Let's Read: Warrior Cats Series

[toadstool]

bookmarked and hungrily waiting for the next review. c: (sorry, hungrily sounded wierd cx)
I have enjoyed what you done so far, and this really does open my eyes in the errors of the hunters. love the cat's facial expressions in your posts. cx

[Arcaii]

Good to have you both here!

And thank you, IB. There's a few more reaction images coming along in the next post (which will show up in...about 30 minutes!)

[Arcaii]

Chapter Six and Seven

We hit a time-skip in which Firepaw is hunting. And, guess what, he still doesn't have an actual mentor. Look, I can accept that the first few days would be a sort of test run to see how well he works with certain cats, but two months is a ridiculous amount of time. The implication is that Tigerclaw and Lionheart are co-training him, but both of them have apprentices of their own!

But, hey, it's not like there's warriors that are able to take him on themselves-

Oh.

Now, okay, I will grant you that Longtail isn't exactly a good candidate, given that he fought with Firepaw when he showed up, but there are four other cats that could train him, not including Bluestar. Four other cats, mind you, that we could actually get to know right about now, or just revisit. I'd be interested to see Longtail in particular - wouldn't it be a great scene that he's complaining about Firepaw just as he's walking into camp, but then suddenly becomes silent and trots off when he sees him?

Or get introduced to the other warriors. Whatevs. There's like 60 characters in this book - we could definitely meet a few more than just the two warriors and apprentices.

Firepaw accidentally attacks Graypaw, thinking that he's an enemy warrior who cost him his catch. Here's the thing: Erin Hunter makes sure to tell us that a Clan cat can recognize the scent of each of their Clanmates (impossible but whatever), and that Firepaw is already comfortable and familiar with the scent of ThunderClan by the second day of his apprentice-hood. So why doesn't he recognize his best friend's scent, or the big grey shape that he jumps onto? Did Hunter somehow forget what they wrote literally a chapter ago?

Well, their incompetence will become more relevant a little later, so let's just keep going.

Graypaw and Firepaw have a friendly tussle, in which Firepaw demonstrates a fair amount of skill in countering a heavier opponent. This is another thing I can't remember if it's true or not, but isn't he pretty skilled by the end of the first book, or is he just good with this one move? If he's really a talented fighter, then he should probably be named -claw.

When the two see a fox, Graypaw says that it "looks like a dog, behaves like a cat". I'm not exactly sure what he's trying to imply here - foxes are seen as cruel and clever, and unafraid to steal kittens from a queen. He even says that they're "almost as bad as badgers". I would think that he wouldn't dare compare a cat to something that's a mortal enemy of one.

Along that, can we just note this little exposition right here?

You would think that a cat would know above any other animal that it needs its tail to balance when its falling. Even a kittypet would know that, especially Firepaw, who spent a lot of time climbing and running around.

Oh, wait, I see. Erin Hunter forgot they were writing about cats for a second. Either that or they needed to give some quick information to the human audience. What, Erin, are you just not creative/skilled enough to weave that into the narrative?

Well, given that you barely know how to use grammar and rely on six words in lieu of "said" to remind us that we're watching cats, I'm guessing not.

Firepaw experiments with the Thunderpath, which is quickly proven to be a stupid idea. We're lucky that he didn't actually try crossing. Apprentices and Thunderpaths don't mix.

Chapter 7 happens, and-

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

(Altias strikes again)

DID WE NOT JUST SEE THAT FIREPAW COULDN'T EVEN SCENT OUT HIS BEST FRIEND? ON HIS TERRITORY? EVEN THOUGH WE JUST STATED THAT HE WAS IMMEDIATELY FAMILIAR WITH THE SCENTS OF HIS CLANMATES ON THE SECOND DAY OF HIS ARRIVAL?! WHY CAN HE SUDDENLY SMELL THE COLOR OF THE UNDERWEAR THIS STRANGER IS WEARING? DID HUNTER NOT READ OVER WHAT THEY JUST WROTE?

Okay. Alright. Erin Hunter is an incompetent idiot. We've learned that today. I'm gunna calm down and move on.

Because now we are introduced to the objectively absolute best character in the series, and my landslide favorite in terms of arc and personality...

We meet the most marvelous cat ever when she attacks Firepaw and introduces herself by saying "Easy prey for Yellowfang". Weird way to introduce her name, but whatever. She and Firepaw duke it out both physically and verbally, and when he bests her, she dares him to kill her with insults and snappiness (gosh, I love her). She actually does say "kitty", so that's the second cat to use that term. Firepaw regards her as "the arch-cat of stench", and they trade insults while he gets her a meal.

The dynamic of these two is already the best thing in this series. The eventual growth of these two are intertwined and become an incredibly important piece of the story, even if it's not the biggest thing going on. I can't help but think Erin Hunter thought the very same thing as I did, which explains the leap in quality of writing and dialog whenever they interact. Whatever the case is, this is unarguably a great piece of the series, and Yellowfang is easily one of the most beloved characters amongst the fandom. We'll see more of her as the story goes on, so I'll quit my gushing for right now.

The lovely exchanges between the hag and the punk get interrupted as a patrol arrives, and Firepaw realizes that he is in some deep trouble.

Up next: Chapter Eight.


Consistency Points: +1
Inconsistency Points: +2
My Patience Points: -37

[MockSun]

Bookmarking, this seems interesting. I have some childhood memories of the Warriors books, although I don't really think they hold up that well, looking back on it. So this should be fun, to say the least. ^^
(No intended offense to those who enjoyed them, of course. I was just blind to most of the flaws they had when I was younger, and obviously nothing is perfect.)

