apprentice helps gather herbs and learns medicinal knowledge, but is still considered an apprentice until the current medicine cat dies; however, they will have received their full name before that. There are also regular warrior apprentices who train to hunt for and defend their Clan. These apprentices are mentored by warriors who pass down knowledge and skills they have learned from their own mentors. The warriors and apprentices are the only ones, besides the leader and deputy, who fight for the Clan. When a cat becomes old or, in some cases, injured severely and permanently, it retires to become an elder, having served its Clan well. However, most cats die in battles or accidents, so few cats make it to this position. Elders share their knowledge to the Clan and are cared for by the apprentices. The only task they carry out is burying dead Clanmates. The last position is a Queen. Queens are she-cats expecting or caring for their kits. Other than that, queens have no tasks and are cared for by the entire Clan. Kits become apprentices when they are six moons (months) old, repeating the cycle.

Main series

Warriors (original series)

The original series, released from 2003 to 2004, consists of six books: Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, and The Darkest Hour. The series follows a pet kitten named Rusty who has had dreams about the forest that lies beyond the neighborhood he lives in. He discovers the dreams are from StarClan, the spirits of the ancestors of the wild cats in the forest. One day, he ventures into the forest and is invited to join ThunderClan, one of the four groups of wild cats living in the forest. He accepts the invitation, and receives the name Firepaw.

Later, Firepaw receives his warrior name, Fireheart, and discovers that Tigerclaw, the deputy of ThunderClan, wishes to kill Bluestar in order to succeed her and become leader himself. Tigerclaw had killed the former ThunderClan deputy, Redtail, in a battle with RiverClan in hope of being chosen as the new deputy, a secret that Fireheart learned from Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw's apprentice.

In Forest of Secrets, Fireheart becomes deputy of the Clan after Tigerclaw's attempt to kill Bluestar fails and he is banished from the Clan. Meanwhile, Graystripe, Fireheart's best friend, falls in love with Silverstream, a silver tabby warrior from RiverClan, even though falling in love of cats from other Clans is forbidden. Silverstream dies while giving birth to kits; Graystripe takes his kits to join RiverClan, but returns to ThunderClan after realizing that ThunderClan is where he belongs.

Bluestar, Fireheart's leader, dies in A Dangerous Path, sacrificing her life to protect the Clan from dogs sent by Tigerstar, who is now the leader of the ShadowClan. Fireheart then becomes the leader, receiving his nine lives and new name, Firestar.

Tigerstar then, in The Darkest Hour, attempts to take over all four Clans, telling them that the leaders will rule together. Leopardstar agrees, but Firestar and Tallstar refuse. Tigerstar then tries to use BloodClan to take over the Clans, but Scourge kills Tigerstar and decides to take over the forest for themselves. The four Clans unite, and fight against BloodClan. Firestar kills Scourge during battle, thus defeating BloodClan and saving the forest.

Warriors: The New Prophecy

The second series, Warriors: The New Prophecy, was released from 2005 to 2006, and contains six books: Midnight, Moonrise, Dawn, Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset. This plot follows six cats: Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, Crowpaw (later Crowfeather), and Feathertail, who are sent on a mission by StarClan to the sun-drown place (ocean), with Feathertail's brother, Stormfur and a ThunderClan apprentice, Squirrelpaw (later Squirrelflight), accompanying them. There, a badger named Midnight tells the six cats that Twolegs (humans)will be making a road that cuts across the Clans' territories, forcing the Clans to leave.

On the way back to the forest, the traveling cats meets a group of cats called the Tribe of Rushing Water, who are being terrorized by a mountain lion called Sharptooth. The Clan cats agree to help fight him off and devise a plan. After luring Sharptooth into the cave where the Tribe lives, the cats attempt to fight him off. However, to save Crowpaw, whom she loved, from being killed, Feathertail jumps onto a rock spike on the roof of the cave. She plummets to the floor with it, falling on Sharptooth and crushing him, sacrificing her life to kill Sharptooth and save the Tribe.

In Starlight and Twilight, Leafpool and Crowfeather fall in love with each other. Crowfeather admits to Leafpool that he loves her when he saves her from falling off a cliff, in a situation similar to Feathertail's death. However, the warrior code says that she as a medicine cat cannot have a mate. They eventually abscond, but return because Midnight warns them that badgers are attacking ThunderClan. Upon returning, they find that a badger has killed Cinderpelt, the ThunderClan medicine cat, while she was helping Sorreltail give birth. This event reminds Crowfeather and Leafpool that they need to be with their Clans.

