The Place of No Stars is the fifth book in the seventh Warrior Cats series, The Broken Code.
The prologue picks up exactly where Darkness Within ended, but from Squirrelflight's POV: she thinks Ashfur's trying to drown her in the Moonpool, but then suddenly they're in the Dark Forest. Squirrelflight vows to find Bramblestar's spirit and find her way back to her Clan.
Shortly afterward, ThunderClan's in an uproar about Ashfur escaping from ShadowClan and Squirrelflight missing. Lionblaze decides to bring a patrol to ShadowClan. Meanwhile, Rootspring returns to his Clan from the Moonpool and reports to Leafstar, then all the leaders in the ShadowClan camp, about how he saw Ashfur disappear with Squirrelflight into the pool.
They all go to the Moonpool with the medicine cats and decide that someone should dream themselves into the Dark Forest. Willowshine volunteers, but when she falls asleep, her body dies and her spirit gets dragged into the pool by something. Afterward, ThunderClan bickers amongst themselves about what to do next, and start arguing about who should lead them - rejecting Lionblaze as acting leader since he'd just been talking about possibly killing Shadowsight - when suddenly Graystripe returns and they all decide that he should be leader for now.
The leaders forbid other cats from trying to enter the Dark Forest, but that doesn't stop Shadowsight, who sneaks away to the Moonpool with Mothwing and dreams himself there. Tigerstar, Dovewing, Graystripe, Bristlefrost, and Rootspring find them at the Moonpool. Suddenly Willowshine's spirit appears to Rootspring, telling him that only he can help Squirrelflight, and she drags him into the pool.
In the Dark Forest, Shadowsight encounters a tom who introduces himself as Snowtuft. Snowtuft explains that a very evil StarClan cat's up to something and has recruited some of the Dark Forest cats, and that it seems the Dark Forest has been shrinking recently. Snowtuft leads Shadowsight to Ashfur and Squirrelflight.
Willowshine leads Rootspring through the Dark Forest. They overhear two Dark Forest cats, Mapleshade and Silverhawk, talking about how Ashfur has promised them the chance to go back to the living world. They split up for a bit before finding each other at the edge of a lake. In a small island in the middle, Rootspring sees several Clan spirits; Stemleaf and Sandynose are among them, and they appear to be guarded by an evil spirit named Darkstripe. Rootspring realizes he doesn't know what to do next.
In the living world, Bristlefrost has a discussion with Tree about her love for Rootspring and whether they might have a future together. She decides that she wants to enter the Dark Forest to find Rootspring.
Snowtuft refuses to help Shadowsight, explaining that Ashfur has an island where he holds spirits prisoner and controls them with his mind. They watch as Ashfur and Squirrelflight argue, and Ashfur warns Squirrelflight that she has to see something before thinking of attacking him. He leads her to an island; Shadowsight recognizes spirits there such as Spiresight, Rosepetal, and Berrynose. Ashfur controls Bramblestar's spirit and has him attack Squirrelflight. While they're fighting, Shadowsight prepares to pounce on Ashfur, but Ashfur reveals that he knows Shadowsight's there, and gloats about it. Bramblestar breaks free of Ashfur's control and tells Squirrelflight to run. While Ashfur struggles to regain control over the ThunderClan leader, Shadowsight attacks the evil StarClan cat and tells Bramblestar to run too and find his way back to his body. He manages to get away, and Ashfur attacks Shadowsight, who blacks out.
Bristlefrost successfully dreams her way into the Dark Forest and sees the confrontation between Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, but loses her focus and wakes up. Shadowsight suddenly awakens as well, injured. Shadowsight and Bristlefrost discuss how Shadowsight will need to return to the Dark Forest, since he seems the most capable of remaining in there.
In the Dark Forest, Rootspring and Willowshine encounter Squirrelflight, but their reunion doesn't last long, since Stemleaf - under Ashfur's control - starts chasing them. Rootspring, Willowshine, and Squirrelflight are captured by Ashfur's enslaved spirits. Rootspring manages to get away, but after climbing a tree to view the island, he realizes that Willowshine has been under Ashfur's control all along. That's when Snowtuft shows up and offers to help him; Rootspring accepts.
In the waking world, Bristlefrost is determined to help Rootspring, even seeking her mother Ivypool's advice about entering the Dark Forest. And despite Tigerstar threatening to imprison his son, Shadowsight insists upon going back with her as well. Before they do so, the Clan cats call upon the Sisters for help. Their leader, Snow, warns that this is the last time the Clans will ask the Sisters for favors: that they will leave before long. They decide that a ceremony will be performed at sunset, and in the meantime, Tigerstar helps his son look for herbs and accepts that he has to try to follow his own destiny.
