Exiled From Cat-meow-lot

[troisoiseaux]

After a discussion of Charith Baldry's role as ghostwriter for the Warrior Cats series took over arose in the comments of osprey_archer's review of Baldry's "OTT tragic woobie fic" of an Arthurian retelling, Exiled From Camelot, I took one for the team and re-read a couple of the Warriors books: one by Baldry, and one by Kate Cary, one of the other writers who will continue publishing books under the collective pseudonym of Erin Hunter until, presumably, the heat death of the universe.

Confession: I 100% went into this expecting to write a fondly mocking Mystery Science Theater 3000 of a review, because as a concept, the Warriors series is nuts. It's Game of Thrones, about feral cats, for elementary schoolers. It's been published at a rate of 2-4 books a year for almost twenty years; it's apparently currently on its eighth sub-series. It has prophesies coming out of its furry little ears, and in sub-series #3, the protagonists have magic powers. It is COMPLETELY BONKERS and I absolutely devoured these books as a kid (approx. 4th-6th grade).

Turns out, they're actually pretty compelling! I read Moonrise and Dawn, the second and third books of the second subseries (Warriors: The New Prophesy); the tl;dr of the Wikipedia summary of the first book is that six young warriors from the four Clans are told in a dream to go on a quest, to hear a prophesy, which is that the warrior cats' territory is going to be destroyed by humans. There is also another prophesy, which doesn't make a ton of sense without more context than I need to go into to explain the plot of these two books specifically, but it's a thing. Prophesies: 2, not including the "receiving quest instructions in a dream" thing.

In Moonrise, which is Baldry's, the questers head back to warn their Clans, which have already discovered the hard way that their territory has been slated for human land development. There's an interesting juxtaposition between the two plotlines— the questers have bonded despite their differences, and look forward to working together to save their Clans when they return; meanwhile, back home, encroaching starvation and a rash of cats going missing has increased tensions between the Clans. The questers encounter a community of cats who live in the mountains, and there's a brief interlude of cross-cultural discovery, before it turns out that the mountain cats are convinced that one of the questers is prophesied to save them from a dreaded mountain lion and they've decided he's going to save them whether he likes it or not. (Their prophesy turns out to be correct, but as usual, not in the way that everyone thought. We're now at prophesies: 3; dramatic self-sacrifice: 1.) At home, the secret son of the Big Bad of the first sub-series - we'll call him BigBadStar - plots his own rise to cat fascism.

In Dawn, the questers return to an apocalyptic scene: the landscape torn up, trees torn down, the Clans relocated to makeshift camps at the edges of their territory and starving. One of the questers discovers that the missing cats - including her sister - have been trapped by humans, and leads a daring rescue. The four Clans ultimately agree to leave, and find new territory, together; their journey takes them through the mountains again, where they are aided by the mountain cats. One of the original questers - who had fallen in love with a mountain cat in the previous book - decides to stay with them, and another, who was still an apprentice, receives his warrior name. They ultimately reach the place that came to one of the cats in a dream! Yay! BigBadStar's secret son's paternity is revealed, which worries a lot of people cats and makes things complicated for his half-brother, the known son of BigBadStar, who has spent his whole life trying to prove that he's loyal to his Clan/more than his father's son. Total prophesies: 4; dramatic self-sacrifices: 3; otherwise dramatic deaths: at least 3?

(Dawn also features my FAVORITE CHARACTER, Ravenpaw, in a larger-than-cameo role. In the very first book, Ravenpaw is a ThunderClan apprentice, but he's a. generally just too much of a cinnamon roll - too smol, too pure - for the life of a warrior and b. apprenticed to the warrior who becomes BigBadStar, so after he witnesses a murder, his friends help him fake his death so he can go live with his friend Barley, a barn cat who lives outside of the Clan system. I don't think this was intended to be a gay metaphor, but it absolutely feels like a gay metaphor, and whoever wrote this Wikipedia page clearly agrees with me.)

My one nit to pick - I mean, as a grown adult reading a series for children, there are a number of other nits that I have decided aren't my problem, but to pick one - is that there are just so many characters and so much going on, all of the time, that even the POV characters feel very thinly sketched. This isn't necessarily a problem, because the books are action-heavy where they're characterization-light; I guess it's a feature rather than a bug?

Having done some background Googling, I am gobsmacked to discover that the series apparently takes place in England??? I mean, the fact that one of the Clans' territories is moorland probably should have been a clue, but in my defense, I was in the U.S. and ten.

(In retrospect, why was I so eager to tear into something that brought my younger self so much joy?)

Comments

[sovay]

and after he witnesses a murder, his friends help him fake his death so he can go live with his friend Barley, a barn cat who lives outside of the Clan system.

