Warriors (novel series)

Warriors is a series of juvenile fantasy novels published by HarperCollins; it is written by authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui Sutherland, with the plot developed by editor Victoria Holmes, who collectively use the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The series follows the adventures of four Clans of wild cats—ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan—in their forest and lake homes. SkyClan, the long-forgotten fifth Clan of the forest, is later introduced in the stand-alone novel Firestar's Quest. It receives additional focus in the novel SkyClan's Destiny, the manga trilogy SkyClan and the Stranger, and the 2013 novella Cloudstar's Journey. A few cats in the series are Firestar and Graystripe, and there are a lot more, like Bluestar the leader of ThunderClan and Spottedleaf.

There are currently six sub-series, each containing six books. The first, Warriors (later re-titled as Warriors: The Prophecies Begin), was published from 2003 to 2004. Warriors: The New Prophecy, published from 2005 to 2006, follows the first sub-series, chronicling the Clans as they move to a new home. The third story arc, Warriors: Power of Three, was published from 2007 to 2009. The fourth sub-series, Warriors: Omen of the Stars, was published from 2009 to 2012 and continued where the third story arc left off. The fifth sub-series is Warriors: Dawn of the Clans, and the first book, The Sun Trail, was released 5 March 2013. The sub-series acts as a prequel series, detailing the formation of the Clans. A sixth sub-series with the working title Warriors: A Vision of Shadows has been announced, with Kate Cary posting a working character list to her blog site asking fans to check for inconsistencies. The series appears to focus on Bramblestar's kits, Alderkit and Sparkkit.

Other books have been released in addition to the main series, including seven lengthier stand-alone novels entitled Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, SkyClan's Destiny, Crookedstar's Promise, Yellowfang's Secret, Tallstar's Revenge, Bramblestar's Storm and upcoming book , Moth Flight's Vision. Also originally e-book-only novellas called Hollyleaf's Story, Mistystar's Omen, Cloudstar's Journey, Tigerstar's Fury, Leafpool's Wish, Dovewing's Silence, Mapleshade's Vengeance and Goosefeather's Curse. Another novella, titled "Ravenpaw's Farewell" is confirmed. These e-book novellas have also been published in two print compilations, with three stories each: Warriors: Tales from the Clans and Warriors: The Untold Stories. Six guides and several volumes of original English-language manga, produced as a collaboration between HarperCollins and TOKYOPOP, have been published as well. Manga published after TOKYOPOP's shutdown is published by HarperCollins on its own. In addition to the books, the authors have also written several short stories and two plays. The Warriors series, with the exception of the manga, has been released in e-book format for popular e-readers such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle. The series has also been translated into several languages. In addition, the series has a website featuring games, promotional videos, quizzes, a message board, and news.

Major themes in the series deal with forbidden love, adventure, the concept of nature vs. nurture, the reactions of different faiths meeting each other, and characters being a mix of good and bad. The authors draw inspiration from several natural locations and other authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and William Shakespeare.

Warriors has received mostly positive reviews, but it has also been criticized for being confusing due to its large number of characters. Critics have compared it to the Redwall series, though one reviewer commented that the series is less elegantly written. Although nominated for several awards, Warriors has yet to receive any major literary prizes. The series has reached the New York Times Bestseller List and has found popularity in many countries, including Trinidad and China.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors_(novel_series)