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
Cover artist	Wayne McLoughlin
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature Fantasy
Publisher	Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins
Published	2003–present

Warriors is a series of children's fantasy novels published by HarperCollins. Though the books are published under the pseudonym of Erin Hunter, writing alternates between authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and the newly-recruited Tui Sutherland, with plot ideas by storyline editor Victoria Holmes. The series follows the adventures of four clans (ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan and RiverClan) of wild cats trying to survive in their forest homes. It currently consists of three miniseries, with a fourth announced, each containing six books. The first, Warriors, was published in 2003–2004, beginning with Into the Wild, and was followed by Warriors: The New Prophecy, published 2005–2006. The third, Warriors: Power of Three, has been underway since April 2007 and its fifth book, Long Shadows, was released on November 25, 2008. The final book of this miniseries, Sunrise, will be released April 21, 2009.

Other books have been released to supplement the main series, including a lengthier, individual book, titled Firestar's Quest, two field guides, and several volumes of original English-language manga, produced as a collaboration between HarperCollins. The series has also been released for the Amazon Kindle and translated into several languages.

Series

Warriors

HEY DOES JIMMY WALES EVER C THIS STUFF?? Do u read the warriors Jimmy? Can this question b answered 4 me then it can b deleted please.

This first chapter in the series follows a domesticated cat named Rusty who dreams about life in the forest. Against the warnings of his friend, Smudge, Rusty ventures into the forest, where he is attacked by another cat, later identified as Graypaw. As the fight settles, Rusty is invited to join ThunderClan, one of many warring cat clans. Rusty accepts, leaving his owners behind. In ThunderClan, Rusty is renamed Firepaw after a short bout between him and a young warrior, Longtail. Later on in the series, Fireheart (Firepaw who became a warrior at the end of the first book) discovers a plot by Tigerclaw (the deputy at the time) against the Clan in order to take over it. Fireheart stops him, Tigerclaw is banished, and Fireheart becomes deputy. Tigerclaw, however heads to ShadowClan to become leader. He then plots his revenge against ThunderClan. He releases a pack of dogs on the Clan, but is thwarted when Bluestar sacrifices herself to kill the dog pack's leader. Fireheart then becomes Firestar. Tigerstar then plots to take over all 4 Clans, combining ShadowClan and RiverClan into "TigerClan". When Firestar is ready to fight him with ThunderClan and WindClan in "LionClan", Tigerstar introduces BloodClan, a vicious band of killer cats from Twoleg (human) place. Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, kills Tigerstar with one blow and threatens to take over all the forest. The series draws climax when Firestar fights Scourge in the middle of the "new" LionClan (all 4 Clans together) verses BloodClan. The books in the series are: Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, and The Darkest Hour.

Warriors: The New Prophecy

The second series, called Warriors: The New Prophecy, centers around six cats from the four different Clans: The ThunderClan representative, Brambleclaw, the ShadowClan representative, Tawnypelt (Brambleclaw's sister), the WindClan representative Crowpaw (later Crowfeather), and the RiverClan representative, Feathertail, with Feathertail's brother, Stormfur, and the ThunderClan cat, Squirrelpaw (Firestar's daughter, later Squirrelflight), tagging along. A badger named Midnight tells the six that the Twolegs will make the Thunderpath (road) that cuts across the Clans' territories wider and that the Clans would have to leave. On the way back to the forest, the meet a strange group of cats called the Tribe of Rushing Water. A mountain lion named Sharptooth was preying off of the Tribe cats one by one. Feathertail kills him, but it costs her life. They then lead the Clans to a new territory by a lake, with terrain suitable for each clan. The series then centers around the prophecy "Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red". Hawkfrost decides to follow the orders of Tigerstar, who appears to him in dreams, and plans to take over the territory with Brambleclaw, who is split between loyalty to Firestar and his own ambition. The series reaches it's climax when Hawkfrost traps Firestar, and tells Brambleclaw to kill him, Brambleclaw kills Hawkfrost and frees Firestar. The series was released from 2005–2006, and consists of six books: Midnight, Moonrise, Dawn, Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset.

