Book Review - Warriors: Into the Wild

In this edition of Woodn't Ya Know It, I will be reviewing and critiquing an American classic, Warriors: Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter. I stumbled upon this slice of Heaven during a leisurely stroll through Borders and seeing a display of several different books, each with similar covers. I noticed that each cover had cats on it. Obviously, I was sold.

Epic.

I knew that I had to at least experience the greatness that was Warriors, so I found an associate and asked him to direct me to the Warriors books. He asked me who I was buying for, as these books were found in the "Age 8 to 12" section, and when I told him it was clearly me, he gave me a pretty funny look. I am 100% positive that that look was respectful adoration. Likewise, the checkout girl laughed and asked me if I'd like a bag so the other shoppers wouldn't see what I'd just purchased, but she was just jealous buying this book was my idea and not hers.

The book is all about cats. Cats doing everyday cat things, like building clans and going to war, along with keeping in touch with the spirits of their ancestors. I'm pretty sure it's based on a true story. This all-original story is unlike any I've read, with a standard house cat, Rusty, who heads off into the woods to become a great warrior and save his newly joined clan, becoming a hero. If you think this sounds like Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Eragon in any way, you are wrong, mister. Because Rusty is a cat, you see. 

So there's Firepaw (or Rusty, in his house cat days) who is the protagonist who is as common a cat as you or I, then we have Graypaw who is Firepaw's friend who is a pretty great warrior. We also have Ravenpaw who is kind of clumsy and a pretty average warrior. The clan leader, Bluestar, is wise beyond her years, and always keeps a level head and makes good decisions. If you think I just described Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore as cats, you are crazy.

There are four clans; ThunderClan - the noble and honorable cats (our heroes!), RiverClan - the cats who are fair and just, WindClan - the pussy cats (and I mean that in more ways than one), and ShadowClan - the asshole cats. Wait, what do you mean that sounds exactly like Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin? No, no, no, these are four CAT clans! 

There are a couple of antagonists in the mix, as every great story does. The ShadowClan are pretty obvious bad guys. I mean, with a name like that, they HAVE to be bad news. They are basically trying to get rid of the other clans by being huge pricks. Their leader, Brokenstar, is completely corrupt and bent on destruction and domination (totally not Voldemort). Then we have Tigerclaw, who is part of ThunderClan, and is Bluestar's right-hand cat. But Tigerclaw has been known to dip into the "dark arts," so to speak, but is he really a good cat or a bad cat? It's just so hard to tell (totally not Snape)!

Let me reiterate: this book is not Harry Potter.

I won't give away the thrilling ending, but the story is completely unpredictable the entire way through. Ok, so seriously, it may have been a tad predictable, but I must admit... I was entertained throughout the whole thing, even though I am double or triple the suggested age range. The strange thing is, these cats are actual cats, not personified cats who can do human things, but they have intelligent minds like a human. Imagine if you suddenly swapped brains with your cat and you had all the limitations of a cat. There's one point in the story where a cat makes some medicine, wraps it up in a leave, and ties the leaf up with twigs. How in the F does a cat do that with only a mouth and paws to work with??? Guess that's a mystery that'll have to wait until the movie comes out.

Anyway, there's a whole ton of books in this series, and if you are 8 to 12, I say go for it. If you are around 25 like me... well... just don't make fun of me. I read it mostly as a joke, it's not like I'm going to read the whole series or anything. 

Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into?