I like to read.

4th book of 2012: Warriors #6: The Darkest Hour by Erin Hunter Until I’m old and gray, I will always champion the Warriors series as one of my all-time favorites, despite the fact that the first book wasn’t published until I was 23 and they are supposedly written for 8-year-olds. If you aren’t familiar, the Warriors books follow four clans of what we would call feral cats that battle each other, and sometimes work together towards common enemies (two-legs, dogs, rogue cats, etc.).  The first arch begins when a kittypet (house cat) is recruited into Thunderclan by their leader, Bluestar, after getting himself in a predicament due to his curiosity leading him out of his home and into the untamed woods.  It takes a long time for the clan to accept him as a true warrior (and some never do), and the term “kittypet” is thrown around like the harshest of all slurs.  Fireheart (as he is come to be known) does train to become a Warrior, however, and by the end of the 5th volume, he is Bluestar’s deputy and chief consultant. The Darkest Hour is the final chapter in the first story arch of the Warriors.  It sees our main protagonist, Fireheart, facing everything he has feared, as well as dreamed, all at once, in a serious shitstorm that he has to navigate not only for himself, but for all of Thunderclan as well.  A final battle with Tigerstar turns out very unexpectedly, and a new menace makes itself known in the forest. The writing of Erin Hunter (who is actually four different authors writing together) is sublime.  The fights between cats are harsh and brutal (the amount of violence at times makes me question how these books could be for small children) and the characterization of the clan cats is so deeply intracate and believable that you can’t help but care for them on an intense, emotional level. After finishing The Darkest Hour, I found myself crushed that my time with Fireheart had ended (the other archs deal with different cats), but I know that he is a character that has forever left a mark on my literary soul. The Warriors series is a strong reminder that one should NEVER judge a book by it’s classification in the library/bookstore. 

4th book of 2012: Warriors #6: The Darkest Hour by Erin Hunter

Until I’m old and gray, I will always champion the Warriors series as one of my all-time favorites, despite the fact that the first book wasn’t published until I was 23 and they are supposedly written for 8-year-olds.

If you aren’t familiar, the Warriors books follow four clans of what we would call feral cats that battle each other, and sometimes work together towards common enemies (two-legs, dogs, rogue cats, etc.).  The first arch begins when a kittypet (house cat) is recruited into Thunderclan by their leader, Bluestar, after getting himself in a predicament due to his curiosity leading him out of his home and into the untamed woods.  It takes a long time for the clan to accept him as a true warrior (and some never do), and the term “kittypet” is thrown around like the harshest of all slurs.  Fireheart (as he is come to be known) does train to become a Warrior, however, and by the end of the 5th volume, he is Bluestar’s deputy and chief consultant.

The Darkest Hour is the final chapter in the first story arch of the Warriors.  It sees our main protagonist, Fireheart, facing everything he has feared, as well as dreamed, all at once, in a serious shitstorm that he has to navigate not only for himself, but for all of Thunderclan as well.  A final battle with Tigerstar turns out very unexpectedly, and a new menace makes itself known in the forest.

The writing of Erin Hunter (who is actually four different authors writing together) is sublime.  The fights between cats are harsh and brutal (the amount of violence at times makes me question how these books could be for small children) and the characterization of the clan cats is so deeply intracate and believable that you can’t help but care for them on an intense, emotional level.

After finishing The Darkest Hour, I found myself crushed that my time with Fireheart had ended (the other archs deal with different cats), but I know that he is a character that has forever left a mark on my literary soul.

The Warriors series is a strong reminder that one should NEVER judge a book by it’s classification in the library/bookstore. 

1 month ago