Warriors: Power of Three

The third series, titled Warriors: Power of Three, follows three young cats named Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze. Jayfeather is blind, and is often looked upon differently by his Clan, but he discovers he has a unique power, as do his sighted siblings. The series centers around the prophecy, "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws." As the young cats learn about the Clans and the world around them, they feel increasing pressure to use their abilities- for good or evil, they don't know. In Long Shadows, they learn an amazing secret: Brambleclaw and Squrrielflight aren't their parents. The books in the series are: The Sight, Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, Long Shadows, and Sunrise. The final book of this series will be released April 21, 2009. The final book was originally titled Cruel Season, but the publisher wanted it changed to Sunrise.

Warriors: Omen of the Stars

The fourth series has been renamed as Omen of the Stars. The former series title The Fourth Apprentice will now be used as the title of the first book, instead of the former Book 1 title, Ambush. The series will be a direct continuation from Power of Three. Vicky Holmes (one of the three 'Erin Hunters'), has stated that there will be a new point of view being described in Omen of the Stars, but has not revealed whose viewpoint that is. It has been confirmed by Erin Hunter that there will be, for a variety of reasons, a new foe: beavers. Like the three series before, this series will have six books.

Other Warriors books

Super Editions

Firestar's Quest, a larger book, was released on August 21, 2007. It covers the time between The Darkest Hour and Midnight, and answers many questions as to what happened in between the books, such as Longtail's blindness, Willowpelt's death, the birth of Leafpool and Squirrelflight, and the origins of the prophecy "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in the paws,". Firestar and Sandstorm then begin to restore SkyClan, the fifth clan in the forest, as its ancient leader willed Firestar to do.

Three other books are to be released under the Super Edition name. The first will center around the life of former ThunderClan leader Bluestar before Firestar's arrival to the forest, the second will feature the modern-day SkyClan and the third will feature the early days of the Clans. Bluestar's Prophecy will be released August 2009 , the Modern SkyClan Super Edition in 2010, and the Early Clan Days Super Edition in 2011.

• Firestar's Quest
• Bluestar's Prophecy
• SkyClan Super Edition
• Early Clan Days Super Edition

Field Guides

Secrets of the Clans was the first field guide to be released for Warriors. This book gives more details about the Clans never written down in the books. Cats of the Clans, featuring illustrations of the cats, was released on June 24, 2008. Code of the Clans, expected to be released June 9th, 2009, is the next field guide.

• Secrets of the Clans
• Cats of the Clans
• Code of the Clans

OEL manga series

Graystripe's Trilogy

There is a three volume original English-language manga series based on what happened to Graystripe between the time that he was taken by Twolegs in Dawn until he returned to ThunderClan in The Sight. It has been published as the first part of a partnership between TOKYOPOP and HarperCollins. The final volume was published on April 22, 2008.

• Book 1: The Lost Warrior
• Book 2: Warrior's Refuge
• Book 3: Warrior's Return

The Rise of Scourge

The Rise of Scourge was released on June 24, 2008. It is a single volume and not part of a trilogy. The story follows Scourge, one of the antagonists of The Darkest Hour and the leader of BloodClan, centering around his early years until he challenges Tigerstar, his life-long enemy (Tigerstar, Tigerpaw then, attacked Scourge when he wandered in the forest, and met a ThunderClan patrol, which also featured Bluefur (Bluestar later). The book was published after warriors fans were able to type what they wanted to see in a warriors book, part of an online poll.

Tigerstar and Sasha's Trilogy

There is also a manga trilogy about Tigerstar and Sasha. The first volume is called Into the Woods, released on September 2, 2008. The second volume, Escape From the Forest, was released on December 23, 2008. The third volume Return to the Clans is going to be released on June 9, 2009.

• Book 1: Into the Woods

In this book, the story starts out as Sasha leading the kittypet life until one of her owners, Jean, passes away and Ken, Jean's husband goes into a nursing home. Distraught, Sasha heads to the forest where she meets Tigerstar. Tigerstar and Sasha then begin a romantic relationship which tragically ends when Sasha overhears Tigerstar planning to destroy ThunderClan. The book ends when Tigerstar asks Sasha to join ShadowClan.

In the book, Tigerstar refers to the leader of ThunderClan as "Firestar," but when the story takes place, Firestar was Fireheart, and Bluestar was Thunderclan's leader, as the book takes place between books 4 and 5. (Tigerstar mentions in his plans he will send the dog pack in book 5 on ThunderClan, if this book took place afterword, the plan would have already happened.)

