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" and "The First Arc" 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 and will be entitled Dawn of the Clans.

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 four lengthier individual books entitled Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, SkyClan's Destiny,Crookedstar's Promise and the upcoming "Yellowfang's Secret". 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. There is also the Dark Forest which some cats such as Tigerstar and Hawkfrost and other evil cats go. In the past, SkyClan was a fifth Clan that was driven out by the other Clans, 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 contained within and part of Silverpelt (the Milky Way), 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, and wounds can be healed). StarClan warriors keep watch over the Clans, usually watching the Clan they lived in while alive. 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, Hunter 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. The cats there are bloodthirsty for power, and will do anything to rise to the top. Cats known to walk the Dark Forest include Tigerstar, Thistleclaw, Hawkfrost, Brokenstar, Darkstripe, Hawkheart, Shredtail, Snowtuft, Mapleshade, Sparrowfeather, Clawface and Antpelt who eventually gets killed again by Ivypool.

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 after he or she goes to the Moonpool or Moonstone. A leader conducts important ceremonies, such as promoting warriors and making kits into apprentices. The leader's name ends with the suffix -star. A deputy is second-in-command, and succeeds the leader when he or she loses his or her last life. The deputy's job is mainly organizing patrols and other everyday tasks. In order to be chosen as deputy, a cat must already be a warrior, and have mentored at least one apprentice. The exception to this rule is if a medicine cat receives a prophecy and the cat depicted has not mentored an apprentice, like in the case of Brambleclaw or Crookedjaw who in Crookedstar's Promise, did not finish mentoring Sedgepaw. 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. Medicine cats are not allowed to have kits or mates, as it is said 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 or retires; however, they will usually 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. Apprenticeships usually last approximately six moons (months). The apprentices need to pass assessments in order to approach the stage of becoming a warrior. The warriors and apprentices are the only ones, besides the leader and deputy, who fight for the Clan. Warrior name suffixes (e.g. -claw, -heart, -pelt, -fur, -flight, -tail, -whisker, -pool, -wing, -feather) are selected by the leader to represent the individual cat's strengths. When a cat becomes old, or, in some cases, injured severely and permanently, he/she retires to become an elder. 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. Clans also have queens, who are she-cats expecting or caring for their kits, but return to warrior duties when not expecting or nursing kits. A queen is not obligated to reveal the identity of her kits' father. The name of a kit is decided by the mother, occasionally the father, and has something to do with their appearance, or in some cases, something special to the namer of the cat (e.g. Brokenkit broke Yellowfang's heart). A kit's name always ends with the suffix -kit. Kits become apprentices when they are six moons old. All apprentices' names end with the suffix -paw.

Clan terminology

The cats use their own terms to describe certain things. Examples of this are the terms "twoleg" (person), "horseplace" (a stable), "halfbridge" (a dock), crowfood (rotten prey), and fresh-kill (prey killed recently). The cats also use more practical ways of measuring time and distance: sunhigh and moonhigh are noon and midnight, respectively. A moon is a used to indicate a month (but really indicates a lunar month). The seasons have their own names as well, with newleaf being spring, greenleaf being summer, leaf-fall being autumn, and leaf-bare being winter. Distance terms vary, from a kittenstep to a tree-length, but the most common examples are fox-length, tail-length, and occasionally mouse-length. Insults, exclamations, and phrases are also used. "Mouse-brain","snake-heart" "mouse dung", and "fox dung" are common expressions; "mouse-brain" is used as an insult, whereas "mouse dung" and "fox dung" are exclamations, usually used in frustration and anger. There are other examples of common phrases: a "mouse-hearted" cat is cowardly, while a "fox-hearted" cat is cruel or cunning. The term "fish-face" is used by ThunderClan to refer to RiverClan cats. "Great StarClan", and "What in StarClan's name?" are used as exclamations of surprise and shock. "Thank StarClan!" is used as an exclamation of gratitude. A "thunderpath" is a road, while "twoleg monsters" are cars, trucks, vans, and other vehicles.

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 cat, or "kittypet", 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, later in the series. 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.