The series then centers around the prophecy "before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red". Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw have been meeting with their father Tigerstar in dreams, in which he is teaching them how to become Clan leader. Hawkfrost follows Tigerstar every step of the way, but Brambleclaw is split between loyalty to his leader, and his own ambition. Firestar appoints Brambleclaw deputy after finally accepting the possibility that Graystripe might never return. The series reaches its climax when Hawkfrost traps Firestar, and tells Brambleclaw to kill him. Brambleclaw decides that he does not want to become leader by force, and refuses to kill Firestar; instead, he frees him. Hawkfrost attacks Brambleclaw, but Brambleclaw kills Hawkfrost with the stick he used to free Firestar.

Warriors: Power of Three

The boxed set cover for Power of Three

The third series, titled Warriors: Power of Three, was released from 2007 to 2009, and includes: The Sight, Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, Long Shadows, and Sunrise. The plot focuses on the prophecy, "there will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws". The series follows three young cats named Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze who are Firestar's grandkits which makes them the cats of the prophecy. Jayfeather is blind, but soon discovers he has a unique power, as does one of his siblings: Jayfeather has the power to feel emotions and memories coming off of other cats and walk in their dreams, while Lionblaze has the power to never get hurt in a fight. Hollyleaf does not have a power, as she is later revealed not to be the third cat foretold in the prophecy.

Jayfeather becomes a medicine cat apprentice to Leafpool while Hollyleaf and Lionblaze train to become warriors. In Dark River, Lionblaze feels a forbidden love for Heathertail; they secretly meet in a set of tunnels underground beneath ThunderClan and WindClan territory. The two stop meeting when Lionblaze decided that his apprentice training was being affected by his secret night meetings. Later, to stop a battle between ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan, the siblings search for missing WindClan kits. While searching, the tunnels flood, almost killing them. Everyone eventually gets out safely, however. In Outcast, two cats from the Tribe request help to drive away a group of loners that are stealing prey from the Tribe. The Clans send a patrol to help. There, Jayfeather learns that the Tribe came from the lake, and tells his siblings about the prophecy.

In Eclipse, a lone cat called Sol warns Jayfeather and Leafpool that the sun will disappear. During a battle involving all four Clans, the sun disappears in an eclipse. Sol then persuades ShadowClan to lose faith in StarClan in Long Shadows. Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf fake a sign from StarClan to convince Blackstar that StarClan is real and should be followed. Sol is banished and disappears.

Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze learn in Sunrise that their true parents are Leafpool and Crowfeather, not Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw. During a Gathering, Hollyleaf reveals this to all the Clans, and then runs away into the tunnels because she could not stand the fact that her birth was against the warrior code, which meant a lot to her, which collapsed on her. The book ends with Jayfeather realizing that Hollyleaf was never meant to be part of the Three and that either Dovekit or Ivykit, grandkits of Firestar's nephew Cloudtail, is meant to be the third cat of the prophecy.

Warriors: Omen of the Stars

The fourth series is titled Warriors: Omen of the Stars, and is a direct continuation of the previous series. Like the three series before, this series will have six books. The first three books have been published, entitled The Fourth Apprentice, Fading Echoes and Night Whispers. The fourth book in the series is said to feature the Tribe of Rushing Water and is called Sign of the Moon. It will be released on April 5, 2011. The fifth book's title is The Forgotten Warrior.

In The Fourth Apprentice, Dovepaw, Birchfall and Whitewing's daughter, sees beavers building a beaver dam that is blocking the river upstream, causing the lake to dry up. When Dovepaw reveals this, Jayfeather and Lionblaze both realize that she is the third cat in the prophecy, as the beavers were in fact very far away. A patrol consisting of Dovepaw, Lionblaze, Toadfoot, Tigerheart, Rippletail, Petalfur, Whitetail, and Sedgewhisker go upstream in an effort to restore the river flow and end the drought. A cat helps the group on the way and tells them what Twolegs are doing. According to the cat,"Twolegs brought them here just for fun, I guess." Rippletail eventually dies while fighting the beavers; however, they manage to break the dam and restore the river flow to the lake.