[mistywater]

Arcaii I [metaphorically] love you for this. Cx

[Arcaii]

Welcome aboard the hype train to you both! There are no breaks and the ride never stops. (Honestly, the amount of positive response I'm receiving is astounding me. I was so certain this would be regularly hated on...)

I metaphorically love you too, Mint.

[*Frozen*]

OMG. Did I just hear you say Yellowfang is your favorite warrior cats character? She is mine too! I literally bawled when she died. I'm looking foreward to reading more of your reviews, they are very good.

[Arcaii]

Yellowfang for LIFE, bro. Best character ever.

Delightful to have you reading! I'll be posting within a few hours maximum.

[*Frozen*]

Good. i can't wait to read it!

[Arcaii]

Chapter Eight

We find out that best cat Yellowfang used to be the medicine cat of ShadowClan - and when you compare her to the lovely young Spottedleaf that we're first introduced to as the standard of medicine cats, you can see why I find her so endearing. She refuses to back down from the very large patrol of well-fed ThunderClan warriors once they've spotted her, even when they're clearly angry.

We are briefly introduced to Darkstripe, who promptly shows himself to be unpleasant, suggesting that they kill Yellowfang and harshly punish Firepaw, but Bluestar overrides him by commenting on Yellowfang's good reputation throughout the Clans and then inviting her into the Clan. Given that the leader herself respects this scraggly old cat enough to have her stick around, I can imagine that Yellowfang is a pretty big deal. Either that or, as Graypaw notes, having a Clan prisoner isn't terrible.

While she doesn't exactly receive a warm welcome from ThunderClan, Yellowfang ignores the jeers and simply settles down near the Highrock to rest. Spottedleaf steps forward to help, which I find odd - if Yellowfang has such a good reputation, why would Spottedleaf decide that she needs to help?

And notice, when Bluestar's talking about what to do with Yellowfang, it's with Tigerclaw. Not, you know, her deputy. Tigerclaw. The very obviously evil cat who clearly isn't trusted/considered capable enough to eventually lead the Clan. I'm starting to think that Lionheart is just useless, given that he's been given no real show of how he earned his position so far.

Also. Can I just say.

Did you forget what the word "yowl" means, Erin?

Bluestar speaks with Frostfur, who we quickly learn to be a pure white queen with (dark) blue eyes. She responds to Bluestar's call and chats with her momentarily.

Funny thing! Blue-eyed white cats? They're deaf. Nearly all of them are deaf. Around 75% of them, actually.

Alright, alright, let's be fair. Maybe Erin Hunter isn't totally inept at research and just decided that this particular molly is in the 25% range. That's fine.

That is juuust dandy.

Anyway, Firepaw isn't allowed to eat yet, and Bluestar makes an announcement both about Yellowfang and about the odd disappearance of WindClan. I have no idea why she decided to travel right into rival territory, but what she does mention is that it reeks of ShadowClan there, and that the implication is that WindClan has been chased out. Everyone's quite concerned about this, and Darkstripe immediately demands that they interrogate Yellowfang, who tells him to jump off a bridge.

It's specifically said that she "glare[s] aggressively" at him. What other way can you glare at a person?

Bluestar decides to speed up the process of turning apprentices into warriors (we'll discuss this later), and finally, after two freaking moons of waiting, steps in as Firepaw's mentor. Pardon me, but doesn't she have enough to do without also training an apprentice, especially with the threat of ShadowClan and foxes in the territory?

Yellowfang is also to be kept in the Clan as a guest, to the ire of some cats. She refuses to let anyone take care of her, and yet, seconds later, Bluestar orders Firepaw to care for her for an indefinite amount of time. Sandpaw and Dustpaw mock him for it-

Hold on, why are they still giving him a hard time? Hasn't he pretty much proved himself already? Why do they continue to antagonize him? Why hasn't anyone done anything about this? The Clan relies on harmony and unity to survive. If a mentor is bullying their apprentice, or two apprentices are bullying another apprentice, something should be done about it. This isn't like a large city, where arguments are the business of the families involved and no one else - this is a community of 30-40 cats, all of them living together. If Firepaw can quickly learn the scent of each cat, then someone who was born in raised in the Clan would be as comfortable and familiar with everyone as their own family, because the Clan is a family. How come bullying is accepted here? Why isn't Bluestar in particular taking care of this problem more often, instead of just telling them to be quiet?

Hm. We'll mark that for later, too.

Anyway, with the meeting over, Firepaw feels both amazed at becoming her apprentice and disappointed to have to serve Yellowfang. Longtail sneers something at him and the chapter ends.

You know, it kinda struck me earlier, but I didn't mention it: what exactly signifies a senior warrior from a regular one? At what point does a warrior be regarded as a senior? Does anyone know? Clan cats live hard, short lives, so there wouldn't be a whole lot of time to become a senior.

I mean, the average feral cat lives to be 5, but let's say these guys live to be 7 or 8, maximum, and it's around 6-7 when you become an elder, which means you live for about a year or two before you die of old age. Half a year is spent as a kit, probably twice that spent as an apprentice. So that's 1.5 years on average, with some cats having to wait a while due to outside problems (injuries, etc), which leaves 4 and a half years as a warrior.

My best guess is that seniors become seniors at around the four year mark - two years before they're considerable for elderhood. I guess that could be considered a long time by cat standards, but that seems incredibly short to me.

Whatever. I shouldn't overthink this, I guess. It's not going to get me anywhere with Hunter.

Up next: Chapter Nine.