In the third book, Forest of Secrets, Fireheart becomes deputy of the Clan after Tigerclaw tries to kill Bluestar and fails: he is banished from the Clan. Bluestar eventually dies in A Dangerous Path, sacrificing her life to protect the Clan from dogs sent by Tigerstar, who is now the leader of 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, leader of RiverClan, agrees, but Firestar and Tallstar, the leader of WindClan, refuse. Tigerstar then tries to use BloodClan to take over the Clans, but Scourge kills Tigerstar and decides to take over the forest for himself. The four Clans unite, and fight against BloodClan. Firestar kills Scourge during the battle, losing his own first life as well, 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 Thunderpath (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 stay with the Tribe, but later run away. However, they then go back to help defeat Sharptooth. After luring Sharptooth into the cave where the Tribe lives, the cats attempt to fight him off. Feathertail jumps onto a rock spike on the roof of the cave and plummets to the floor with it, falling on Sharptooth and crushing him, sacrificing her life to 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 a large group of badgers were attacking ThunderClan. Upon returning, they find that a badger has killed Cinderpelt, the ThunderClan medicine cat, while she was helping Sorreltail give birth. Shortly after, Leafpool discovers that Cinderpelt in reincarnated as Cinderkit one of Sorreltail's kits, though Cinderkit does not know this herself. Cinderkit follows the path of a warrior in her new life, and gets her warrior name, Cinderheart.

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 by force. 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 in a fox trap, 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 from the trap. 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", which was given to Firestar in Firestar's Quest by Skywatcher before dying. The series follows three young cats named Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze (originally named Hollykit, Jaykit, and Lionkit, then renamed Hollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw) 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, where he is then able to see. Lionblaze has the power to never get hurt in a fight. Hollyleaf does not have any power, and is later revealed not to be the third cat foretold in the prophecy.

In Dark River the siblings search for missing WindClan kits with help from two WindClan apprentices, Breezepaw and Heatherpaw. While searching, the tunnels flood, almost killing them, however, everyone eventually gets out safely. 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 loner 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 apparently 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. The tunnels then collapsed on Hollyleaf which trapped and/or killed 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, the series consists of six books. All six books have been published, entitled The Fourth Apprentice, Fading Echoes, Night Whispers, Sign of the Moon, The Forgotten Warrior, and The Last Hope.

In The Fourth Apprentice, Dovepaw finds out that she has a special power, which is to hear and see things that nobody else can. Dovepaw sees beavers building a beaver dam that is blocking the river upstream far away, 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. Firestar is told of Dovepaw's beaver idea, and he announces it at the Gathering (while not revealing that it was Dovepaw's idea). After a discussing it with the three other leaders, they decide to send a patrol with two cats from each Clan. The patrol goes upstream in an effort to restore the river flow and end the drought. While they are away Jayfeather is attacked at the Moonpool by Breezepelt of WindClan and a Dark Forest cat. He is rescued by Honeyfern (a StarClan warrior) who fights them off. Rippletail is killed when a beaver rips his shoulder during an attempted battle to kill them and destroy the dam. Lionblaze and Dovepaw recruit three kittypets to help destroy the dam. Just before the beavers return, and the dam is about to collapse, the water floods and destroys it. When Lionblaze and Dovepaw have returned, Poppyfrost gives birth to Molekit and Cherrykit. Jayfeather then tells Lionblaze that the Dark Forest is rising and Lionblaze confesses to once being trained by Tigerstar. Jayfeather then realises the Dark Forest is training cats to fight.

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. Ivypaw becomes envious of the attention that Dovepaw is receiving, and demands to know why she is hanging out with the older warriors and visiting Firestar often lately. Later on, a tree falls on the camp and ThunderClan manages to evacuate in time, thanks to Dovepaw's far-reaching senses. However, Longtail 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 a sign from StarClan (Hawkfrost). Russetfur, ShadowClan's deputy, 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 as StarClan are arguing about the battle with ThunderClan and ShadowClan. The book then continues with ShadowClan and ThunderClan going home after the battle. Lionblaze is guilty that he killed Russetfur trying to save Firestar. Further on, Ivypaw continues to meet with the Dark Forest in her dreams and eventually Jayfeather finds out. After he found out, he tells Lionblaze. Dovepaw overhears this. She confronts Lionblaze and Jayfeather and demands that they ask Ivypaw to stop, however Jayfeather thinks they should use Ivypaw to learn about how the Dark Forest warriors are training their recruits. Dovepaw gets angry when she hears this. Meanwhile, Lionblaze and Cinderheart are in love with each other. Later on, Dovepaw and Tigerheart fall in love and start meeting each other every night. 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 a fox. No cat is badly injured, but Lionblaze begs Firestar to let him drive off the fox. Lionblaze manages to drive off the fox and with no injuries. Cinderheart is told about Lionblaze's prophecy, and becomes convinced Lionblaze is too good for her. Meanwhile, Ivypaw thinks that maybe the Dark Forest is a bit dangerous. When Dovepaw goes to meet Tigerheart one night, Ivypaw follows her sister. She confronts Dovepaw and Tigerheart, and when she failed to win over Dovepaw, she tried to convince her to stop seeing Tigerheart by telling Dovepaw that he was training in the Dark Forest as well. Dovepaw refuses to believe Ivypaw. They are interrupted by a ShadowClan patrol. Tigerheart shoves Dovepaw under some bracken, but Ivypaw got captured by the patrol. Ivypaw is later exchanged for catmint that Littlecloud, the medicine cat, needs. Dovepaw believes that Tigerheart used her on purpose to find the location of the herbs, and thinks that he never loved her. 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 to let Flametail die. That same night, Ivypaw returns to the Dark Forest in her dreams. Brokenstar finds her and says he will "test" her loyalty to the Dark Forest. He leads her to a clearing in the Dark Forest, where a confused Flametail is standing. Brokenstar commands Ivypaw to kill Flametail. Ivypaw refuses to kill Flametail, so Brokenstar threatened to take Dovepaw's life if Ivypaw did not do as he said. Having no choice, Ivypaw leaps on Flametail, but is stopped by Tigerheart. Tigerstar joins in, praising Tigerheart for his bravery and adding that Flametail only knew how to mix herbs, so his presence did not bother him. The novel ends with Tigerstar telling his companions he is confident Ivypaw will fight for the Dark Forest when the time comes.

