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Reviews Literature / Warrior Cats

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Sparky Lurkdragon Since: Dec, 1969
06/29/2011 06:43:27 •••

Not at all impressed.

I've only read Into the Wild, and... good gravy was it enough to convince me to never touch this series again. Maybe I'm being harsh, but this book came off to me like the author was trying to do Watership Down with cats and failed so spectacularly hard it wasn't even So Bad It's Good.

My main problems with the book are an unbelievably Stuey main character and one of the most idiotic Idiot Plots I've seen in a while. Also, the "conlang" of the cats was... well, clunky is the best I can come up with. A large series of CamelCaps and random compound words does not a constructed language make. Really, the whole book is clunky.

And... is it just me, or does the "oh noes neutering" thing seem to go just a little bit beyond what the cat characters themselves would make of it? Maybe it's just the book being clunky again, but when the first chapter is acting less like it's trying to make me sympathize with sapient cat characters and more like it's trying to make me feel like I'm a jerk for having a neutered cat... holy Wall Banger, Batman. I've seen speutering made to feel like a heartbreaking tragedy without insulting my intelligence in other books about sapient cats, so I'm gonna blame Warriors over my own views for this one.

I gave the book as fair a shake as I give any. I love Xenofiction, and it's so hard to find that I was ready to continue even after the wall-denting first chapter, but all in all I just can't recommend Warriors based on the first book.

Dinru Since: Jan, 2001
05/01/2009 00:00:00

I totally agree with you on the first book, but... just keep reading. Trust me, Character Development shines through here ~^

70.171.194.183 Since: Dec, 1969
06/12/2009 00:00:00

what are you talking about i have all the books thay are great!

Desertopa Since: Jan, 2001
06/13/2009 00:00:00

Having read the second book as well, I would say that if it gets any better, it's later on than that.

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.
melloncollie Since: Feb, 2012
06/14/2009 00:00:00

Personally, I think the 6th book is the best. Highest density of CMO As.

How does the main character bother you? I never noticed his "Stuey-ness" myself. However, if you thought the first book had an Idiot Plot, It Gets Worse.

As for the speutering thing, I don't think it's made out to be that bad besides the obvious. I read it as the cats are given a choice to enjoy freedom but have to fend for themselves from a great number of dangers (predators, disease, starvation, territorial conflicts, fires later on), or live comfortably with humans and lose that freedom. It's like the difference between living with your parents and moving out.

Am I reading a kid's book too deeply here >.>

78.145.128.61 Since: Dec, 1969
07/04/2009 00:00:00

I enjoyed the book! Warrior cats are AWSOME

Flametail von Karma Since: Dec, 1969
07/05/2009 00:00:00

I'd have to say that Into the Wild is probably my least favorite book out of the series. I read it when I was nine, so I didn't know any better (besides, I was finally getting exactly what I wanted—cats living up to their true awesomeness). But later, it's completely worth it. The second book alone introduces us to two shocking twists, and the third book takes it to a whole new level. And if you're not madly in love by then, I don't know what to say.

There's a reason this series skyrockets straight to the top of the bestseller list each time a new book comes out. Just ignore the second and sixth reviews here—the sad part about having such a series with cats on the covers is that kids instantly attack them, are drawn to the internet, and this happens. But the fact that this troper managed to convince her mother to read the books (and she's still a fan) speaks volumes.

LaCroix Since: Jul, 2021
08/04/2009 00:00:00

Speaking as a fan here, it gets better. For the rest of the series, plus a sequel series, it's pretty good. And then they do a third series, and it begins to suck.

ninja_otter Since: Apr, 2014
10/12/2009 00:00:00

I figure the somewhat Stuey nature of the main character is due to the series being directed mainly at kids half my age. He's the talented newcomer that is able to introduce the reader to a new world of wild cats. It's an old device, but it works. However, I didn't find him to outshine his peers too badly, and he did have his own issues to work through rather than finding everything easy.