In Fading Echoes, Hawkfrost visits Ivypaw in a dream, pretending to be her friend. Jayfeather goes to the Dark Forest with Yellowfang and Spottedleaf, and discovers that the Dark Forest cats are doing battle training. Firestar admits to the three that he knows about the prophecy and is surprised to find they already knew. The Three then start visiting Firestar daily. Ivypaw then gets full of envy. After one meeting,when Dovepaw came out, Ivypaw demands to know why she's hanging out with the older warriors and visiting Firestar lately. Originally, Ivypaw was going to tell Dovepaw about her visiting the Dark Forest, but then thinks that "if Dovepaw isn't going to tell her the secret, I'm not going to tell her mine". Later on, a tree falls on the camp and ThunderClan manages to evacuate in time, thanks to Dovepaw's far-reaching senses. However, Longtail goes back to get Mousefur's mouse and ends up dying. Briarlight goes after him and her backbone is broken, causing her to lose the ability to move her hind legs. The book ends in a battle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan, after Ivypaw claimed to receive sign from an ancestor (Hawkfrost). Russetfur is killed and Firestar loses a life. After the battle, Lionblaze and Jayfeather are sure that the battle should not have happened and suspect the Dark Forest caused it.

Night Whispers begins with ShadowClan and ThunderClan going home after the battle. Lionblaze is guilty that he killed Russetfur. Further on, Ivypaw continues to meet with the Dark Forest in her dreams and Jayfeather finds out. When he finds out, he tells Lionblaze. Eventually, Dovepaw finds out and gets upset. Ivypaw trains with the Dark Forest cats, making a friend out of Tigerheart. Later on, Dovepaw and Tigerheart form a relationship and start meeting each other every night. In this novel, a new point of view is introduced: Flametail, the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice. He travels to the Moonpool and receives news that he must abandon all ties with medicine cats and Clans. Meanwhile, Dovepaw tries to convince Ivypaw not to go to the Dark Forest, but the young she-cat is as oblivious as ever to the dangers. Later on, Dovepaw's extreme senses let her patrol know that the camp is being attacked by the fox. No cat is badly injured, but Lionblaze begs Firestar to let him drive off the fox. Firestar agrees, but has Dovepaw go with him. Lionblaze manages to drive off the fox and with no injuries. He tells Cinderheart the truth about his powers and she gets upset, deciding he has a destiny she can not interfere with. Meanwhile, Ivypaw thinks that maybe the Dark Forest is a bit dangerous. While Dovepaw meets Tigerheart one night, Ivypaw follows her sister, but later rescues her from a ShadowClan patrol, though got captured in the process. Ivypaw is later exchanged for herbs that Littlecloud, the medicine cat, needs. Ivypaw is getting nervous now as she goes into the Dark Forest, then finds out the truth: that Tigerstar is training her and the others to fight the Clans. She agrees to spy on the Dark Forest for Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovepaw. In ShadowClan territory, the lake has frozen over and Flametail plays games with his Clanmates. Unfortunately, the ice breaks and he is thrust under the water. Jayfeather tries to save him, but Rock appears and tells him not to save Flametail, for it will help ThunderClan in the great battle to come. Jayfeather obeys him, and lets Flametail go. The young medicine cat apprentice drowns and dies. The novel ends with Tigerstar telling his subjects that he is confident Ivypaw will fight for the Dark Forest when the time comes.

Other books

Super Editions

Super Editions are books in the Warriors series that are approximately double the length of a normal Warriors book. There are three Super Editions: Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy and SkyClan's Destiny. They are standalone stories and as the titles imply, the first features Firestar, the second features Bluestar, and the third features the modern SkyClan a few months after Firestar's Quest. One more super edition is being written. It will feature the RiverClan leader Crookedstar, and will be titled Crookedstar's Promise; it is due to be released on July 5, 2011.

Firestar's Quest, the first Warriors super edition, was released on August 25, 2007. It covers the time between The Darkest Hour and Midnight, and fills many plot gaps between the books, such as Longtail's blindness, Willowpelt's death, and the birth of Leafpool and Squirrelflight. The book follows Firestar and Sandstorm, who go on a journey to restore SkyClan, the fifth Clan of the forest that had been driven out when a Twolegplace (town) was built, and was scattered when it was attacked by rats in its new home.

Bluestar's Prophecy was released July 28, 2009. It covers Bluestar's life from her birth to the beginning of Into the Wild. It explains Bluestar's constant and unfailing trust of Whitestorm, her kits and secret mate, and tells about her struggle between her Clan and her heart. The book describes a prophecy given to Bluestar by her uncle, Goosefeather, the medicine cat at the time. However, Goosefeather eventually becomes insane, pushing Bluestar to follow the prophecy at all costs.

