Product Description

The first story arc in the #1 nationally bestselling epic warror cat series is now available in a beautiful box set.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5299 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback

About the Author

Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astrology and standing stones.

Customer Reviews

A Watership Down Start....But an Apocalypse Now End
This book series tells the saga of a domestic cat named Rusty (a kittypet) who choses to join the hidden, heroic world of the Forest Clans; wild cats who follow a "warrior code" of honor and loyalty to clan. This is the tale (tail?) as Rusty journeys from being a soft "kittypet" to being the fierce, just, wise, and loyal warrior known as Fireheart. And its almost, almost a fantastic series. But...

And if you are a young reader, well this is a review by an old grumpy Elder Cat who complains how Apprentices always caught fatter rabbits back when he was a Warrior! And I might give some plot away below, though I try not to. So maybe you should stop reading this review, young Apprentice, and go patrol the Clan Borders instead!

So the positive:
First the storyline is about clans of wild cats and their fierce but honorable warrior code, so I'm hooked. And the concept of the cats is very well done. These are thinking feeling cats, and not people in cat bodies. The characters act and think and behave (mostly) in cat-believable ways. Fighting is by tooth and claw; talking is by meows and purrs, growls and hisses; affection is rubbing shoulders, touching noses, and shared grooming. These are cats! The created world, and virtually all the characters, are quite believable, and for that the authors should be praised. Also, there is often quite a bit of emotional nuance to the relationships between the cats, and the authors often do a fine job of portraying love, and loss, and conflicted emotions, with nuance and grace. So there is much to be praised here.

But:
Given the books are for a fairly young audience, I'd argue they start out great and appropriate, but by the final book or so are far too violent and dismal. The final book of the series, "The Darkest Hour" is filled with scenes literally straight out of Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now. I keep expecting the main antagonist to slowly rub his head and say to the hero, Fireheart, "you're just an errand boy sent by grocers to collect a bill." Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of slaughter-em-up (I'll challenge anyone to a Jason-vs-Freddy viewathon!), but I thought that by the last third of the series, the authors couldn't seem to find a way to heighten plot tension other than by upping the body/kitty count every few pages.

Finally, I would have written a completely different final book and a half to the series, and feel the series took some plot twists with an additional villain (or two or three or..) that just wasn't necessary, wasn't particularly believable, and detracted from the story arc. But I'm not the author(s), so the final books are as they are.

But given the final book that was written, it simply ends too abruptly. Imagine reading Tolkien, and having the book end with Frodo and Sam sitting on the rock in the middle of the lava field. Sure the destruction of the One Ring is the logical culmination of Lord of the rings, so who cares about the tiny details of who actually lives or dies. The One Ring is gone, and the individual lives of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Pippin, the Elves, all just trivia, so no need to weave the last threads, right? Wrong. One needs those final chapters. Or imagine Star Wars ending when Luke blows up the Death Star. Leia, Chewy, Han, dead or alive, doesn't matter, death star is gone! Roll Credits. In general, one needs and expects those last few chapters or scenes to sort out the consequences of a story's Epic Battle.

But after 1800 pages of The Warriors(6 books, 300 pages each), the authors fail to deliver the final "Consequences" scene. There is of course the required Epic Battle at the end. But the aftermath is just not written beyond a few brief lines. One more chapter, a mere 5 -10 pages, could have salvaged the entire series.

Ah well. I'd like to recommend the books. The first 3 or 4 books, I'd easily give 4 stars. And on my rating scale, a 2 isn't terrible, and even then this is a high 2, almost 3. There's tons positive about the series and other reviews show that young readers are very enthusiastic about the books. But in the end I'd think twice about recommending this series to my child. Too much kitty carnage, not enough thought as to why.

Warriors
"Today is a good day to die, but tomorrow is better. Unless, those doing the dying are six foot, mutated chipmunks with blaster rifles. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should start at the beginning. If you ask me, the end makes a fine beginning. Things come together and things fall apart, and the fur flies a little easier with the help of a Rolling Thunderä shotgun, as long as that fur isn't mine, and I'm the one pulling the trigger. Yep, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, but I ain't Mr. Rogers."

"But, I should introduce myself, you can call me Ishmael. Just kidding, bit of classical allusion there. Call me Hobo, warrior, poet, and one fine-looking feline, that's me. See, all cats are warriors, at least at heart, and that's why I'm the best one to introduce the series, Warriors."

Warriors is a book series first published in 2003 by Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry, under the pen name Erin Hunter, and introduced to me by cat and book lover Billy Waltz. The second series was written under the title Warriors: The New Prophecy. The third series, The Power of Three, and two more books, Firestar's Quest and Secrets of the Clans, are coming in 2007.

The series starts off with Into the Wild and a young "kitty pet"(house cat) name Rusty who yearns for adventure and has vivid dreams of the wilds. He meets a young feral cat, and this meeting leads to a chance to join a clan of wild cats called Thunderclan. He's renamed Firepaw and becomes an apprentice warrior. He finds himself in the middle of a tribal war with three other clans who coexist and compete for food and resources.

Allegiances are constantly shifting among the clans of warrior cats that roam the forest. With tensions so delicately balanced, former friends can become enemies overnight, and some cats are willing to kill to get what they want. Our young protagonist quickly moves from apprentice to warrior, to second-in-command, to leader of his clan. He must learn wisdom, deal with betrayal, and ultimately save his clan and the forest way of life.

The author has created an intriguing world with an intricate structure and mythology. There is intrigue, themes of loyalty, friendship and death, and an engaging young hero. The difficult life of a feral cat is described in some detail. (Oct. 16 is national feral cat day. Check out www.nationalferalcatday.org ) The cats, anthropomorphism aside, are true to their feline nature, which should delight cat and animal lovers alike. There is some violence. Some characters are killed through fighting and natural disasters, and there is treachery, betrayal and traitors, and even murder among the cats and clans, though it is crucial to the plot and not excessive.

Overall, I believe readers will find a fun-to-read series of books. Though not as elegantly written as Brian Jacques' Redwall series. The superb storytelling drew me into a realm so vivid that it could almost be real and I really came to care about the characters I found myself staying up late, with the old flashlight under the cover trick, to finish the books, and that Sand Storm sounds like a babe. Wonder what she's doing Saturday night? Hey, this cat is a fighter and a lover....

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home" editor "Of A Predatory Heart"

Now he loves to read
This series of books have changed our sons reading class. He and all his little buddies are staying in one resess a day to read. He has even started a Warrior book club. They will all exceed there AR points goals this year. My son will triple his points this year over last. Warriors is a fun read for me too. My son and I talk about the cats and there adventures daily. We even renamed our cat 'Sunpaw' even though she is just a kittypet.

My wife and I are very pleased to watch his love of reading grow. Thanks Erin Hunters!