Title | Warriors: The Prophecies Begin | |
Author | Erin Hunter | |
# of Pages | 2,160 (all 6 books) | |
Best for Ages | 9-12 | |
# of Clovers | | |
# of Times Read |  | |
(Paid links)
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Setting:
This arc takes place in the woods somewhere, and takes place around modern times. The main character of this book is Rusty, a house-cat who joins the warrior clans of cats around the lake near his house. The genre of this book is fantasy, and it is told in third person.
Plot:
Rusty is an ordinary house-cat who dreams of adventure. One day, he goes into the nearby forest, and meets some cats who claim to be part of a Clan. The Clan cats are from ThunderClan, one of the four Clans of cats from around the lake that is nearby Rusty's home. The leader of ThunderClan, called Bluestar, invites Rusty to join ThunderClan. There, he would be an apprentice like Graypaw, who Rusty also meets in the forest. Rusty accepts, and is taken back to the ThunderClan. There he receives a new name, Firepaw, in honor of his red pelt. As soon as he arrives, another apprentice named Ravenpaw arrives with devastating news. The deputy of ThunderClan, Redtail, has been killed in a fight with a rival Clan. (The four Clans are RiverClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and ThunderClan. The place were the Clan cats' ancestors go when they die is called StarClan. StarClan gives prophecies and advises the Clans through medicine cats.) Ravenpaw later tells Firepaw and Graypaw that Tigerclaw, one of the Clan's strongest warriors, killed Redtail. Graypaw and Firepaw are shocked, but keep it a secret. Firepaw's mentor is also the new deputy, Lionheart. Firepaw is not respected by all of his Clanmates, because he used to be a house-cat. However, Firepaw learns all the skills of a warrior, from hunting prey to fighting. When Firepaw is out hunting one day, he finds a sick, old cat on ThunderClan territory. (All the Clans have territory, which they learn to protect from other Clans.) He takes her back to the ThunderClan camp, where Firepaw learns that the cat is called Yellowfang, and was the medicine cat for ShadowClan. (Medicine cats heal the sick or injured cats in each Clan.) Firepaw is forced to take care of Yellowfang, until she eventually becomes the Clan's medicine cat. However, all is not well. ShadowClan grows stronger, and eventually attacks ThunderClan. In this battle, Lionheart dies, and Bluestar names Tigerclaw deputy. The two apprentices also help ShadowClan drive out their leader Brokenstar, because he is sending kits into battle. This leads to Bluestar giving Firepaw and Graypaw their warrior names, which are Fireheart and Graystripe. While hunting one day, Fireheart meets a house-cat called Princess, who turns out to be his sister. Fireheart continues meeting with Princess, who gives him her firstborn kit. His name is Cloudkit, and Princess wants him to live with ThunderClan. Fireheart brings him back, but most of his Clanmates are not happy. Bluestar lets him stay anyway. Bluestar gives Fireheart and Graystripe apprentices, named Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. During winter, Fireheart and Graystripe take their apprentices on a patrol, and Graystripe falls into the freezing river. He is saved by a RiverClan cat called Silverstream. Graystripe falls in love with her, and starts to meet her ever night on the ThunderClan border in secret. One day, Tigerclaw asks for Bluestar to come to the Thunderpath on Thunderclan territory. (A Thunderpath is a road, but the Clans call it a Thunderpath.) Bluestar cannot go, but Cinderpaw goes instead. Cinderpaw is hit by a monster. (Monsters are cars.) When she is hit, Cinderpaw breaks one of her back legs, crippling her. Yellowfang takes her under her wing, and teaches her to become a medicine cat. Meanwhile, Graystripe falls behind on his teaching, so Fireheart teaches Brackenpaw. Fireheart follows Graystripe to the border one night, and tells him to stop meeting Silverstream. He refuses, because Silverstream is going to have his kits! Fireheart tells no one, until one day when Silverstream's kits begin to come. Fireheart gets Cinderpaw to go help her, and the kits survive. Sadly, Silverstream does not survive. Graystripe is very sad, and Bluestar decides not to punish him. After this, Fireheart begins to investigate if Tigerclaw truly killed Redtail. He finds out enough evidence to convict Tigerclaw, but Bluestar does not believe him. When a group of rogue cats attack the ThunderClan camp, Tigerclaw tries to kill Bluestar. He fails, and is exiled. Bluestar names Fireheart the new deputy of ThunderClan. However, that is not the end of Tigerclaw. He returns, but not to ThunderClan. Tigerclaw becomes the leader of ShadowClan, and receives his nine lives from StarClan and his new name, Tigerstar. (All leaders get nine lives from StarClan and a new end to their name, star.) Meanwhile, ThunderClan is in danger. A pack of wild dogs is living in their territory. Tigerstar sneaks secretly into their territory and leaves a trail of prey straight to the ThunderClan camp. ThunderClan cleans up the trail before the dogs get to it, and they are safe. However, ThunderClan realizes they now need a plan to get rid of the dogs. Some ThunderClan warriors, including Fireheart and Bluestar, lure the dogs close to the gorge on their territory. Then, Fireheart lures the dogs all the way to the gorge, but he is caught by Tigerstar. Bluestar comes to his aid, and pushes the pack leader off the edge. However, Bluestar falls down into the gorge with the dogs, and dies. This means Fireheart is the new leader of ThunderClan. Fireheart receives his nine lives and new name, which is Firestar. Now, Firestar must deal with the growing threat of Tigerstar, who has started to bring rogues into ShadowClan. As a great battle looms in the distance, will Firestar be able to kill Tigerstar? Or will ThunderClan be demolished?
Recommendation:
This is the first arc in the Warriors series, which is currently 6 arcs. This was a good starter arc, but it was definitely not my favorite. The characters are good, with a wide range of personalities, from the grumpy Yellowing to the brave Firestar. The plot is easy to follow and not confusing, and there are some great dramatic moments. If you are looking for a new genre to read, or like cats, I recommend you read this one.