Comparing the series to Watership Down is a little out of place, though. These are books with some great gems of good ideas and some cool characters, but they are just not on the same level overall. I could usually predict plot twists before they came, but I enjoyed their handling all the same. Overall I found it to be great for-fun reading, especially as a cat person. It's also one of those fun series to do concept drawings for, as if I were working on the film adaptation or something.

The second series if anything has more of a "Watership Down" type structure to it, though again the comparison is one best not made. I liked those books well enough too, though the third series slipped significantly for me. Too much forbidden love drama, and many intriguing hints of storylines I was interested in, only to have them go nowhere or resolve in anticlimactic or unsatisfying ways. I'll probably give the fourth series a shot, but if it's on the same path I think I won't be able to handle Warriors anymore, even as light reading.

Short version: Started out well as a fun read, but is suffering Series Rot. Pity.

76.184.16.191 Since: Dec, 1969
10/25/2009 00:00:00

I had no problem with the books starting out. It's actually when the new series happens, and the focus is taken away from Fire Star, that I start to feel irritated. I don't like how the writers treat other animals in the forest as mindless ruthless bloodthirsty killers,(if it isn't a cat or prey then we must assume it's evil) and the cats are always more intelligent and cunning. Like when it comes to Foxes. Foxes are always sly greedy bastards (but they are usually portrayed this way in any children's book so...) But what pissed me the most was what happened with badgers. If I'm reading correctly the cats move into the new forest and basically overcrowd the badgers out of their own homes. Well when the badgers try to reclaim there territory, of course, by killing the cats. The badgers are shown as the bad guys!Squirrelflight says she hates that she felt sorry for them. But they were just fighting for their territory.

Penguin 4 Senate Since: Dec, 1969
10/25/2009 00:00:00

I thought it was decent YA literature, but after several books, it just felt like Watership Down minus all the charm. It could have been so much more fleshed-out...

Desertopa Since: Jan, 2001
10/28/2009 00:00:00

I think it really lacked the sense of alien-ness that made Watership Down so acclaimed. The characters aren't cats, they're basically a modern American's perception of tribal humans, in cat form.

I think I was twelve when I read the first one, but I couldn't help laughing at "medicine cats."

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.
NatTheWriter Since: Oct, 2011
12/19/2009 00:00:00

"The characters aren't cats, they're basically a modern American's perception of tribal humans, in cat form."

Actually, Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, and Cherith Baldry are British.

98.222.78.103 Since: Dec, 1969
08/02/2010 00:00:00

Foxes/Badgers are evil because it's from a cat's point of view. They really don't have much time to reflect upon their other qualities.

Morgie Since: Nov, 2009
09/02/2010 00:00:00

The first couple of books aren't that good. It'll improve later on. The last part of Series 1 is awesomness incantate.

kasi2 Since: Dec, 1969
12/03/2010 00:00:00

"Actually, Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, and Cherith Baldry are British"

Still, that doesn't mean they can't have been influenced by the popular perception of tribes. Actually I wouldn't say that the cats act like tribals, but a simplified version of human societies in general. It just seems like a "tribe" because that's usually the result of trying to make a society of Intellectual Animals. I've noticed the same thing in all of those wolf comics on DA. The authors want them to be animals, but for whatever reason they end up giving them human motives. So they create an idealized "animal" society that resembles a generic tribe.

BrontozaurusX Since: Mar, 2010
12/17/2010 00:00:00

I'm getting linked to this review from the article on the film with the same name. It's kind of weird.

THESE FOSSILS ARE COLOSSAL
murex Since: Sep, 2009
06/29/2011 00:00:00

Same as Brontozaurus—I was looking for the film, and then started reading, and—what? cats? Wait a minute...

Actually, I have read this book—it was a big part of my childhood. I loved it, but I can see where you're coming from. It doesn't hold up all that well under criticism. Still, I'd recommend it, if only as something to read to kids.


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