So I decided to officially reread the Warriors series which should be interesting as I’ve only gotten through the first eight books so the rest of the expanded world is a whole new adventure for me to read. I’m very excited.

So my first post on this will be pretty quick as I remember the first series the best even though I haven’t read it since middle school. It sets up a common-place “chosen one” trope with the future Firestar aka Rusty as the series follows him from leaving his kittypet life to becoming an apprentice to deputy to becoming the savior of the Thunderclan.

Even so, it immediately sucks me in with its complicated power struggles within and outside the clans with an underlying mystery as Firepaw gets caught up with his suspicions over Tigerclaw. Even though they’re cats, Hunter personifies them with universal themes of potential love lost in Spottedtail, the bonds of friendship with Graystripe, the insecurities of leadership and mentorship as Firepaw navigates his shofting relationships with Cloudpaw, Cinderpaw, Bluestar and others.

There’s also a reoccuring theme of unification versus division and clan vs blood with certain cats possessing the blood of two clans or interclan romance being a major source of conflict throughout.

It also helps that Hunter establishes a unique lore, astrology being a major focus in the Starclan, that gives the cats spiritual guidance for the future and heavily impact their decisions through prophetic dreams, omens etc.

It’s really fun to reread these books and remember how much I (not to mention my whole grade) got into them. They’re such a powerful and engaging read and considering its continued popularity, young readers now feel the same.

Now for my rankings:

1. Dangerous Paths: This takes number one as Bluestar further descends into paranoia and cynicsm because Starclan seems to have abandoned them, including a disasterous idea to turn against the Riverclan for allowing the Shadowclan to roam through Thunderclan territory as well as favor Fireclaw’s apprentice over the kits. Fireclaw has to take up the slack as a deputy even though he is suffering his own crisis of faith in his abilities as a mentor between Cloudpaw’s angsty teen phase and an untested Brambleclaw. That with the clan’s distrust of him thanks to his close ear to Bluestar. The cliffhanger presents a major shift in status quo and is the beginning of the prophecy’s fufillment.
2. Fire and Ice: This is the book where Firetail tests his mettle as the clans go into battle to push out the vicious Brokenstar. It also is the point where Firetail is offered more responsibility as a mentor to Ciderpelt plus adopting his sister’s kit. But the real drama comes from Graystripe’s love across enemy lines with Silverstream as well as Firetail taking upon himself to find out what happened to Ravenclaw. We really get to see Fireclaw’s determination to do what’s right even if it interferes with Clan politics, setting the scenes for why he will become a good leader.
3. Into the Wild: This book is where it all began and so is high on my ranking because what is a good book series without a solid hook to draw me in. Hunter’s imagery and cat dynamics in creating a unique world is timeless as she sets the readers right into the many dramas like Yellowfang being reluctantly accepted into the clan, the hint of Tigerclaw as a traitor and more.
4. The Darkest Hour: Of course, the epic finale as Firestar accepts his destiny must be high on the list. However it’s not in the top 3 because even though the fight between Tigerstar and Firestar is epic, it’s also brushed aside for the final battle with Scourge and the Bloodclan which feels like it comes out of the left field after setting up Tigerstar as the big bad.
5. Forest of Secrets: This is a seemingly simple plot that provides much needed exposition in the form of a murder mystery as Tigerclaw and Graystripe team up to find out what happened to Redtail on that fateful day. But even though that’s the main plot, it is overshadowed by the far more interesting Graystripe conflict with his kits and being no longer trusted in the Clan. I wished that had been the main focus of the book which isn’t a bad thing but the supporting character probably shouldn’t outshine the main if that wasn’t what Hunter was going for.
6. Rising Storm: While the plots here are important for the rest of the series-Fire’s struggles between deputy and leadership while Bluestar faces a crisis of conscience, sinister omens of the Starclan, enviromental disaster- it feels like filler compared to the more exciting events in the previous books.