Another Warriors arc review I’m doing, I guess.
These take ages to write, but I do enjoy doing them and usually like
reading these books!
If you’ve caught up with my other Warriors reviews, you
probably know that I really liked the first arc and wasn’t as fond of the
second. I also have to say right here and now that I didn’t grow up with Power
of Three the way I did The Prophecies Begin and the first part of The New Prophecy. I actually stopped reading Warriors books altogether except for older
re-reads and the occasional Super Edition or eBook.
But when I decided to start doing book reviews I just kinda
saw it as my duty to review all Warriors books, at least the non-graphic novel ones. So I got me the third arc, and
here we finally go. Because I never read past the second arc, I’m going into
this blindly, safe for some spoilers I came across from the Warriors community. I still largely don’t know where each book in
the arc is going, so I’m looking forward to seeing how things go in Power of
Three. Spoilers ahead as we dive right into the third Warriors arc by Erin
Hunter, starting with book one: The Sight.
Book One: The Sight
In this book we follow the kits of Squirrelflight and
Brambleclaw; Hollykit, Jaykit and Lionkit. The three kits repeatedly get into
trouble, and this even results into Jaypaw getting seriously hurt at one point,
partly due to the fact that he’s blind. Time goes on and the kits become
apprentices. Jaypaw is very bitter, while Hollypaw wants to be the best cat she
can be, first thinking this can be achieved by becoming a medicine cat, though
she later switches to becoming a warrior apprentice. Jaypaw discovers that he
has the power to walk and see in dreams, including those of other cats.
Finally, after StarClan reveals that his destiny lies with becoming a medicine
cat, Jaypaw grudgingly accepts his role as Leafpool’s apprentice. The book ends
with a certain prophecy being revealed to the blind cat, the prophecy that
tells of the power of the Three cats.
This book has to be one of the Warriors books I just
couldn’t get into. It took me quite a while to get through, relatively
speaking, and didn’t particularly excite me at any point.
I feel that this is due to the fact that there isn’t really
a major plot going on. It’s just kinda things happening to these three
siblings, and nothing really exciting happens in it. The closest thing we got
to a climax was two apprentices, one of whom is downright unlikable and the
other one being the blandest of the Three, being stuck underground for like a
page or so. But there’s no major disaster or fight at the end.
Even the games the Clans decide to hold to get closer and
less edgy with one another are barely shown and just kinda glanced over for a
big part. This just made it rather uninteresting to sit through. This book to
me also felt much longer than the average Warriors arc book, while it’s just
normal length in reality. This can also be connected to the rather slow-feeling
pacing.
The characters weren’t the most engaging, either. I liked
Hollypaw’s dedication to the warrior code, and actually seeing a cat change
from becoming a medicine cat apprentice to a warrior apprentice, but she didn’t
interest me too much. Jaypaw, while making for a nice change with being a grump
as a main character for once, still came off as downright unlikable at times,
especially with how he treats his first mentor, Brightheart. Lionpaw is just
not an interesting character in the slightest right here. I really hope he
develops more as the story goes on. The old characters are still much the same.
I was actually glad to see Graystripe return, so that’s a plus. Goldenflower
unfortunately died between books, which does sadden me, because she was
actually a pretty good character.
This book just really didn’t do much for me. I wish I could
give it a higher score, but unfortunately I just can’t without lying.
Book Two: Dark River
Maybe the next book will be better and have a more structured
plot and more going on. Let’s check out the second book, Dark River.
In this book, dark discoveries are made by the three young
cats. Lionpaw gets training from Tigerstar and Hawkfrost and meets his secret
friend from WindClan in a hidden tunnel network. Hollypaw discovers the secret
of what’s wrong with RiverClan and what Lionpaw is hiding, and Jaypaw learns
about the ancient cats that once roamed the area around the lake. A war may be
happening soon, with stress levels rising in RiverClan, and both WindClan and
ShadowClan being very battlehungry. It is now up to the Three to prevent the
fight from breaking out.
A pretty solid installment. Not anything special by Warriors
standards, but at least there’s a lot more stuff happening and it has a more
coherent plot, and I commend it for that, especially after the slight mess that
the previous book was story-wise.
