By Austin Naughton
Staff Writer
Wanna take a trip to the wild side of life? Well open up a Warriors' book and slip into the adventure in the eyes of a cat, journey into the fray of survival, voyage into the pages of this amazing series of novels. Travel into Warriors, a series oozing with creativity and action. The eternal plight has spread to the pages that you grip with your feeble hands and astounded eyes. Flip the pages as your interest gets absorbed into the world of Warriors!
When I found this book in a library five years ago I had no idea the potential it had to offer my mind. I checked it out with no idea the chain reaction I set off. I got home and opened up the book, it read Warriors: Into the Wild, the first book of the mind blowing series. It started with a mysterious prologue, talking about prophecies and other puzzling sentences. Then I read on, it was based on a cat named Rusty (a kittypet as called in the book) who lived with humans (named Two-legs). He decides to journey into a nearby forest rumored to have horrors and evil cats. Bravely he marches into the forest to be attacked by a cat. This cat was an apprentice (“paw”) in the clan Thunderclan.
Now for a little background info, the forest is home to four clans of rival cats. Thunderclan roam the forests, Shadowclan camp in the swamps, Riverclan existing in a sort of marsh, and Windclan who have set up their home in a small foothill. They all share a fate that when cats die they go to Starclan (like the Heaven clan). Now for the different roles of the clan, let’s start with the kits. Kits are newborn cats that simply stay in camp and play. They are extremely envious and impatient to become warriors. After six moons they can become an Apprentice. Now for the Apprentice, apprentices are assigned to train under the wing of a Warrior; Warriors are… well they’re warriors. The medicine cat is a sort of doctor who uses herbs to heal wounds and other problems. The medicine cat is forbidden to love for it would interrupt their duties. Then there is the deputy who is second in command, they organize hunting parties and border patrols. Finally there is the leader, they have been granted nine lives from Starclan. They are in charge of all cats in a clan. Every full moon the cats meet in a peace to share news.
Now for information about real life, such as the author, Erin Hunter is an imaginary character. Four individual authors work under that name. They are Victoria Holmes, Cherith Baldry, Kate Cary, and Tui Sutherland. Victoria handles the story ideas and make sure all the books are consistent. Kate, Tui, and Cherith take turns writing the actual story. They made up the title Erin Hunter to avoid confusion with readers, if you ask me it worked. There are almost 50 Warrior books in total; they are varied among the four sets and some manga and super editions. The manga and super editions are there to explain the unexplained of the four sets. The most recent set (Omen of the Stars) was an amazing achievement. Warriors are the #1 national bestselling series, I completely agree. The books are sold in any decent bookshop such as Barnes and Nobles. The books come in sets or in separate books. The website (warriorcats.com) explains information in forms such as maps, charts, FAQS, forums, and biographies.
Overall Warriors was a great read, I don’t regret a single second that I spent reading this series. I experienced the love, the betrayal, the fear, the courage, and all the pain the Warriors cats go through to survive. In fact this series has inspired me in many ways like the stories that my school requires. This series is just plain amazing; I’d like to see someone think different. This book should have its own genre. It’s like a smoothie of fantasy and adventure, of drama and action, of horror and romance. It’s out of the norm of regular books; it demonstrates the ferocious ways of nature and the world of war in the eyes of a cat. You should probably go shopping now, literally now! Now go get sucked into the realm, the kingdom, the fray, the series of Warriors!
