Halfway through the first arc. Despite some minor gripes I had with them, I really liked the previous two books. So how about the third? Spoilers ahead.
Although they all live separately, our main trio is now trying to find their own way to get rid of Stinger, the false Great Father. Thorn takes over another troop of baboons in hopes of gathering allies. Fearless gathers a group of juvenile lions and becomes their leader. Sky ends up in charge of her own Great Herd consisting of all types of animals. The three must eventually come together and face their enemy united.
So I really expected Stinger to be an arc-long villain, to be honest. He was such a strong one, arguably the best Erin Hunter has ever written (at least in books 1 and 2). So to get rid of him now is very soon. But if his downfall must come, at least let it be good. How was the execution? Eh, mixed.
What made Stinger stand out from 90% of Erin Hunter villains is how subtle he was. He wasn't some big bombastic killer, he was a master manipulator (though he did indeed kill a few people). His power was his control over others, making them believe that those who turned against him were bad by framing them for whatever crimes necessary.
In this book, this façade Stinger put up so well pretty soon comes crashing down, which is kind of a shame. I'd have loved it if he kept his cool even after slowly losing his allies (starting with his daughter, Berry). But on the other hand, at least this shows that he did in a twisted sick way did care about Berry. Or at least about keeping her close to him and controlling her. But it is overall a bit of a shame to see him turn on his allies he so carefully gathered throughout books one and two so quickly. Fearless was literally 100% brainwashed by him until Stinger himself made it clear what his true intentions were.
Imagine if he kept Fearless at his side until the great battle, wouldn't that have been a neat concept? A main character on the side of evil, manipulated and not realizing he was until it was too late. But instead Fearless pretty soon stops supporting Stinger and joins Sky and Thorn on their quest. The plot is still executed decently this way, it just had the potential to be so much more interesting. Ah well, Stinger's death was kinda cool, at least.
Our characters (outside of Stinger) are still pretty bland. Like, outside of Fearless supporting Stinger at first, I really can't tell what sets these three protagonists apart character-wise. One isn't really more reserved, bold or whatever than the other. Thorn, Sky and Fearless want justice by taking down Stinger in pretty much the exact same way. At first Sky is a little more hesitant about actually killing him, but in the end she is the one to (indirectly) do so, so even that part of her character no longer sets her apart.
I know other Erin Hunter books have never been that good when portraying distinct characters, but it's pretty vital to a story that we can tell apart our protagonists other than by what they look like and what their backstory is. What's their personalities? Their likes and dislikes? Their relationships to the people around them? It's all pretty bland which is a shame since there have been a handful of really distinct Erin Hunter protagonists.
Also, the twist with Loyal. I'm sorry, but I could tell this was his secret pretty soon. Turns out he mated with Swift, breaking an oath to his friend Gallant (Fearless' adoptive father) and fathered Fearless. As soon as they started dropping not-so-subtle hints, I instantly caught on. Especially with how he's been acting like a mentor towards Fearless and male lions aren't known to exactly be amicable to cubs that aren't their own (ergo killing them 99% of the time). So this would've been a neat twist if it had been a bit less obvious. Throw in some fake hints to throw the audience off. A twist that is this obvious isn't that good a twist.
Otherwise, this was a pretty strong installment in the series! It didn't ruin Stinger for me, but I definitely like him less as a villain after his portrayal here. He was just a bit too quick to drop the act for me personally. And of course the characters could use some work. But otherwise the plot was very engaging and I really liked seeing Sky gather her Great Herd.
Rating: 4/5
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