• Book 2: Escape from the Forest

Sasha is given the choice to live with Tigerstar in ShadowClan and declines it. Upset, Tigerstar regards her as a "nothing" and leaves her. Sasha then returns to the city where she wanders around. Ken is shown as now deceased after Sasha goes into a "Salvation Army" and finds one of his coats there. A man is trying it on, and woman tells him the clothes come from people who are deceased or have gone to nursing homes. She also has a run-in with BloodClan, who take her to their border and try to have a monster run her over. Thankfully she emerges safely. Sasha then explores and finds a boat and is adopted by the captain and given the name "Brownie". Sasha loves the captain and proves that she is useful after catching two trespassers trying to light the captain's boat on fire with gasoline. She also rescues a baby kit, which the captain names Patch. As Patch grows, we find that Sasha is expecting kits and when the Captain is about to leave for an unknown place, Sasha tells Patch she will not go. The captain understands Sasha's need to stay behind and says that she always was a wanderer. The book ends as Sasha travels back to the forest, wondering if her kits will understand her need to be free.

• Book 3: Return to the Clans

In this book, as far as we can tell, Sasha gives birth to three kits; Moth(Mothwing), Hawk(Hawkfrost), and Tadpole and takes refuge with RiverClan. As Tadpole is never mentioned in the Warriors novels, we can assume that he either dies or continues to travel Twolegplace with Sasha. Return to the Clans will be released on June 9th.

Ravenpaw's series

It has been confirmed that another book series will be released, and it will be centered around Ravenpaw.

Setting and characters

See also: List of characters in the Warriors novel series

In the forest the cats call home, there are four Clans (ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan). Each Clan has a leader, given nine lives and the name of "star" by StarClan. StarClan is a group made up of the Clans' spiritual ancestors and gives guidance and even prophecies to the Clans. The leader appoints a deputy who will later succeed him or her as leader. Every Clan has a medicine cat, who communicates with StarClan and heals injured or sick cats. Most of each Clan is made up of warriors, the cats who fight in battles and patrol the borders, while following the warrior code. Warriors train apprentices to become new warriors. Old or impaired warriors become elders. When a female warrior has kits, she becomes what is called a queen. Kits cannot become apprentices until they are six moons (months) old. The Clans also each have a medicine cat apprentice, who is normally trained at six moons old to become a medicine cat. Medicine cats gather every half moon to share dreams with StarClan at the Moonstone (forest home) or Moonpool (lake home). The Clan rivalries do not apply to medicine cats, and they have peace with each other, and usually help each other. Medicine cats can also be warriors who are fatally wounded or decide they want to be trained as medicine cats. This does not often happen, but it does, as in the case with one of ThunderClan's former Medicine Cats, Cinderpelt.

The cats in the Clans also have a special naming system. When a kit is given its name, it will end in "kit." When a kit becomes an apprentice, during the ceremony, the leader will change the "kit" to "paw." When an apprentice becomes a Warrior, the leader, with the help of StarClan, chooses a permanent ending of the name (-heart, -stripe, -pelt, -fur, -claw, -foot, -tail, etc)(There are also some more original endings, like blaze, leaf, feather, etc). When a deputy becomes a leader, StarClan performs a ceremony, in which the new leader must travel to Highstones (forest home) or the Moonpool (lake home) to share dreams with StarClan. During the ceremony, the leader receives nine lives from StarClan and the ending name of "-star". An example of this is when Fireheart becomes Firestar in the first series. Any cat in the Clan has the right to become a deputy, as long as it is a warrior and has had at least one apprentice.

In the forest the cats must live together with the world of the humans around them. This allows interaction between the two species. One notable example of this is when humans, called "Twolegs" by the cats, began constructing a new road and new houses, and the four Clans were forced to leave and find a new home. Beyond the Clans' territories lies a mountain range, inhabited by the Tribe of Rushing Water. The Tribe was shown to be similar to the Clans, yet it follows a different set of ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting. In a town near the Clans' old home lived a vicious group of cats called BloodClan, led by a cat called Scourge. Also living in the surrounding area are cats without owners or Clans, known as loners and rogues, and house cats, called kittypets.

Critical reception

The first book of the series, Into the Wild, was generally received well, 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 been seen as a negative point; though one reviewer compared the "huge cast" to that of a Greek drama, others wrote it was "hard to follow" and "a little confusing". The characterization has also been criticised as "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 indeed, many of the books in the series have appeared on the newspaper's best-seller list.