The characters were all right. I quite grew to like
Heatherpaw and Lionpaw in this book. Not only that, but Hollypaw grew on me,
too. I’m still not a big fan of Jayfeather, though, and Breezepaw... yeah... no,
thank you. Not a fan. The other characters are mostly just rather basic.
The pacing was good! Nothing went too fast or slow in this,
so that’s much appreciated. I didn’t have a hard time staying engaged like with
the first.
I really liked the concept of the tunnels and the ancient
cats, though I do wonder how much they’ll add plot-wise. When I first heard of
the concept of long-dead cats living in an underground tunnel system I was
kinda hesitant to buy it, because it really made it seem like there was going
to be some form of time travel involved, but it’s done rather cleverly, and I
liked the way of how it was introduced in the prologue.
Another thing I could really appreciate was the relationship
between Lionpaw and Heatherpaw. I thought it was written rather well by
Warriors standards, and it was just really cute seeing these two have their
unlawful friendship and special meeting place and made-up Clan even.
Overall, I’d say this was a pretty decent book in this
series.
Rating: 3/5
Book Three: Outcast
Now let’s continue our journey into
Power of Three with the next book: Outcast.
In this book, the Tribe of Rushing Water has problems with
another group of cats that has arrived at the mountain and is terrorizing them.
A group of cats of various Clans travels back to the mountains to aid them in
their struggles against these newcomers. Jaypaw, Hollypaw and Lionpaw are among
the cats that travel there and hope to help them, while the prophecy is still
looming over their heads.
This was another pretty decent book. So far I do really
wonder what it contributes to the greater journey and overarching plot of the
prophecy, but it was an enjoyable read. I’m mostly neutral on the Tribe, but
they were written okay here. I thought them having a struggle against other
cats for the first time in their lives was interesting, as well as Stoneteller
lying to his cats.
The characters were all right, too. I’m very slowly but
surely warming up to Jaypaw a bit, though I’m still kinda sick of his constant
negative attitude and how he treated Brightheart. Hollypaw is okay, but I don’t
see much depth to her personality other than being obsessed with the warrior
code so far. Lionpaw I still like a bit, and Breezepaw is still my least
favorite among the apprentices.
The pacing was all right, too. Nothing groundbreaking, but
fast enough to keep me engaged.
I think this is another decent book in the series.
Rating: 3/5
Book Four: Eclipse
Now we go onto the next book: Eclipse.
Hollypaw, Jaypaw and Lionpaw now all know of the prophecy
and have to live with it. When a mysterious stranger named Sol visits the
Clans, it has disastrous results for the others: ShadowClan denounces their
faith in StarClan and stops living by the warrior code.
This was the first one in this arc that I felt I really
enjoyed. I was continuously engaged by the story, the characters got better,
shifting dynamics between them got interesting, and so far we’ve never actually
seen a full Clan denounce the code and their faith, so that was definitely something
new.
The characters were rather good. I actually really liked
Lionpaw in this, as he gets more darker twists to his personality due to his
training in the Dark Forest. Hollypaw still isn’t the most interesting, but
it’s at least refreshing to see her greatest fear, a Clan without loyalty to
the warrior code, come true. Finally, Jaypaw is still the same. I’m mostly
neutral on him now. The rest I simply do not find me attaching myself to.
The pacing was all right, too. I liked this one better than all of the other Power of Three books so far.
Rating: 4/5
Book Five: Long Shadows
We continue in book five: Long Shadows.
In this book, the trio sees it as their duty to preserve the
warrior code by restoring ShadowClan’s faith in their warrior ancestors. Not
only that, Sol is also still around, and a cat within ThunderClan may just
prove to have dark ambitions, which leads to the reveal of a well-kept secret.
I’ve seen many people say this book was simply written
surrounding the fire scene and... honestly, I don’t think I disagree. It’s a good
scene, don’t get me wrong, but the rest is just kinda... eh?
I really expected it to take a lot more to restore
ShadowClan’s faith than a simple trick by the three. This would’ve been a
really interesting conflict to see the long-term consequences of, but Blackstar
goes back to believing after seeing the sort-of-fake sign by the three and
that’s it. Then the story just kinda meanders around until we get to the famous
fire scene. The rest of the plot is just kind of there.
