Multi-clan POV and the new poorly-drawn map almost took me OUT. What a struggle, y'all.Multi-clan POV and the new poorly-drawn map almost took me OUT. What a struggle, y'all....more
(view spoiler)[We are in next gen territory here, as this series mainly follows thOfficially in my mrrow era.
What a gd mess this was! In the best way!
(view spoiler)[We are in next gen territory here, as this series mainly follows the grandchildren of Firestar. Series that graduate to new characters can be very hit or miss, but I've felt that Warriors generally does a good job of getting readers to kind of leave older cats behind and follow the arc of new ones. Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather have different personalities and are versatile vehicles for a lot of the themes explored in this series. They also annoy you one minute and charm you the next. Very demure, very mrrow.
It doesn't go unnoticed how obsessed Thunderclan is with beefing up their warrior cohort. Maybe that's necessary in this universe, where you never know what threat is around the corner. Hard though not to see a sort of military industrial complex ingrained in them and wonder what kind of clan they could be without dedicating soooo much time and resources to battle training. But then, there's the Tribe of Rushing Water, a group of cats living in the mountains, who are not fighters, and run into trouble because of it. In order to succeed, Thunderclan eventually convinces them that learning to fight back is the right, valid solution, and they prevail together. We'd rather strive for peace, right? And maybe I'm overthinking this; at the end of the day, books about peaceful existence aren't as engaging. Or, perhaps the takeaway is that Warriors itself takes a pro-war stance? It's something I can't yet reconcile.
Supernatural elements become a bigger player as this series goes on, and The Power Of the Three hinges on a prophecy Firestar receives - three kin of his kin are gonna fuck shit up. It is quickly suspected that his grandchildren are the three the prophecy refers to, and we learn of their special powers. It's becoming clearer that destiny is central to this universe, and we also see how cats grapple with their desires vs the path already laid out for them.
Hollyleaf, for instance, starts out wanting to be a medicine cat, while Jayfeather trains to be a warrior. These roles prove to be a bad fit for both, and they switch. Jayfeather training to be a medicine cat raises the disability question Warriors often asks - what roles do cats serve when they are different from the rest? This is another issue in the series I haven't reconciled with yet. Cats with disabilities (in Jayfeather's case, blindness) are often pushed to the margins, taking jobs that are prioritized less than the mighty warrior job (again, strong military being most important). Jayfeather also has sight in the supernatural realm, an ability to walk in others' dreams, which feels like it should be trope-y in a magical realism way. Other side of the coin, though, the clans do function as somewhat socialist communities, where everyone has a job, has value, and helps each other no matter what.
Hollyleaf isn't necessarily the most morally conflicted of the three, but she is loyal to the warrior code and has a hard time even entertaining the idea of straying from it. I struggled to determine what her magical power was and was so locked in to her role in The Three that I truly didn't see her end coming. I don't believe we've seen the last of her, and it'll be interesting to see how she functions in the plot to come.
Lionblaze struck me as an alpha-male type through much of this. I wasn't totally clear on his powers at first and thought he was just super aggro, haha. His affair and breakup with Heatherpaw leads to dreams of killing her, which is pretty disturbing and suggests issues beyond his actual power of fighting without being injured. But that isn't wholly explored or resolved.
Sol is a big addition to this series, a loner cat that's basically a cult leader who quickly gains mass influence over the clans. There are more Real Life Parallels(!) in Sol's arc, namely the danger of misinformation and how quickly it spreads and religious brainwashing. That he's able to infiltrate multiple clans shows the reality - that anyone of us can be swept up by cult-life behavior. Curious to see how he fares in future books. He was a big part of (imo) the absolute funniest part of the whole series, the eclipse, in which the cats are alarmed when the sun "disappears" during a fight and are led to believe Sol predicted it (maybe I'm a dick for finding it so funny, but the way they freak out exactly matches how animals do react to eclipses, haha).