Awards

Into the Wild was nominated for the 2006 YRCA Awards, but lost to Christopher Paolini's Eragon. On another website for kids, Warriors also lost to JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. 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. The Sight was also nominated for the Children's Choice Book Awards.

Themes

One prominent theme featured in the novel is the reactions different faiths have when meeting each other. This was inspired by the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks. 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 don't understand. Holmes finally said that "Ignorance is a very scary thing!" Non-belief is also featured in the storylines. Another theme shown in the books shows how characters 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 "lovely" cat, gave up her kits for her ambition. A third major theme, called nature versus nurture, relates to whether a person is born the way he or she will be, or if other things shape that. This theme ties into the "shades of gray" theme. Other themes that have been pointed out include family, loss, honor, bravery and death, loyalty, and following rules.

Inspirations and influences

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

Authors

The authors have named several other authors as a source of inspiration when writing the novels. In an online author chat, Cherith Baldry, listed the authors that inspire her as including Tolkien, Ursula 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. Currently, she is also working on a new series called "Seekers", a novel series about bears. It is in close relation to Warriors in terms of format but it is not affiliated.

Other

There are some other influencing factors in the series. New Forest, a forest in southern England, became the base for the forest where the story took place. Other influencing locations include Scottish Highlands and the Forest of Dean. Nicholas Culpeper, a physician who used materials occurred in the natural world, 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.

Editions

Other formats

All of the Warriors books in the main series have been published as a hardcover, and several have been published as paperbacks. The manga volumes have only been released as paperbacks, while all other new releases are hardcover. Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset are in an audiobook format, spoken by Nanette Savard, whose performance has been praised. It is unknown if any other Warriors books will be available in audiobook format. The books in the 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 books were first published in USA, then the United Kingdom. Warriors is also sold in New Zealand and in Australia. Translations from English into other languages have been published more recently. Translations for languages such as Czech, Lithuanian, and Japanese have appeared, as well as French, Russian, and Korean. The Korean publisher, Kim-yeoung-sa, has only published the first six books. Fandom even exists in Trinidad and Singapore. The first two books have also been printed in Germany and Poland.

Other media

Promotions

HarperCollins created a video to promote the Cats of the Clans book. It was made available on the Warriors website. A Warriors screen saver, E-cards, messages, A video on "How To Draw Graystripe" and a "How To Draw Manga" page are also available on the website.

Movie

There are currently no planned Warriors movies, however, in an August 2008 author chat, Victoria Holmes said:

Hey, it's the movie question! Well, we are in talks with a major Hollywood production company at the moment, but it's the earliest possible stage, so there's no script yet, or any plans for a release date. Things are looking much more hopeful than they were a year ago, but I can't say there will DEFINITELY be a movie, nor can I tell you when it would come out. Sorry! But I promise I'll keep you all posted if I get any more news.

Later in the chat, Holmes stated:

Which animation studio is working on the Warriors movies? We're not at this stage yet, I'm afraid. We've got some big producers who are very interested in taking the project forward, and we may have a director who's willing to work on a script, but we're nowhere near finding an animation team or starting production. Sorry!

Short stories

A short story called "Spottedleaf's Honest Answer" was released on the Reading Warriors website. It is about Spottedleaf talking about her love for Firestar. It gives information on what has happened in the Warriors series from Into the Wild to Firestar's Quest. On January 20th another short story, called "The Clans Decide" was released on the Warriors Ultimate Leader Election site, starring Firestar, who won the election. It is about the four Clans voting for a way to survive a tough leaf-bare, and is probably set between the "Power of Three" and the "Omen of the Stars" series. This was in recognition of inauguration day. (USA)

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, officially declaring Crowfeather's mate. The script was released to the public at the official site for the Warriors series.

Also, during a fundraising event in Russleville, Arkansas, an original play, "Brightspirit's Mercy" was performed by various highschool drama students. In the play, Jayfeather is concerned about the other Clans not having enough to eat. Brightspirit, Shiningheart, and Braveheart (characters created on Wands and Worlds 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 last February) visit him from StarClan, and tell him that the right thing to do is give the other Clans prey despite the Warrior Code.

Games

Games can be found on the Warriors website. There are quizzes, the ability to consult StarClan for a Warrior name and Clan, find information on cats of the clans, and a New Prophecy game. Erin has also said a video game would be cool, but it would be based off a movie that currently has no plans to be filmed.

External links

• Official website
• Warriors Wiki at Wikia