Bramblestar's Storm is the seventh
Warriors Super Edition, which takes place a few moons after the last book of
Omen of the Stars (
The Last Hope) and the novella
Dovewing's Silence, and a couple moons before the sixth arc,
A Vision of Shadows (which begins with
The Apprentice's Quest).
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Big Storm Episode: As the title implies, the book centers around a major storm that causes floods, resulting in several cats dying and ThunderClan temporarily moving from their flooded camp.
- Confused Question Mark: In the manga at the end, Bramblestar has one appear over his head after Squirrelflight topples over during training.
- Dawn of an Era: The end is intended to be this, with Bramblestar adding a new rule to the warrior code: in times of trouble, Clan cats must forget their rivalries and help each other. This is notable, considering that the Clans have spent twenty-four books in the main series learning how to work together, but the Clans seem to forget about it in later books.
- Due to the Dead: Bramblestar reassures Frankie that they'll give Benny a warrior's farewell, and he buries him and speaks the words a medicine cat normally would have.
- Foreign Queasine: Minty is grossed out by the idea of eating freshly-caught prey instead of the food her housefolk give her. Eventually she gets used to it and tells her Twolegs at the end that it's not that bad.
- Gender Bender: Snowpaw is female in one scene:
"Wow!" Snowpaw squeaked, tipping back her head to follow the path up the cliff. "How did Leafpool know about this?" Brightheart gave her daughter a flick around the ear. "Medicine cats know a lot of things," she mewed.
- Insane Troll Logic: Played for laughs when the apprentices bunk in with the warriors temporarily. Dewpaw says that since they're in the warriors' den, they must be warriors now.
- Internal Reveal: Bramblestar learns about SkyClan in this book; by this point, the readers have known about it for seven years since Firestar's Quest was released.
- Ironic Name: Dovewing jokes that despite her name, she doesn't actually have wings.
- It's All My Fault: Both Bramblestar and Lilypaw blame themselves for Seedpaw's death: Lilypaw because it was her idea to get the stick from the camp, and Bramblestar because he didn't listen to his medicine cats' warning of a stick causing trouble.
- It's Not You, It's Me: Dovewing dishes this out on Bumblestripe. She broke up with him because she still loved her last mate, Tigerheart, and legitimately felt bad for stringing him along for so long.
- Killed Off for Real: Blackstar loses his ninth life in this book.
- Last Episode, New Character: When this book came out, they initially had no plans to continue the modern timeline of the books and had done a prequel instead of a sixth arc. In the manga at the end, it is revealed that Lionblaze and Cinderheart have three kits, and that Squirrelflight is pregnant. They did end up making a new arc after this eventually, and the kits all appear in it with one of Squirrelflight's as a main character.
- The Load: Minty. She's a kittypet who shelters with the Clan because she'd drown or starve otherwise. She's not very confident, isn't eager to pitch in with Clan work, and isn't very good at hunting or fighting. She does eventually do her best to try though, and earns the friendship of the Clan.
- Meaningful Rename: Lilyheart earns her warrior name. Bramblestar chose it in honor of her courage and the fact that her sister and mother, Seedpaw and Sorreltail, would live forever in her heart.
- Official Couple Ordeal Syndrome: Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. They became best friends after going on a long journey together, even though initially they were always irritated by each other. Their relationship was tested when he began to follow his evil father, and associate with his half brother, who made no secret of his dream to rule all the Clans, and there was a bit of a Love Triangle when Ashfur showed interest in her as well. Their relationship was eventually mended, and StarClan sent a vision of the two as mates, walking into the sky with stars trailing behind their paws in a single path - their destiny intertwined. Everything seemed fine - they had kits. Then it was revealed that they weren't actually her kits; she'd been covering for her sister Leafpool, who, as a medicine cat, was forbidden to take a mate. They barely spoke to each other for at least two years, until Brambleclaw became leader and chose her as his deputy, admitting that she'd always done what she thought was right; they eventually did have kits of their own.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know things are bad when Daisy loses her temper and snaps at a young apprentice that she helped raise.
- A Pet into the Wild: A kittypet named Frankie ends up joining ThunderClan and is given the new name Stormcloud.
- Ruler Protagonist: This book features the newly promoted Bramblestar, who wonders whether he can fill the pawsteps of his mentor/predecessor Firestar by doing things his own way.
- Saying Too Much: Hootpaw of WindClan mentions that rabbits are scarce on the moor, and his mentor isn't too thrilled that he'd revealed that.
- Series Continuity Error: One of the more well-known ones in the series; Vicky considered it so egregious that she made sure it would be corrected after the first printing: in the scene where Graystripe retires, he says "I'll never forget Silverstream or Stonefur, and I can scarcely believe that my daughter Mistystar is now leader of RiverClan." For those who don't remember, Mistystar and Stonefur are Bluestar's kits, and are in fact older than Graystripe. In later editions this was corrected to "I have lost so many cats who were precious to me, and not a day goes by when I don't think of Silverstream, Feathertail, and Stormfur."
- Shout-Out: Two cats that show up together are named Scarlet and O'Hara.
- Sneaky Departure: Frankie keeps sneaking out of camp on his own and returning late. Bramblestar eventually follows him and realizes that he's searching for his brother.
- Spoiler Title: Bramblestar's Storm. Nice job giving away the ending of The Last Hope, Erins.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Squirrelflight is shocked to learn that she has become pregnant, since she believed that it was impossible for her to have kits.
