Warriors (Warrior Cats)
the second arc isn’t as great as the first series, I can tell you that for free. And just so you know there really isn’t a main character in the rest of the arcs (that I’ve read). there are multiple povs and it can get a bit confusing but its still good nonetheless. I really hope you enjoy the rest of the books and arcs! Warriors is a really good series, and people really need to read them!
Warriors (Warrior Cats)
@Alyss Gilmour @Brookline Quinn
Spoilers for Series 2
Spoilers for Series 3 Book 1: The Sight
Spoilers for Series 2
Reducio
I have now finished series 2. The lack of main character definitely through me off a little. I'm fine with having multiple perspectives, but what I wanted was a main character for the entire series. As far as I can tell it was something like this:
Book 1: Brambleclaw /Leafpaw
Book 2: Stormfur / Leafpaw
Book 3: Only god knows, this one is a mess.
Book 4: Brambleclaw / Leafpaw
Book 5: Squirelflight / Leafpool
Book 6: Brambleclaw / Leafpool
If you don't connect well with Leafpaw / Leafpool then you are in for a bad time with this series. My favourite book of the series by far was Book 5: Twilight, even though it has the shortest Wikipedia page. I just thought its intrigue, drama and character writing was so much better than the other books. Incidentally it is also the book where Leafpool actually has a good character moment when she stands up to Cinderpelt. I thought her arc with Crowfeather was the most interesting thing she's had to do all series.
Book 5 did Brambleclaw dirty. Because we did not have his thoughts, everything he does in that book naturally looks suspicious and the writers think we can be tricked into believing Brambleclaw is a villain.
The prophecy in general did not work for me as I thought it was incredibly obvious what it meant and I was astonished none of the cats figured it out. "Blood will spill blood" So it means someone is going to kill a relative got it. The writers didn't make it cryptic enough. I suspected that it would be Brambleclaw killing Hawkfrost as far back as Book 4.
As for the climax of the series, I thought it was incredibly rushed. Which is unfortunately a common theme with these books. I literally think they could have gotten away with an entire additional series with Hawkfrost as the antagonist and Brambleclaw grappling with his loyalties. Maybe even have Brambleclaw go evil and then get redeemed before dying.
This might get explained in a super edition or even the next series, but why the heck was Firestar alone in the forest at the end? The events that I understand them is: Ashfur saw Brambleclaw + Hawkfrost and ran back to camp to tell Firestar. Then for some reason, instead of bringing a patrol, Firestar decided to come alone??? Then the rest of the Thunderclan cats arrive after the fight. Why did they take so long when Ashfur knew exactly where they were.
It sounds like I don't like these books, but I actually love them. Overall I thought series two was just as good as series one. It certainly had more variety.
I do like that religion is a heavy theme in these books. I liked the direction they were going in with Mothwing, however I don't think it was explored to it's full potential. I was hoping Riverclan would find out and attempt to remove her for being a non-believer. OR, I wanted her to have a moment where she started to believe in it. I liked the way she rationalises it, saying; "You know about things subconsciously and the dreams are just a way of reminding yourself."
All good stuff, I just wish they went further with it.
Book 1: Brambleclaw /Leafpaw
Book 2: Stormfur / Leafpaw
Book 3: Only god knows, this one is a mess.
Book 4: Brambleclaw / Leafpaw
Book 5: Squirelflight / Leafpool
Book 6: Brambleclaw / Leafpool
If you don't connect well with Leafpaw / Leafpool then you are in for a bad time with this series. My favourite book of the series by far was Book 5: Twilight, even though it has the shortest Wikipedia page. I just thought its intrigue, drama and character writing was so much better than the other books. Incidentally it is also the book where Leafpool actually has a good character moment when she stands up to Cinderpelt. I thought her arc with Crowfeather was the most interesting thing she's had to do all series.
Book 5 did Brambleclaw dirty. Because we did not have his thoughts, everything he does in that book naturally looks suspicious and the writers think we can be tricked into believing Brambleclaw is a villain.
The prophecy in general did not work for me as I thought it was incredibly obvious what it meant and I was astonished none of the cats figured it out. "Blood will spill blood" So it means someone is going to kill a relative got it. The writers didn't make it cryptic enough. I suspected that it would be Brambleclaw killing Hawkfrost as far back as Book 4.
As for the climax of the series, I thought it was incredibly rushed. Which is unfortunately a common theme with these books. I literally think they could have gotten away with an entire additional series with Hawkfrost as the antagonist and Brambleclaw grappling with his loyalties. Maybe even have Brambleclaw go evil and then get redeemed before dying.
