Book Review: Into The Wild

Author: Erin Hunter
Title: Warriors: Into The Wild Book 1
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: January 2004
Rating: 5 Stars
Book Blurb: For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to laws laid down by powerful ancestral clans. But now things are changing: ShadowClan has banished WindClan and is threatening RiverClan and ThunderClan by insisting on hunting rights within their territories. What's more, each year the TwoLegs encroach further into the forest, and prey is becoming scarce. A prophecy reveals, "Fire alone can save [the] Clan." Into this dangerous situation wanders a "kittypet," a young, bright orange tomcat whose courage earns him, despite objections by some, a place as an apprentice ThunderClan warrior and the new name of Firepaw. In this first spine-tingling episode in the planned Warriors series, Firepaw learns the ways of the wild life, facing many dangers and treachery both within and without his new clan. Intelligence notwithstanding, the cat characters are true to their feline nature, making this sure to appeal to fans of Clare Bell's long-popular Ratha's Creature (1983) and its sequels and also to followers of Brian Jacques' ongoing Redwall series.

Review:  Erin Hunter really does a nice job and bringing cats to life in her Warriors books. Into The Wild is the story of Rusty a kittypet who wanders into the forest to find an apprentice of the Thunderclan.  He leaves his life as a housecat (kittypet) behind and is allowed to join the clan.

This series of books really shows the reader a lot about human nature through the fantasy world of these cats.  Through Rusty (Firepaw) you see how bigotry can be more than a little hurtful. The Clanborn cats look down at Firepaw because he was a kittypet.

These cats' clans are like tiny countries and they wage war over territories. They hunt, they play and they survive through working together as a team.  Each of the cats has something unique that they do, be it a mother, a healer or a fighter, and if they all can't work together the clan falls apart.

In this book, Rusty turns into a regular Clan cat from housepet. We see his struggles and triumphs. We watch as he builds friendships.

There's so much that goes on in these 280ish pages, but one thing stands out above all other things. You will love these cats for the human traits Erin has given them. As soon as you finish the last page, you'll be reaching for the next book and the next after that.

The writing isn't all that fantastic, but the story is. These are definitely great books for cat lovers and tweens.