This forway into the Warriorverse was limited as the library only had 4 super specials but each offered deeper insight to the clans, characters and forshadow future events (or retcon them depending on your perspective).

Firestar’s Quest was the first super special and man, I wish I read it before I got into The Power of Three. It’s plot is based on the mysterious SkyClan that had gone extinct and forgotten. Or so it was until StarClan sends Firestar a vision to go find SkyClan’s descendants and rebuild the clan so the forest can be in balance again.

While the reasons for SkyClan’s extinction is kept under wraps even during the book, readers get to see Firestar struggle with his still newfound role as leader and trying to rebuild SkyClan brings even more doubts as he hides his mission from his clan under the guise. Sandstorm is his only companion on this mission and Hunter takes the chance to expand on their relationship from Firestar’s bumbling attempts to reveal his feelings and Sandstorm’s hot-cold attitude towards him.

Honestly, I found Firestar’s personal dilemmas to be more compelling than the repetitive plot of Firestar recruiting strays and kittypets and training them in clan life but it does allow for readers to see each cat’s decision to embracing life in the wild much as Firestar once did/ Plus it does get harrowing when death and devestation hits the clan, shocking the members who see the harshness of this sort of life, and makes it more triumphant when they decide to stick by it.

Bluestar’s Prophecy is an interesting plot in a tragic sense as readers follow Bluestar’s life from kit to leader to her demise. It culd be considered the most unnecessary prequel as we know all the events that will happen and Bluestar’s misreading of her vision leads her to believe that she will be the savior of the forest rather than some orange kittypet named Rusty. That’s what I mean by tragic as readers see how Bluestar struggles with the heavy weight she thinks the prophacy bears on her shoulders, contributing to her decision to give up her kits, and later paranoia and dissolution in the first set of books.

So I say read it if you are into a character study. Same if you’re interested in seeing the clan drama that came before where Bluestar’s clan leader, Doestar makes similarly faulty decision in trusting her powerhungry deputy that leads to murder within the clan. Basically history repeating itself until Firestar breaks the cycle.

Mothflight’s Vision takes place during/after Dawn of the Clans, showcasing the beginning of the clan’s belief in StarClan although Mothflight initially spends the book confused of the meaning of the visions, it soon sets up the role of medicine cats and the decision to make them neutral among the clans to spread medicine and knowledge.

Oh, and there’s a requisite Mothflight falling in love with a different clan member but because she’s a medicine cat, she must give them up because her job is more important. Hunter really likes to use this plotline and while it’s an easy way to make drama, I’m getting tired of it. Also it makes the cats look kinda dumb that they have this reoccuring problem and don’t think “Huh, maybe we should change this part of the system” because short of spaying them, it’s going to keep happening.

Bramblestar’s Storm brings things back to the importance of SkyClan in maintaining the forest’s balance. After the titular storm leaves the clan’s boundaries blurred and lines get literally crossed. He then gets a vision about SkyClan and so the secret is gradually revealed to Bramblestar’s inner circle and they seek out the new clan to be brought to their new territory.

Like in the first syper special, I found Bramblestar’s personal dilemmas more interesting than StarClan especially as he’s still dealing with his newfound leadership after losing his father in law, the aftermath of his kits finding out that they’re adopted, and potential interest in another cat since he and Squirrelflight have hit a rough patch with the aforementioned secretly adopted kits. It seems like a lot but Hunter nicely ties them all together to build up Bramblestar’s esteem, reaffirm his love for his kids no matter what and actually has a suspenseful will-they-won’t-they love triangle since I think it’s the first time Hunter introduced potential cat “divorce”.

SkyClan also gets more interesting in this book but that would be spoilery as it ties into the beginning of Vision of Shadows but let’s say it really changes the game for the clans and introduces an antagonist that isn’t connected to Tigerstar!

. . . Yet, Hunter always manages to make him pop up like a plague.

And so those are the super specials. I can’t really rank them since they are stand-alones even as they offer more in-depth explanations of lore, history and characters. I will say Firestar’s Quest and Bramblestar’s Storm were my two favorites of the bunch.

Now onto a Vision of Shadows!!! Let’s see if some patron will return the final three books in that set, it’s been two months already.