Rootspring and Snowtuft try to come up with ideas on what to do, when Bramblestar's spirit comes up to them and tells them that he has a plan. Snowtuft lures Ashfur away, and Bramblestar and Rootspring rush onto the island, where they get into a fight with Ashfur's controlled spirits, as well as Darkstripe. Bramblestar's body had been brought to the island by Ashfur, and Bramblestar manages to get back into it. They run, but Ashfur returns; Rootspring attacks him in order to give the ThunderClan leader and deputy time to escape. Snowtuft joins in the fight and helps Rootspring get away. As Squirrelflight, Bramblestar, Snowtuft, and Rootspring flee, somebody pounces on Rootspring and everything starts to go dark for him.
The Sisters prepare to perform their ceremony at the Moonpool... and then Bramblestar and Squirrelflight stumble out of the pool, much to the surprise and joy of all the cats around them. They quickly realize that Rootspring has not followed them. Just before the sunset ends, the leader of the Sisters, Snow, asks Bristlefrost if she still needs their help, and she accepts it, knowing she has to try to save Rootspring.
With the help of the Sisters, Bristlefrost and Shadowsight dream their way into the Dark Forest once again. They hear a noise and follow it, until they find Rootspring surrounded by Dark Forest spirits, facing Snowtuft in what will clearly be a fight to the death. Bristlefrost watches, horrified, and the book ends as she notices that one of the spirits cheering for Snowtuft is Stemleaf.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Accidental Misnaming: One of the Sisters accidentally calls the Moonpool the "Moonpond".
- And I Must Scream: All of the spirits of the cats who have died since StarClan was blocked off (as well as Spiresight who died before that), have been cruelly imprisoned in the Dark Forest by Ashfur, who has mind-controlled them into being his minions. It is heavily implied that their true selves are still in there and may even be aware of what is happening, but are powerless to do anything. When Bramblestar regains his physical form, they recognize him and appear to want to stop fighting; in particular Rosepetal is described as "shuddering, as if some great conflict was taking place inside her."
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Part of the reason Ashfur's currently so powerful is that he's able to force other spirits to do his bidding - even attack their friends.
- Chase Scene: At least two of them: first Squirrelflight, Willowshine, and Rootspring run from Ashfur's controlled cats, and later on it's Squirrelflight, Rootspring, Bramblestar, and Snowtuft running from Ashfur and his minions.
- Cliffhanger: The book ends in the middle of a battle to the death between Snowtuft and Rootspring, and Bristlefrost noticing that Stemleaf's cheering for the Dark Forest cat.
- Creepy Cave: Rootspring ventures into one in the Dark Forest, and it nearly collapses on him.
- The Dragon: Darkstripe is currently serving as Ashfur's, guarding the island where all the imprisoned spirits are being kept.
- Ensemble Cast: The Broken Code features three main protagonists: Bristlefrost, Rootspring, and Shadowsight.
- Fighting from the Inside: When Ashfur mind-controls him into attacking Squirrelflight, Bramblestar tries his best to resist; at one point Ashfur even shouts at Bramblestar out of apparent frustrastion of how hard it is to control him.
- This is also heavily implied to be the case with Ashfur other enslaved ghosts; when Bramblestar reunites with his body, they appear to want to stop fighting; in particular Rosepetal described as looking conflicted.
- Feel No Pain: Shadowsight notices that Bramblestar's spirit doesn't feel pain when controlled by Ashfur, and it makes the battle seem even more impossible for Squirrelflight to win.
- Grand Theft Me: Ashfur promises the other Dark Forest cats that he'll help them take over the bodies of the living if they help him.
- Hazardous Water: The lake with the strange black water in the Dark Forest. Just seeing it causes inexplicable fear in Rootspring and an instinct that falling in would be a "fate worse than drowning". Both Rootspring and Shadowsight do fall in, and in the few seconds they're in there, it's described as an unnatural choking sensation rapidly sapping their strength, all while filling them with a deep despair. It's even dangerous to spirits, since an island in the lake is where the villain has trapped all of his enslaved minions; even the RiverClan spirits seem unable to cross it.
- Hell: The Clans' hell, the Dark Forest, is the main setting of the book.
- Heroic Lineage: One of the ThunderClanners suggests that Ivypool should be their current acting leader, since she's Firestar's kin. This is somewhat amusing, since the previous book involved accusations of Nepotism after Squirrelflight announced Lionblaze as her deputy - both of whom are Firestar's kin.
- Holy Ground: Some cats are still uneasy about non-medicine-cats going to the Moonpool, and especially about allowing rogues (the Sisters) there.
- Hypocrite: Ashfur insists that he loves Squirrelflight and doesn't want to hurt her... but then minutes later he mind-controls Bramblestar and later Stemleaf into attacking and physically hurting her (the latter is described literally pinning and beating her).
- Ashfur also berates Squirrelflight for "forcing" him to hurt her and the Clans, despite the obvious fact that he is willingly choosing to do it all and Ashfur is currently planning to force the innocent spirits under his control to attack their loved ones against their will.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Ashfur drags Squirrelflight into cat-Hell so that he can try to make her be his mate, in a place that she can't escape and that nobody else can interfere with them.