SkyClan's Destiny was released on August 3, 2010. SkyClan's Destiny takes place several months after Firestar's Quest. After Firestar leaves, SkyClan prospers, but not without challenges. The Clan's members are split over whether or not "daylight-warriors", house cats that join the Clan in the day and return to their owners at night, should be allowed to be part of the Clan. As well, a group of visiting rogues create challenges for the Clan.

Field Guides

Four field guides have also been published. They offer extra information, usually in the form of short stories, and are usually about 150 pages long. Secrets of the Clans is the first field guide to be released for Warriors. This book gives more details about the Clans never before revealed in the books. Cats of the Clans, featuring illustrations and descriptions of the cats, was released on June 24, 2008. Code of the Clans, which describes the warrior code's origins, was released on June 9, 2009." Battles of the Clans, released on June 1, 2010, is about past battles and each Clan's special battle tactic introduced in the form of short stories.

OEL manga series

File:Graystripetrilogy.jpg

The boxed set of Graystripe's Trilogy

Several series of original English-language manga have been produced by HarperCollins with TOKYOPOP. Three of the manga series consist of three volumes, though The Rise of Scourge is a standalone book.

Graystripe's Trilogy is a three volume series following Graystripe from the time that he was taken by Twolegs in Dawn until he returns to ThunderClan in The Sight was published as the first part of a partnership between TOKYOPOP and HarperCollins. These books tell how Graystripe and Millie found their way back to ThunderClan. It consists of 3 books: The Lost Warrior, Warrior's Refuge, and Warrior's Return. The final volume was published on April 22, 2008.

The Rise of Scourge was released on June 24, 2008 and unlike the other manga, it only has a single volume. The story follows Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, one of the antagonists in The Darkest Hour. It centers around his early years, when he was bullied as a kit for being small. The book follows him until he kills Tigerstar, who had attacked Scourge when he ventured into the forest as a kitten.

Tigerstar and Sasha, a manga trilogy about Tigerstar and Sasha has also been published. The story tells how Tigerstar and Sasha met each other and what happens after Sasha leaves Tigerstar and ShadowClan. The three books are Into the Woods, Escape from the Forest, and Return to the Clans. The third was released on June 9, 2009.

Ravenpaw's Path is another trilogy which is centered around Ravenpaw and his life on the farm with Barley after the BloodClan battles. Holmes has said that the story takes place in the second half of the year between the original series and the New Prophecy series, soon after Firestar and Sandstorm return to the Clan in Firestar's Quest. The three books are Shattered Peace, A Clan in Need and The Heart of a Warrior, which was released on August 3, 2010.

One more manga trilogy is being written about SkyClan and how Sol came to know about the Clans. The trilogy, entitled SkyClan and the Stranger, begins with The Rescue, due for release on July 5, 2011.

Inspiration and origins

New Forest, which became the base for the forest the cats live in

The series first began when HarperCollins asked Vicky Holmes to write a fantasy series about feral cats. Initially, Holmes was not very enthusiastic, since she "couldn't imagine coming up with enough ideas". She worked with the concept, however, expanding the storyline with elements of war, politics, revenge, doomed love, and religious conflict. Although the original plan was a stand-alone novel, enough material was created for several books, and the publisher decided upon a six volume series. The first volume, Into the Wild, was written by Kate Cary, under the pseudonym "Erin Hunter", and was completed in about three months. Holmes then began to work behind the scenes, editing and supervising details. Cherith Baldry joined the Erins to write the third book, Forest of Secrets.

The authors have named several other authors as sources of inspiration when writing the novels. In an online author chat, Cherith Baldry listed the authors that inspire her as including Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Shakespeare. In the same chat, Victoria Holmes stated that Jacqueline Wilson, Kathy Reichs and J. K. Rowling are some of the authors that inspire her. According to the official website, other authors who have inspired the writers include Enid Blyton, Lucy Daniels, Ellis Peters, Tess Gerritsen, Kate Ellis, Lisa Gardiner, Jaqueline Wilson and Meg Cabot. The authors have also mentioned several other sources of inspiration. The New Forest in southern England was the base for the forest where the original series took place. Other influential locations include Loch Lomond, and the Scottish Highlands. Nicholas Culpeper, a physician who used materials occurring in the natural world as medicine, has also had an influence on the Warriors series. His book, Culpeper's Herbal, is used as a source by the authors for the herbal remedies that the cats use in the books. In addition, the authors mentioned that they may use some fan-created names in future books. Also mentioned as a source of inspiration was Rambo.

