Some of you may assume that, because of this Let's Read, I despise Into the Wild. It's true that I've torn this story apart word by word, but if I'm honest, it's not a completely terrible book.
The Warriors series has a fantastic premise and an interesting world with a cast number reaching the hundreds. Into the Wild provides us with the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the story right along with Rusty, and because it doesn't try to be overambitious, it's very easy for the intended demographic (children and tweens) to do so. The worldbuilding that we're presented with is easy to understand and is open enough to allow for plenty of fan ideas. Take a look at how many fanClans there are on this site alone. Look at how many of them take place in different countries, have different rules and naming systems, and how many fan characters that can fit within just one of these RPs. The Hunters pretty much gifted us with a very large sandbox and left us to our fun, and while that also creates a problem, I won't discuss that until later books.
But more to the point, Into the Wild has some very crucial flaws. The characters are idiots who don't act like real people - well, not even real cats - would. They simply do whatever will move the story forward or inconvenience Firepaw, and have no real service outside of that, with the exception of Graypaw and Spottedleaf, who are his best friend and angst fuel, respectively. When problems are apparent, the very easy solution is ignored, because it would unravel the story - I guarantee that if Tigerclaw had been called out on abusing Ravenpaw early, or been refused the deputy position because of this, he would lose a lot of what makes him threatening, which is the respect of his Clanmates and the power he wields. If Crookedstar had teamed up with Bluestar to defeat ShadowClan, the story would have ended halfway through the book. If Firepaw had spoken with Bluestar and she had confirmed it with Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw would have been exiled and thus no longer pose a threat. Etcetera, etcetera.
The lack of research on the part of the Hunters is also apparent. Cats cannot smell or taste sweetness, or see red, nor do they move about during the day, or shrug, or have the ability to recognize the smell of every cat they meet, or weave barriers. Tortoiseshell toms do not exist, adult males do not let kittens they did not sire live, and queens are not sweet, docile creatures. These felines act like small, furry humans, not cats, which is one of the overarching issues, and one of the major limitations, of the story. If the cats were to mostly act like cats, the story would be darker and more gristly, but most certainly interesting.
Speaking of dark...
In their rush to make ShadowClan the Bad Guys of the story, the Hunters crippled themselves and potential other plots. Now whenever ThunderClan needs opposition, they can fall back on the Bad Guy Clan. Not only is this incredibly cliche, but it destroys the possibility of examining the Clans as their own being. Imagine if RiverClan had been the main opposition of Into the Wild, but are forced to team up with ThunderClan to defeat ShadowClan, and restore WindClan to their former glory. And in future books, ShadowClan's arc would be about redeeming themselves for the actions of their former leader, but also trying to salvage their pride and honor.
See, that's the thing - the Clans themselves are also characters. A Clan is more than just a group of cats; it's a living being, with a brain, heart and voice. Cats don't refer to "RiverClan cats", they refer to "RiverClan" as a whole. If this idea had been hammered home in Into the Wild - that the Clan must work together as a unit, and not allow infighting - I think that would have upgraded the quality of this book significantly.
Overall, I think there's a lot of room for improvement, but as the very first book of the series, it introduces the concepts that draws in the fans splendidly, and I can forgive it for some of its more minor mistakes because it's essentially the rough draft of Warriors - where the Hunters were just getting their feet in the water, and were bound to make some errors here and there.
What I'd Do Instead
(Please note that this is not a complete list. This is only what I consider the most important.)
- Come up with a proper naming system - decide what each prefix and suffix mean, and stick with that system through the series.
- Present each of the Clans as objectively as possible. Since Firepaw is our view of the series, he should judge the other Clans separately from the stereotypes of his Clanmates.
- Flesh out the world a little more, as well as the characters.
- Rename Silverpelt. Seriously.
- Make Redtail a red tom instead of a tortoiseshell.
- Make the Clans work at night.
- Remove all mentions of sweetness, whether in smell or in taste.
- Have Bluestar in the prologue battle with Redtail.
- Assign Ravenpaw to a different mentor, but still have Tigerclaw plague him when he's alone. Nothing is more frightening than when an abuser acts kind and pleasant in front of other people, especially when the victim is neurotic enough to be seen as paranoid.
- Make Brokenstar a more serious threat, and a more competent leader.
- Alternatively, keep him incompetent, but make that be his downfall. Have the next few books describe the infighting of ShadowClan as they try to find a steady leader and still reserve their honor.
- Make Bluestar more sensible, but slowly hint that there's something wrong within her psyche - an overwhelming despair and weariness of the world that will be more fleshed out as the story goes on, and an over-reliance on her subordinates.
- Make Tigerstar a less obvious villain. My God, this is not hard.
- Erase the love angle between Spottedleaf and Firepaw. Make their relationship one of platonic guidance, so that when Firepaw receives moments of clarity, he isn't sure whether it's Spottedleaf talking to him or his own mind.
- Add in more scenes of Yellowfang and Firepaw interacting, maybe showcase her as a possible mother figure.
- Give Firepaw a mentor when he joins the Clan.
- Examine Firepaw's relationship with other members of his Clan. Show how the queens feel about a stranger near their kits, how the warriors react to an extra mouth to feed, how the other apprentices immaturely attack him to impress each other, and watch as the Clan slowly warms up to him and accepts him as a member.
- Figure out the bloodlines and family trees of the Clan before writing.
- MAKE THE CATS ACT LIKE CATS. Or at least 75% like cats.
- Eliminate the whole "9 lives" thing. Just no.
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