In The Sign of the Moon, Ivypaw and Dovepaw get their warrior names of Ivypool and Dovewing. Jayfeather and Lionblaze find signs that indicate the possibility that Hollyleaf might not be dead, when a tunnel very close to the spot where rocks supposedly buried Hollyleaf (when Icecloud falls through the shallow roof of the tunnel) is discovered. At a Gathering, Dovewing searches for Tigerheart but denies loving him. Midway through the book, Jayfeather, Dovewing, Foxleap, and Squirrelflight visit the Tribe of Rushing Water when Jayfeather receives a dream from Rock, who insists he go to the mountains for a mysterious purpose. While there, Jayfeather is again sent into centuries before his own time, to convince the ancient Tribe ancestors to stay in the mountains, as they are weary and very close to returning to the lake (their previous home). Jayfeather (known as "Jay's Wing" in the ancient time he's visiting) succeeds in the mission Rock assigned him, and even completes the most important task of all: assigning the new Stoneteller of the Tribe in the ancient times, and in his own time. He appoints Half Moon as the Stoneteller of ancient times (who he has a brief relationship with, but as expected, it does not work out) and Crag Where Eagles Nest as the Stoneteller of modern times. While in his slight relationship with Half Moon, Jayfeather is tempted to never return to his own time and stay with her to become mates. Meanwhile Ivypool and Blossomfall go exploring in the cave (that Icecloud fell in) and get lost, but a mysterious cat leads them out after a scrawny ginger tom tells them to follow a path out. Meanwhile, Jayfeather is told a new prophecy: "The end of the stars draws near, Three must become four, to battle the darkness that last forever.