This might get explained in a super edition or even the next series, but why the heck was Firestar alone in the forest at the end? The events that I understand them is: Ashfur saw Brambleclaw + Hawkfrost and ran back to camp to tell Firestar. Then for some reason, instead of bringing a patrol, Firestar decided to come alone??? Then the rest of the Thunderclan cats arrive after the fight. Why did they take so long when Ashfur knew exactly where they were.
It sounds like I don't like these books, but I actually love them. Overall I thought series two was just as good as series one. It certainly had more variety.
I do like that religion is a heavy theme in these books. I liked the direction they were going in with Mothwing, however I don't think it was explored to it's full potential. I was hoping Riverclan would find out and attempt to remove her for being a non-believer. OR, I wanted her to have a moment where she started to believe in it. I liked the way she rationalises it, saying; "You know about things subconsciously and the dreams are just a way of reminding yourself."
All good stuff, I just wish they went further with it.
Spoilers for Series 3 Book 1: The Sight
Reducio
I am about four chapters in and omg Jaykit is so cute, I just want to hug him and protect him.
Now, I will say the first two chapters of this book are absolute genius. There isn't a single direct mention of Jaykit's disability until the very last line of Chapter 3; 'He turned away from Leafpool, bristling with fury. “I hate being blind. I wish I had never been born!”' Which is such a heart wrenching way to reveal it. This made me go back a re-read the first three chapters again with the knowledge that Jaykit is blind and holy moly how did I not realise, there are so many clues...
"Jaykit could smell it. His brother and sister must
be playing catch with fresh-kill newly brought into camp."
"Jaykit could hear the steady lapping of their tongues
like water dripping from a rain-soaked leaf."
"Up there,” he told Berrypaw, lifting his nose toward
them.
“You’re sharp today, Jaykit!” Berrypaw meowed."
"But without even seeing Ferncloud’s face, he
could sense the flicker of doubt that prickled through the
queen’s pelt and knew that she was looking at him with pity
in her eyes."
On this last one, my assumption on the first read was that he was too embarrassed to look Ferncloud in the face while he was being scolded. Having read it a second time and knowing that Ferncloud was probably looking directly into his cloudy eyes makes me so sad.
I'm excited to see where this series will go as I'm already loving the three characters. Especially Jaykit.
Now, I will say the first two chapters of this book are absolute genius. There isn't a single direct mention of Jaykit's disability until the very last line of Chapter 3; 'He turned away from Leafpool, bristling with fury. “I hate being blind. I wish I had never been born!”' Which is such a heart wrenching way to reveal it. This made me go back a re-read the first three chapters again with the knowledge that Jaykit is blind and holy moly how did I not realise, there are so many clues...
"Jaykit could smell it. His brother and sister must
be playing catch with fresh-kill newly brought into camp."
"Jaykit could hear the steady lapping of their tongues
like water dripping from a rain-soaked leaf."
"Up there,” he told Berrypaw, lifting his nose toward
them.
“You’re sharp today, Jaykit!” Berrypaw meowed."
"But without even seeing Ferncloud’s face, he
could sense the flicker of doubt that prickled through the
queen’s pelt and knew that she was looking at him with pity
in her eyes."
On this last one, my assumption on the first read was that he was too embarrassed to look Ferncloud in the face while he was being scolded. Having read it a second time and knowing that Ferncloud was probably looking directly into his cloudy eyes makes me so sad.
I'm excited to see where this series will go as I'm already loving the three characters. Especially Jaykit.
"I stand astonished at my own moderation." Sta - 8 | Eva - 4 | Str - 3 | Wis - 10 | Arc - 10 | Acc - 8 |
Warriors (Warrior Cats)
I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but I very much disliked the second arc of Warrior Cats. It felt drawn out, messy, and too much like different stories quickly strung together. I definitely understand your frustration with it, so no worries on that front— I believe I ended up reading the first two books and skipping the remainder of them, opting to read online plot summaries so that I was up to speed for the next arc.
As for the next arc, I enjoyed it. Once again, it did get drawn out and frustrating at times, however I am certain I enjoyed it far more than the second arc— and if you’re confused about something from that arc, I recommend you either look it up or forget about it, simply because (imo) that arc was not as well done and contained many plot holes simply to speed up the story.
As for the next arc, I enjoyed it. Once again, it did get drawn out and frustrating at times, however I am certain I enjoyed it far more than the second arc— and if you’re confused about something from that arc, I recommend you either look it up or forget about it, simply because (imo) that arc was not as well done and contained many plot holes simply to speed up the story.