Tuesday 18 November 2014

Book Review 7: "Warriors" series by Erin Hunter

The Warriors book series is written by Erin Hunter, which is actually a pseudonym used by six different authors. The series follows the lives of four cat clans. The cat clans include Thundeclan, Shadowclan, Riverclan and Windclan.

The first Warriors book (Into The Wild) starts off with Rusty, a beautiful ginger "kittypet" (housecat) who decides to leave his warm comfortable home to become a "warrior" (feral cat). Once he meets the rest of the warrior cats, adventure ensues.

When I told my husband about these books, he asked me if the cats fought with swords and weapons. Although the cats in the book(s) have been personified, they behave like regular cats. They are often described bathing, purring, growling, and hissing just like any other cat.

The terminology in the book can be quite amusing. They use words like "kittypet" to describe a housecat, "thunderpath" to describe the main road, and "monster" to describe the cars that drive through the "thunderpath."

Though these are children's books, don't be mistaken; they are not for the faint of heart. Due to the nature of feral cat colonies, these books are true to their behaviours and the cats can be very violent. The violence often leads to graphic and untimely deaths of some of the characters in the book. I shed a few tears for some of the cats who died.

The books were overall enjoyable, and I read most of book 6 (The Darkest Hour) in one sitting. It was really hard to put down and I wanted to see how the story played out. However, the story has way too many characters to follow. Since the cat's names are so unique, it can get very confusing at times, and it's hard to remember which cat belongs to which clan, or which kits (kittens) belong to which queen (mother). Furthermore, the cats' names change as they get higher up in the warrior hierarchy. For example, "Rusty" the kittypet becomes "Firepaw" the warrior, and he proceeds to become "Fireheart" and then "Firestar" as the story moves along. Another thing I didn't like about the series was that it ended really abruptly.

About 3/4 way into The Darkest Hour, the book takes an unexpected turn, which is why my eyes were glued to the book. The story doesn't end the way you'd think.

Despite it's downfalls, I would still recommend this series to anyone who loves cats and adventure. They are full of love, cuteness, betrayal and honour. If you are not a cat person, you can also try Erin Hunter's other book series' Seekers (which is about bears) or Survivors (which is about dogs.)

Please Note: The series I read is only the first series of Warriors books. They are followed by three more Warriors series', each consisting of six books.

Happy Reading! =)

Some of the many Warriors books. There are also standalone Warriors books, mangas and Warriors guides.
 

Firepaw is the protagonist in the series and definitely my favourire character. Graypaw is his best friend in the story and they have the cutest kitty bromance ever.
 
 
Quoted from book 2 (Forest of Secrets).
 

My own kittypets striking their Warrior pose! =)
 
 

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