The Forgotten Warrior begins with Jayfeather waking up from a nightmare. He remembers that Lionblaze told him about how Briarlight snuck out with Bumblestripe and was almost eaten by dogs, Lionblaze saving them without getting hurt. Briarlight tells Jayfeather how she found a tuft of black fur in the back of the herb store, and Jayfeather recognizes it as Hollyleaf's. While Dovewing and Ivypool are on patrol, Dovewing fears that she lost her special power, being unable to hear, see, or smell farther than an ordinary cat. Birchfall reveals to Ivypool that he is training in the Dark Forest, to Ivypool's horror, though she hides it. On the way back, a WindClan patrol accuses them for washing their paws in the river, believing the river to be WindClan territory. Sorreltail stops them before there is a fight. When chasing a squirrel, Dovewing almost passes the ShadowClan border. Tigerheart spots her and tells Dovewing that his sister Dawnpelt wants to take revenge on ThunderClan because she suspects that Jayfeather killed her brother Flametail. Later, Molekit and Cherrykit become apprentices. Brackenfur tells the Clan that Sorreltail will be having kits. Dovewing confesses to Lionblaze that she is afraid that she had lost her powers. Lionblaze comforts her but he feels nervous. WindClan accuses ThunderClan of crossing the border. They deny it but WindClan is jumpy. Later, Molepaw and Cherrypaw enter camp with their mentors announcing that they were attacked by foxes. They tell them how a stranger scared the fox off before any serious injuries were inflicted. The rest of the Clan thinks that the new apprentices are making it up, but Jayfeather and Lionblaze thinks that it might be Hollyleaf. Lionblaze convinces Firestar to let him track down the stranger so he does. He discovers Sol and brings him back to camp. Bumblestripe is in love with Dovewing and the two go on a midnight walk. Her power finally comes back during this walk, much to Dovewing's delight. Afterward, her and Bumblestripe start getting closer to one another. In a dream, Yellowfang tells Jayfeather to tell Cinderheart about her past so she can help the Clan with her medicine cat abilities.. He refuses but tells Cinderheart later anyway. While on a walk, Dovewing and Ivypool go into the tunnels underground. They hear Sol discussing an attack on ThunderClan with WindClan. Dovewing and Ivypool are overheard by the cats and they try to escape. They find Hollyleaf and she helps them get out. Lionblaze sees her and brings her back to the Clan. Hollyleaf reveals that she killed Ashfur with Brambleclaw's support. Brambleclaw lies to the Clan, saying Ashfur's death was an accident. Hollyleaf also tells everyone that she saved the apprentices from the fox attack, not Sol. Everyone welcomes her except for only a few. Sorreltail goes on a walk and gives birth outside of the hollow and names her kits Lilykit and Seedkit. Cinderheart is now convinced that she should be a medicine cat, revealing to the Clan that she is Cinderpelt reborn. Yellowfang is mad at Jayfeather for telling Cinderheart her past, but Jayfeather tells her that it was not his idea. Yellowfang becomes nervous, saying she made a mistake about telling Cinderheart. Hollyleaf begins tunnel training to help with the fight with WindClan. Ivypool is still visiting the Dark Forest at nights. When she tells Brokenstar that she wants to teach the cats, he tells her to kill Antpelt again. Ivypool wins and kills Antpelt, who fades and disappears, showing how that the Dark Forest cats can be killed. In the end, ThunderClan wins the battle with WindClan by pushing them into the tunnels. After, Dovewing and Hollyleaf go back to ThunderClan.

In The Last Hope, Ivypool is training the apprentices of the Dark Forest, when Applefur appears with her apprentices, Blossomfall and Hollowflight, and states that the two want to battle Dark Forest warriors instead of apprentices. Tigerstar appears and states that the apprentices need to know each others' moves in case they need to fight alongside each other. He orders the apprentices to wake up back in their nests, because there is a private senior warrior meeting going on. Ivypool insists that she goes because she is a mentor, but Mapleshade dismisses this. Ivypool eavesdrops as Brokenstar explains the Dark Forest's master plan, using his claws to create a diagram. They agree to attack at the very heart of the Clan. After all of the cats leave, Ivypool sneaks forward to take a peek at the diagram, but is awakened by her sister, Dovewing. Jayfeather debates whether to go to the Moonpool or not, as he was asked to step down from being a medicine cat due to Dawnpelt's false accusations. Briarlight urges Jayfeather to go to the Moonpool, but he dismisses this. He heads out of the hollow, but realizes that Firestar is following him. Firestar speaks to him and he decides to go to the Moonpool. Yellowfang tells him he must tell Dovewing and Lionblaze about the prophecy. He asks her to talk to Flametail, but due to the boundaries in StarClan, she cannot help him. Later in his dream at the Moonpool, Brambleberry tells him that they must unite all the Clans together as one to fight the Dark Forest. After that, he has another dream, but this time, in the Dark Forest. Brokenstar appears and shows Jayfeather the training warriors and apprentices. Jayfeather is horrified as he realizes that so many cats are training from each Clan, secretly training at night while their Clanmates are sleeping. Before his dream ends, the Dark Forest warriors lunge at him and hit him as a wave. He then wakes up, blind again. He finds Mothwing at the Moonpool, and she asks if he is alright. Mothwing is aware that something is wrong with the Clans, and Jayfeather confirms this. He reveals all of the secrets to her about the Dark Forest, the final battle, and their own Clanmates training with the evil cats. Mothwing observes that many of her Clanmates act odd lately: restless and argumentative. Jayfeather tells her that her brother Hawkfrost is in the Dark Forest.

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 five Super Editions: Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, SkyClan's Destiny and Crookedstar's Promise. One more Super Edition is going to be released on October 9, 2012, entitled Yellowfang's Secret, which is about the former ShadowClan and ThunderClan medicine cat Yellowfang. They are standalone stories and as the titles imply, the first features Firestar, the second features Bluestar, the third features the modern SkyClan a few months after Firestar's Quest, and the fourth features Crookedstar, the leader of RiverClan.