The characters are just all right. I still find myself
liking Lionblaze the most, but Jayfeather and Hollyleaf I just don’t care
about. Jayfeather’s constant grumpiness is really annoying to read, and I
really don’t like his attitude towards StarClan, and how he thinks he’s better than
them. Hollyleaf’s constant warrior code obsession is just as obnoxious. We get
some character development for Squirrelflight and Ashfur, which was sad,
but... come on.
The story also kind of sends a bad message for adoption. In
the Warriors universe, it seems that your parents are only the ones who
biologically gave birth to you. Leafpool never mothered the three, yet
Squirrelflight basically denounces them as her own when push comes to shove.
Shouldn’t she instead try to defend her kits with her life since she claims to
love them just as much as if she were their biological parent? Couldn’t she
have pushed Ashfur into the fire? If it’s choosing between the life of an evil
incel or the three you raised as if they were your own, I bloody know who I’d
safe out of these two. Also, after the fire, nobody bothers to mention to anyone
else that Ashfur turned into a near-murderer and
tried not only to kill three kits, but also was involved with the plot to kill
Firestar, who is the bloody Clan leader. And the way Squirrelflight just says
“kill them then” about her kits is just... oof.
We also somehow get introduced to Cat Time Travel with
Jaypaw now suddenly becoming a cat of the Ancients naming Jay’s Wing and being
somewhat of a catalyst to the old lake cats leaving for the mountains. While I
liked the world building we got with the ancient cats, it just felt kinda weird
to have something like time travel in a Warriors book? We also still aren’t
explained how the stick works, so we don’t know how this is even possible.
I didn’t like this one quite as much as the last. I’ll give
this one just barely three out of five stars. Just… eh, I get that they wanted this
to be the big bomb-dropping book and all, but the first half of it was rather
boring until we finally got to the big moment and later Ashfur’s murder.
Book Six: Sunrise
Let’s
round this arc up with the final installment: Sunrise.
Now that the three know of Squirrelflight’s secret and
Ashfur is dead, they are dead-set on finding out who their real parents are,
while some of the Clan also go looking for Sol to have him answer for what they
presume he did to Ashfur. Upon finding out who their biological parents are,
Hollyleaf goes into a downwards spiral that ends up having consequences for all
of ThunderClan.
This was just a painfully boring book, maybe until the final
part or so. There’s no real overarching plot or main conflict. We still don’t
know what the prophecy and the powers of the three are even for. If you look at
the earlier arcs, they at least had a main conflict. For arc 1 it was facing
Tigerstar and his henchcats. For arc 2 it was fleeing the forest and safely
settling in the new territories. For this one there isn’t really one? Sol just
kinda vanishes, so there’s no cool payoff to his conflict. ShadowClan’s lack of
faith in StarClan only lasted like one book in length. We only have the three
finding out who their parents are, which isn’t really something that
interesting? Book five had a more intriguing and impactful climax than this one,
which isn’t good for a final book in an arc.
It also drags painfully long which makes it awfully boring.
It honestly feels like, with a good rewrite, the main beats of this story
could’ve been condensed into three or four books, and the constant drag of the
plot would not feel as prevalent.
The main characters, like stated before, are simply not
something I care about, aside from Lionblaze. Jayfeather is as obnoxious as
ever, and Hollyleaf went from an annoying character to a murderer who not only
ruined everything for herself but had to drag everyone involved down with her
as well. I wasn't even sad at her death.
And to make things worse, it ends with a cliffhanger. Like I
said before, the prophecy and powers don’t really come into play here yet, so I
presume they’ve saved that for Omen of the Stars. What a disappointment.
This was without any doubt one of my least favorite Warriors books
I’ve ever read. I’m honestly this close to giving it only one star. Only two
out of five for me.
Final Thoughts
So, overall, this was a bad arc. I’d say it’s maybe even
slightly worse than The New Prophecy, which already had a rather low score. However, whereas that one has a rather strong second half, this one just felt mostly weak throughout all of it. I
really recommend you skip this one. Sorry for the grumpy review, guys, I
just expected more from the Erins. I'm not expecting any masterpiece writing, but at least writing that's consistent and knows where it's going, which I have the feeling they didn't over here. Let's hope that Omen of the Stars is better than whatever this was, shall we?
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