I blew through the last two books on vacation because High Drama, and I'd say they're the strongest of the series. The other four books had a lot to set up, though, and there'll be a lot of fractured relationships to contend with in the next series. (hide spoiler)]...more
Warriors Eclipse >>>>> Twilight Eclipse these cats are sooooo serious, but the hilarity of them freaking tf out when the sun disappears is the best paWarriors Eclipse >>>>> Twilight Eclipse these cats are sooooo serious, but the hilarity of them freaking tf out when the sun disappears is the best part of this....more
Not Warriors debuting the graphic novel edition right when I'm in the middle of my low-key obsession with this damn series. *ded*
This is good, for whaNot Warriors debuting the graphic novel edition right when I'm in the middle of my low-key obsession with this damn series. *ded*
This is good, for what it is. It combines the first two novels into one graphic novel, so the plot is condensed, the pacing quicker, and you therefore miss out on a lot of what was in the novels. Most people would hear that and think it's a no-brainer to read the novels instead, and I mostly agree. Where I can see the graphic novels having value is for younger readers who aren't yet ready for the full chapter books (with the constant reminder, though, that this is basically Game of Thrones but with cats)....more
The second series is a series of capital-J Journeys, and while I'm usually down for a journey book, the first two novels in The New Prophecy were a slThe second series is a series of capital-J Journeys, and while I'm usually down for a journey book, the first two novels in The New Prophecy were a slog to get through. Not for lack of action, though - we get a friendly badger! A chaos cat named Purdy! The Tribe of Rushing Water! And all manner of loyalty struggles, from forbidden love to daddy issues to religious devotion. What a hot, feral mess, y'all!
(view spoiler)[The cats are forced into a lot of newness, some of which they struggle to accept. Humans have decided to tear down the forest they've called home for...decades? (What is cat time??) This forces the clans from everything they've known and into new territory. They initially have to travel to receive this information, where they have to trust an actual badger, probably for the first time. And I mean, what cat trusts a badger? So, there's that. The journey cats then have to make it back to the forest and convince everyone else it is time to leave, and since these clans can never decide if they like or hate each other, this proves difficult. Catnappings and a tree falling have to occur before everyone is truly convinced they need to flee.
Side quest alert! On the way back from seeing the badger, the journey cats are advised to travel through some mountains and encounter another group of cats. What. Are. The. Odds?! The new group calls themselves a tribe and does things a little differently than the clans (but honestly not really all that differently, which provokes a sort of "we are more similar than we are different, go vote!" kind of vibe) the clan cats have trouble wrapping their heads around because they are all just so sheltered in their own bubble, I guess. Nevertheless, the two groups help each other, but not without a pretty big sacrifice, all before their journey back to the forest.
These journeys, involving a smaller group of cats, were entertaining, but man, this group was annoying af! They are highly dysfunctional as a group and constantly bicker. They meet a domestic cat named Purdy, who only adds to the madness. It's a bleak marathon, y'all, but they are bonded by the end of it all, and so maybe it's not about the journey and how annoying everyone is, but about the memories of almost dying we made along the way. Or something.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, food becomes scarce, due to humans poisoning the prey animals and/or water, and it slowly dawns on the clans that two-leg colonization is closing in. Great Star Clan, Batman! The clans finally acknowledge they need to work together in order to survive and escape the forest and band together to make yet another journey - to their new home. Of course, once they are there (YES, THERE IS A NEW MAP OMG), they segregate back into their old factions. It's hard not to want them to get along better, at times, especially when some of them fall in love or when there are lingering blood ties. But loyalty to each other sometimes isn't the best choice, either.
We get new POVs in this series, and I was pretty down to read this from the perspectives of Leafpool and Squirrelflight, two sisters and daughters of Firestar. They were separated for so much of the series, however, and it would have been cool to have more scenes with them together. We see two different roles through their characters - Squirrelflight's path to becoming a warrior, while Leafpool becomes a medicine cat apprentice. Both fall in love, and both are discouraged from that love for different reasons. I still don't know how I feel about the medicine cat constitution, that prohibits them from romantic relationships. Nor does it sit right that medicine cats are often thrown into that role through their disability determining they can't be warriors. But then, having warrior ambitions is kind of messed up too, womp womp. It all gives a lot to think about with regard to having kind of a pro-aggression stance on every group relationship, a hand (paw?) for violence that precludes comraderie and community and love. These vibes take us well into the next series.
I'm intrigued that this was initially supposed to be a three-book series and was quickly expanded. I enjoyed the second trio of books more than the first, but there is so much the first trio sets in place that will carry beyond The New Prophecy, slowly expanding the Warrior universe. I hear mixed things about this series and I have mixed feelings, myself, but undeniably, these cats are still metal af and go SO hard to get where they end up. (hide spoiler)]...more
Let me just say that previously a kit falls down a hole to its instant death and the other cats shrug helplessly and move on, because yes there is notLet me just say that previously a kit falls down a hole to its instant death and the other cats shrug helplessly and move on, because yes there is nothing they can do, but JFC these books go so hard, Game of Thrones would never (they would, but you know what I mean)....more
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