Critical reception

The first book of the series, Into the Wild, was generally well-received, with reviewers calling it a "spine-tingling," "thoroughly engrossing" and "exciting ... action-packed adventure." One reviewer praised the authors for "creating an intriguing world ... and an engaging young hero, but another criticised the characters and imagined world as being "neither ... consistent nor compelling."

The large number of characters involved in the series has often been seen as a negative point; though one reviewer compared the "huge cast" to that of a Greek drama, others wrote that it was "hard to follow" and "a little confusing." The characters have also been criticised as being "somewhat flat" and "limited essentially to each individual's function within the clan."

As one reviewer put it, the cats in the series are "true to their feline nature," leading some critics to jokingly comment that the books will "leave readers eyeing Puss a bit nervously" and "[wonder] what dreams of grandeur may haunt the family cat." However, this realism also means that the series contains a relatively large amount of violence, with one critic stating that it is "not for the faint of heart." Several critics have compared Warriors to Brian Jacques' Redwall series, though one commented that it was "not as elegantly written." The New York Times called the series a "hit with young readers," specifically because of its "sprawling universe," and the series was able to stay on the New York Times Bestseller List for 92 weeks.

Awards and recognitions

Into the Wild was nominated for the 2006 Young Reader's Choice Awards, but lost to Christopher Paolini's Eragon. It was also listed on Booklist's Top 10 fantasy books for youth in 2003 and was a Book Sense 76 Pick. The Sight was nominated as the best Middle Readers book at Amazon.com's Best Book of 2007, and placed sixth out of the ten nominees, with six percent of the total votes. It was also nominated for the Children's Choice Book Awards. In 2006, Warriors also received an honorable mention for the best book series for Publisher Weekly's "On the Cuff" awards.

Themes

The most common theme in the series is forbidden love, examples being Bluestar with Oakheart, Graystripe with Silverstream, Leafpool with Crowfeather, and Yellowfang with Raggedstar. These loves were not allowed as some were with medicine cats while others were with cats in other Clans which are both against the Warrior Code, the code of honor the Clans must follow. Another theme featured in the novel is the reactions of different faiths when meeting each other. To show this, the Tribe of Rushing Water was introduced in Moonrise. In an author chat, Holmes explained that the books never say that the Clans or the Tribe of Rushing Water are right about faith, because both are "equally valid." This leads to fear and suspicion between them because they are afraid of things they do not understand. Holmes said that "ignorance is a very scary thing!" Non-belief, such as where Mothwing does not believe in StarClan, is also featured in the storyline. On the other hand, Holmes said that another central theme of the series is "faith and spirituality" in StarClan.

Another theme surfaces in how the books show characters that can be a mix of good and evil. Holmes has said she is fascinated by these "shades of gray" in personalities. Her example of this was when Bluestar, a relatively noble and honorable cat, gave up her kits for her own ambitions. Similarly, Holmes has also compared the theme to Brambleclaw and how nobody knew whether he was good or evil. A third major theme, often referred to as nature versus nurture, relates to whether a person is born the way he or she will be, or if other things shape that, as in the example of Brambleclaw. This theme ties into the "shades of gray" theme.

Publishers Weekly noted that friendship and responsibility were things that were taught to characters in the novels, while booksforyouths.com had a review which pointed out the idea that just as Clan cats shun house cats for their soft life, people should realise that it is necessary to experience hardships in life. A Storysnoops review noted that one of the themes was that "it doesn't matter where you come from, only who you are inside". In Dawn, the theme of cooperation is explored. The four Clans, normally hostile to each other, are forced to work together in order to find a new home. Other themes that have been pointed out include family, loss, honor, bravery, death, loyalty, and following rules.

Editions

All of the Warriors books except for the manga have been published as hardcovers, and the majority of them have also been published as paperbacks. The Fourth Apprentice, Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset are available in an audiobook format. The audiobooks are spoken by Nanette Savard, whose performance has been praised by reviewers. Audiofile wrote, "Nanette Savard brings out the youth of the cats who are struggling to help their clan survive and to protect each other from outside danger." The books in the four main series have also been released in an eBook format.