- Immediate Sequel: The Place of No Stars starts where Darkness Within ended, with Ashfur dragging Squirrelflight through the Moonpool to the Dark Forest.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: In the Dark Forest, Ashfur mind-controls Bramblestar's spirit into attacking Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight calls to him to remember who he is, and it works for a moment before Ashfur seizes control again.
- Jerkass Has a Point: A downplayed example. Crowfeather is much less of a Jerkass than he previously was, but is still grouchy and mistrustful to an extent. His suspicion that Squirrelflight went with Ashfur willingly is ill-founded and wrong, but he does make a valid point when he notes how "troubled" Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's relationship has been over the years, and that Squirrelflight has done questionable things to Bramblestar; defying him to help the Sisters and lying that Leafpool's kits were his e.g.
- Living Legend: Graystripe is this to Rootspring. Rootspring remembers that Graystripe was once deputy to the great leader Firestar, and starts shaking in awe, thinking, "This cat isn't just any elder. He's... amazing!"
- Mass Hypnosis: Ashfur is able to mind-control all of the innocent spirits trapped in the Dark Forest at the same time.
- Mind-Control Eyes: Ashfur's enslaved ghosts are described as having pupilless, eerily blank eyes.
- Messy Hair: Mapleshade's described as having clumped and tattered fur, as if she no longer cares about grooming herself.
- Not Good with Rejection: Ashfur is still completely baffled as to why Squirrelflight still doesn't want him after he's done so much to try to win her over.
- The Place: The Place of No Stars is one of the names of the cats' hell, and is the main setting of the book.
- The Power of Love:
- Though it's not enough to throw him off completely unless he is distracted, Bramblestar manages to resist Ashfur's control because of his love for Squirrelflight: just hearing her voice briefly snaps him out of his trance twice; first when he hears her for the first time in moons, and second when she pleads with him as he is forced to attack her.
- When he falls into the strange black water, Rootspring manages to escape by focusing on his love for Bristlefrost.
- The Promise: Before Shadowsight returns to the Dark Forest at the end, Tigerstar has him promise that he'll return.
- The Reveal: Rootspring sees Willowshine standing glassy-eyed and not helping Squirrelflight, and this makes him realize that she'd been under Ashfur's control the whole time.
- Short-Lived Leadership: Tigerstar mocks ThunderClan's recent leader turnover rate:"It's your turn, is it? Maybe you'll last a whole quarter moon."
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Ashfur's in the middle of telling Squirrelflight about how powerful he supposedly is and how Bramblestar's lost to her forever, and she just goes "Oh, shut up! I'm not listening to your rambling anymore."
- Significant Name Overlap: Tigerstar. Shadowsight mentions to Snowtuft that the current leader of ShadowClan is Tigerstar - referring to his father, who had the warrior name of Tigerheart - and Snowtuft thinks that he's talking about the first Tigerstar, who had the warrior name Tigerclaw, was also a leader of ShadowClan, and tried to take over the forest.
- Sneaky Departure: Shadowsight and Mothwing sneak out of ShadowClan's camp in order for Shadowsight to go to the Moonpool.
- Speak in Unison: At one point, when Ashfur captures Rootspring and Squirrelflight, he has his mind-controlled minions taunt them in unison.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Rootspring and Bristlefrost are from different Clans but are in love. In the previous book they decided they each didn't want to leave their Clans, but Bristlefrost finds herself starting to question this, and decides to go into cat-Hell herself to try to save Rootspring.
- Succession Crisis: ThunderClan deals with this a bit after Squirrelflight goes missing. They already were having trouble accepting her as leader since she hadn't been given nine lives, but now they also don't want her acting deputy Lionblaze to lead after realizing how short-tempered and violent he can be. That's when the wise elder Graystripe returns and starts scolding them for their bickering and giving orders for some of them to hunt, so they pick him as their current acting leader.
- Switching P.O.V.: Bristlefrost, Shadowsight, and Rootspring.
- Title Drop: Since "The Place of No Stars" is a location where a lot of the action takes place, the book's title comes up several times.
- Trapped on the Astral Plane: All the cats who have died recently haven't been able to move on to StarClan, and are currently being held prisoner in the Dark Forest.
- We Can Rule Together: Ashfur tells Squirrelflight that they can be together when he rules over both the forest and StarClan.
- While You Were in Diapers: When Tigerstar asks Graystripe what he knows about leading, Graystripe snaps back that he led ThunderClan for moons while Firestar was away, long before Tigerstar was even born.
- The X of Y: The title The Place of No Stars.
- You Do NOT Want To Know: Snowtuft mentions an island where Ashfur keeps spirits prisoner. Shadowsight asks for more information, and Snowtuft responds, "You really don't want to know", refusing to say anything else on the topic. It helps build the tension and significance of one of the most important locations of the book.