Firestar's Quest

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 Leafkit and Squirrelkit. 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

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 Stonekit , Mistykit, and Mosskit and her secret mate Oakheart, 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. The prophecy is "Like fire you will blaze through the forest, but beware even the most powerful flames can be quenched by water". However, Goosefeather eventually becomes insane, pushing Bluestar to follow the prophecy at all costs.

SkyClan's Destiny

SkyClan's Destiny was released on August 3, 2010. SkyClan's Destiny the book follows Leafstar, and her struggle to rebuild the once-lost Clan. The book 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", kittypets 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. SkyClan is next seen in the manga series SkyClan and the Stranger.

Crookedstar's Promise

Crookedstar's Promise was released on July 5, 2011. It takes place during the same time as Bluestar's Prophecy and explains how Stormkit became Crookedkit. The book describes the promise that Crookedkit made to a Dark Forest cat, who he believed was a StarClan cat, named Mapleshade. She tells him that she can give him anything he wants, power over his Clanmates and the other Clans as long as he is faithful to his Clan and puts all other things aside. As a young warrior, Crookedjaw pledges his undying loyalty to RiverClan in exchange for the promise of power, not realizing that his pledge will haunt him when he becomes the leader of his Clan.

Yellowfang's Secret

Yellowfang's Secret is an upcoming Super Edition about the past ThunderClan medicine cat Yellowfang, and about her life in ShadowClan, being the medicine cat. It is said to be very emotional and is due to be released on October 9, 2012.

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. Enter the Clans is an upcoming field guide set for release in June 26, 2012.

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. Four of the manga series consist of three volumes, though The Rise of Scourge is a standalone book.

Graystripe's Trilogy

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. It 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

The Rise of Scourge was released on June 24, 2008 and unlike the other manga, it only has a single volume. It was the result of a questionnaire on the official Warriors website, which had asked fans what they wanted to see in a new Warriors book. 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

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

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.

SkyClan and the Stranger

SkyClan and the Stranger is another trilogy which is about SkyClan and how Sol came to know about the Clans. It begins with The Rescue (Warriors), which was released on July 5, 2011. The second book is called Beyond the Code and was released November 22, 2011, and the third book is called After the Flood and was released April 3, 2012.

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 107 weeks, as of December 4, 2011.

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's Best Books of the Year (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

A theme in the series is forbidden love, examples being Bluestar with Oakheart, Graystripe with Silverstream, Leafpool with Crowfeather, Yellowfang with Raggedstar, and Dovewing with Tigerheart. 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 or Cloudtail do 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. All books in the series heavily feature the influence of StarClan, not just as the cats think of them, but in terms of explicit prophecies for StarClan which inevitably come true. A few scenes actually take place within StarClan itself, with no earthly cats present as point-of-view characters. Thus, while the differences in belief is a clear minor theme, the existence of an afterlife and the influence of "cat spirits" who have passed on and yet retain their earthly identities is integral to all of the plot arcs in the series.

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. Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset from The New Prophecy, as well as all of the Omen of the Stars books so far, are available in an audiobook format. The New Prophecy 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 Omen of the Stars audiobooks are spoken by Kathleen McInerney, a pseudonym of Veronica Taylor, who is best known for having provided the voice of Ash Ketchum of the Pokémon anime in the past. 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 and Italy.

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.

Two short stories, titled After Sunset: The Right Choice? and The Elders' Concern were included with the Warriors mobile application. The Elders' Concern has been noted to contain timeline errors. Taking place after Bluestar's selection of Fireheart for deputy, it is about the elder Halftail, who is unhappy with the decision, and wakes the other elders to discuss it with them. In After Sunset: The Right Choice?, Leafpool runs into Brambleclaw in the evening of the day he had killed Hawkfrost; Brambleclaw confides in her his worry that the event was a sign that he was unfit to be deputy.

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, Dovewing, Ivypool, Flametail, and Stormfur.

Mobile application

On June 30, 2011, an official iOS application was released on the iTunes App Store. It contains information about the books in the series, profiles of the Clans and major characters (including app-exclusive information such as the name of Firestar's mother), an interactive timeline and maps, two application-exclusive short stories, and a trivia game.

E-book only works

"Hollyleaf's Story"

"Hollyleaf's Story" was released on March 3, 2012. It takes place from the time when Hollyleaf went into the caves and was thought to be dead in Sunrise. The book goes on until she goes to the tunnels to find that Ivypool and Dovewing are spying on Sol and the Windclan cats. When she first goes into the cave, she is saved by Fallen Leaves and lives with him for the remainder of her time in the caves. The book also tells of her helping the ThunderClan cats in several ways. It was released in e-book form only and is currently unavailable in print.

External links

• Official website
• Warriors Wiki at Wikia