Foreign editions

File:Japan-DPath.jpg

The Japanese cover of A Dangerous Path.

The Warriors series was first published in the USA and the United Kingdom. Warriors is also sold in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Translations from English into other languages such as Czech, Lithuanian, Finnish, Japanese, French, Russian, Chinese and Korean have been published more recently. The first six books have been published in Korea and Germany. Fandom even exists in Trinidad and Singapore. The first two books have been printed in Poland.

Other media

Website

The Warriors website features Warriors screen savers, and E-cards, along with videos on "How To Draw Graystripe," the process of writing a manga book, and a video to promoting Cats of the Clans. There is also a "How To Draw Manga" page. In addition, there are games, including: quizzes, the New Prophecy Adventure, the Warriors Hunting Game, and the Warriors Adventure Game, a paper-and-pencil-based role-playing game. On the Q&A section of the site, Erin Hunter said that they are working on an online game that would be released in late 2010. It finished the first round of testing in summer 2010, but by January 2011, had not been released. Whether it will be a role-playing game is unknown. Erin Hunter has stated on the official Warriors website that there is still no plan for an official video game, but if there was, it would probably be based on a movie version of the Warriors series, which is currently not under consideration. Many fans have also created their own forum-based role-playing games.

Movie

During a July 2009 author chat, Victoria Holmes stated that there are currently no planned Warriors movies, and none under consideration:

Oh, the fickle world of movie making, well, there are currently no Warriors movies in production or even under consideration. The economy is not in a state to invest in a rather dark animation about feral cats, apparently. I promise I'll let you know if there are any changes.

In August 2010, she stated:

Well, never say never, but there are currently no Warriors movies in production, and no immediate plans.

Short stories

The first short story written by Erin Hunter was called Spottedleaf's Honest Answer. In it, Spottedleaf talks about her love for Firestar. It gives information on what happened in the Warriors series from Into the Wild to Firestar's Quest.

On January 20, 2009, another short story, called The Clans Decide, was released on the Warriors Ultimate Leader Election site, starring Firestar, who won an election through an online vote conducted in recognition of President Obama's Inauguration Day. The story is about the four Clans voting for a way to survive a tough leaf-bare (winter). Every cat at the meeting voted whether or not the Clans would work together to survive the leaf-bare. In the end, the Clans decided to work together to survive leaf-bare.

Plays

Written by Victoria Holmes for a tour, a play entitled After Sunset: We Need to Talk was first premiered on April 28, 2007, at the Secret Garden bookstore in Seattle, Washington. It details a meeting between Leafpool of ThunderClan and Crowfeather of WindClan after the events of Sunset. The script was released to the public at the official site for the Warriors series.

During a fund raising event in Russellville, Arkansas, Brightspirit's Mercy was performed by various high school drama students. The second of the two plays by Erin Hunter, Brightspirt's Mercy is about Jaypaw, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf. After going to a Gathering, where it is obvious all of the Clans except for ThunderClan are starving, three cats from StarClan appear to them: Brightspirit, and her parents, Shiningheart and Braveheart, characters created on Wands and Worlds, a fantasy fiction forum, in memory of a 10-year-old Warriors fan, Emmy Grace Cherry, and her parents, Dana and Jimmy Cherry, who were killed in a tornado in February 2007. They tell the three young cats that they must help feed the other Clans. Jaypaw is easily convinced, but Hollyleaf and Lionblaze are harder to win over. Eventually, they agree and hunt, then wait at the WindClan border for a patrol. Ashfoot, WindClan's deputy, accepts the gift, but Breezepaw, too proud to have help from another Clan, refuses to eat it. Jaypaw, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf then head towards another Clan's territory.

Trading cards

An example of a trading card, depicting Brambleclaw

In the Chinese translation of the series, "3-D trading cards" are packaged in each book. The 3-D effect is caused by stereoscopic lenticular printing. These cards feature pictures of the cats on the center of the bookcover with the Chinese and English names, and biographical information on the back. Current cards feature Firestar, Bluestar, Tallstar, Graystripe, Tigerstar, a collage of the 5 previous cats, Brambleclaw, Feathertail, Leafpool, Onestar, Crowfeather, Hawkfrost, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Blackstar, Squirrelflight, Breezepelt, Sandstorm, Oakheart, Dovepaw, and Ivypaw.

External links

• Official website
• Warriors Wiki at Wikia