Bravelands

Bravelands

The cover of Broken Pride, the first book in the series
Broken Pride Code of Honor Blood and Bones
Author	Erin Hunter
Cover artist	Owen Richardson
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Teen literature, fantasy
Publisher	HarperCollins
Published	2017-present
Media type	Print, e-book

Bravelands is a children's novel series written by a team of authors under the pseudonym Erin Hunter, who also wrote the Warriors series. The series follows the adventures of three animals: Fearless, a lion who was cast out of his pride and starts living among baboons, Thorn, a baboon who tries to rebel against his destiny, and Sky, an elephant whose mother was killed by a lion, gifted with a special ability to read bones. The story is set in the Bravelands, ruled by the Great Mother. The first book in the series Broken Pride was released on 6 June 2017 with a sequel titled Code of Honor expected to release on 6 February 2018 and the 3rd Book Blood and bone on the 2nd of october . Broken Pride shows the trio becoming close friends with each other in their attempt to answer the call of the wild. The series has been well received, with critics praising the realistic behavior of the characters, the excitement in the novels, and the description of the Bravelands, while criticizing it for its similarities to The Lion King.

Books

Broken Pride

Broken Pride is the first book in the series and was released on 6 June 2017. It begins with the white-backed vulture Windrider hearing a roar from the lion cub named Swiftcub of Gallantpride, which seems to make the sky shudder. Swiftcub earns his new name of Fearless. His father, Gallant, is challenged and killed by Titan and two of his fellow dishonorable lions, who take over his pride and rename it Titanpride. Fearless is carried away by a black eagle who drops him into a small forest called Tall Trees that is inhabited by an olive baboon troop called Brightforest Troop. They are convinced by their female prophet, called the Starleaf, that he is special and they adopt him and nickname him the Cub of the Stars. A year later, two of the young male baboons, Mud and Thorn, are trying to move up from their current ranks in a challenge known as the Three Feats. Mud (the son of the Starleaf) is a Deeproot, the lowest position in the troop and he is trying to get to Lowleaf. Thorn, on the other hand, is a Middleleaf and is trying to advance to Highleaf, the highest position surpassed only by the troop's leader, the Crownleaf. Thorn is motivated by the fact that Berry, whom he loves, is a Highleaf, so he will not be able to become mates with her unless he reaches her position. Nut, his bully, tries unsuccessfully to stop him, but ends up stopping Mud. Meanwhile, there is something else going on with the Great Mother's herd. The Great Mother is part of the African bush elephant herd called Strider and she channels the wisdom of the Great Spirit, a deity that rules all the animals of the Bravelands - lions, however, mostly do not believe in the Great Spirit though they still generally follow natural law (the Code); Nile crocodiles, meanwhile, both disbelieve in the Great Spirit and generally mock the Code. One of the elephants, Sky (the Great Mother's granddaughter), thinks that the local big waterhole is dangerous, after she read her deceased mother's bones and got a vision of a sinister baboon riding a lion, while the area around them is on fire and the waterhole is stained red with blood. Bark Crownleaf, the leader of the Brightforest baboons, meanwhile, is murdered and evidence suggests that she died battling with a spotted hyena. The new Crownleaf Grub throws Fearless out of the troop. Thorn accompanies him till the waterhole, where so many more animals are gathered, and Sky sees them and starts panicking, thinking they might be the ones from her vision. Fearless finds Loyal, who was a friend of his deceased father, but he ignores the older lion's advice and ventures close to his old pride, now Titan's. Titan, distracted by Fearless' presence, accidentally ignores the cheetahs who run off with his son, Ruthless. After being persuaded by Artful, his mate, Titan makes a pact with Fearless that if he can retrieve Ruthless, his mother Swift can continue to stay in the safety of the pride. Fearless, with the help of Thorn and Loyal, manages to retrieve Ruthless. At Tall Trees, Grub is poisoned, with the evidence pointing to Nut. Stinger, the father of Berry and baboon Fearless first met when he first joined Brightforest, is chosen as the new Crownleaf. Thorn later realises that Stinger himself poisoned Grub with the venom from scorpion tails put into the dead dik-dik Grub ate, and he was also one who killed Bark, making it look like the hyena she fought killed her. The Great Mother is soon mysteriously murdered and found dead in the water hole. Around her corpse, the water is stained red with blood and Sky realizes with horror that her vision has come true.

Code of Honor

The code of the wild has been broken. The elephant leader known as Great Mother has been murdered. And Bravelands is on the edge of chaos. Now a young baboon, elephant, and lion must come together to discover the truth before the balance of Bravelands is destroyed forever! <HarperCollonPublishers>

Blood and Bone

A great evil has risen. A murderer now leads the animals of the plains. As the elephant Sky leads her herd in a desperate search for Bravelands’ rightful leader, the baboon Thorn is forced to flee his old troop, and the lion Fearless, once their friend, is led astray by a tyrant. The balance of Bravelands is about to shatter—unless predator, prey, and scavenger unite as one. The beginning of the book sets off with the point of view of Windrider the vulture how tries to convince the swallow birds to stay in Bravelands with no succed.

Critical reception

The first book in the Bravelands series Broken Pride appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Common Sense Media gave it a rating of 4 out of 5, writing "Some of the situations and descriptions - murdered parents, adults trying to kill youngsters, predators stalking and devouring prey - may be too much for sensitive kids," while praising the book for its family values. School Library Journal criticizes the series for its similarities to the Lion King but writes, "Fans of Hunter's previous series will not be disappointed, and they will be anxious for the next installment in this new series." Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review and writes,"Deep characters, a complex plot, rich mythology, and a stunning setting all come together to prove once again that the Hunter collective are master storytellers. Fans of Warriors will thrill at the opportunity to travel from the forest to the savanna in this brand new series."

External links

• Official Website