Hooray!

I am fascinated to hear what these books are like because they began to come out just after I stopped working at a children's book store, so that I saw them around but did not spend sufficient time with them that I might have just picked one up; they looked hugely influenced by Redwall from the outside, only with cats. Also I think I assumed they took place in a secondary world rather than technically our own, but then again Redwall started in the English countryside and by the second book was definitely somewhere else.

My formative elementary school intelligent cat books were Clare Bell’s Ratha's Creature (1983) and Clan Ground (1984) and Phyllis Gotlieb's A Judgment of Dragons (1980), the first two being prehistoric fiction and the third sf.

[troisoiseaux]

Funnily enough, I've never actually read Redwall! And I never actually read any non-Warriors intelligent cat books, although I read a lot of standalone ones about intelligent rodents... I feel like there are a lot of children's books about anthropomorphic mice??

I think I assumed they took place in a secondary world rather than technically our own

The first two sub-series - maybe even just the first series and a half? - definitely take place in Our World, In Modern Times. Having skimmed the sub-series summaries on Wikipedia, I... don't know if the cats ever interact with humans again, after the above-discussed move?? Possibly they've crossed over into some secondary fantasy world, because that is apparently the point where characters start developing magic powers... (There are dots! I've connected them!)

[sovay]

Funnily enough, I've never actually read Redwall!

I don't know what to tell you! I read the books almost from the year they were published until dramatically burning out a decade later thanks to moral alignment species essentialism. I have since enjoyed being on a panel where we processed a lot of our residual feelings about the series, but I don't know that I would actually recommend it.

And I never actually read any non-Warriors intelligent cat books, although I read a lot of standalone ones about intelligent rodents... I feel like there are a lot of children's books about anthropomorphic mice??

I can think of examples with rats and hamsters, but your basic point still stands.

(I forgot Le Guin's Catwings.)

[troisoiseaux]

I'm sure I would have loved the series if I'd read it as a kid - I've always loved miniature worlds, like the descriptions of Stuart Little sleeping in a bed made from a matchbox - but somehow never came across it.

I can think of examples with rats and hamsters, but your basic point still stands.

I can't think of any with hamsters*, but rats, definitely! I was always quite fond of rat characters, actually, because they were usually a bit anti-heroish or at least grumpy sidekicks. I just feel like there's something about mice as spunky underdogs that comes up a lot in kids' lit??

* I do vaguely remember seeing a movie about hamster spies, but I feel like that doesn't count...?

[sovay]

I was always quite fond of rat characters, actually, because they were usually a bit anti-heroish or at least grumpy sidekicks.

I recommend Tor Seidler's A Rat's Tale!

[genarti]

Same! I read and loved the Redwall books for many years (until burning out on the combo of Outcast of Redwall with its... everything and Pearls of Lutra which read to me as unbearably formulaic, though I'm guessing it was at least partly that I was finally old enough and soured enough by Outcast to notice the formula that had been there all along) and loved Watership Down when I read it in middle school (though Watership Down is a much, much better book than anything in Redwall and I love it still) and generally suspect I would have loved Warrior Cats had I read them at the right age. As it was, they were just enough after my childhood time that I didn't really encounter them, and am only recently learning things about them from other now-adults on the internet. Every wild fact and noun-smush name is deeply entertaining to learn about!

[troisoiseaux]

Every wild fact and noun-smush name is deeply entertaining to learn about!

There was a random background character in one of these named Runningnose, which may be the only time this series has ever gone for tongue-in-cheek.

[moon_custafer]

Having read and re-read Watership Down throughout my childhood, beginning around the age of eight or nine, I’d probably have loved these. And “a prophesy, which is that the warrior cats' territory is going to be destroyed by humans” sounds very influenced by Watership Down, especially if the narrative later comes back to the aftermath of the destruction and the struggles of the remaining survivors.

The other thing I’ve heard about the Warrior Cats books is that about a decade ago, middle-school kids who weren’t allowed on the internet but were permitted Kindle e-readers apparently set up bulletin boards in the review sections of (I think) the Barnes & Noble website, which could be reached from e-readers so their customers could buy more e-books. And what the kids mostly posted in their improvised chat rooms was Warrior Cats role play and fanfic.

[troisoiseaux]

And “a prophesy, which is that the warrior cats' territory is going to be destroyed by humans” sounds very influenced by Watership Down

You're RIGHT. It's so funny, though, I didn't read Watership Down until I was an adult and I felt fairly ??? about it, which I imagine is how anyone would feel trying to read Warriors for the first time as an adult.

Aww, I didn't know about the makeshift fan forum on Barnes & Noble, but I know there WAS an Official Warrior Cats Fan Forum. It was my first internet fandom space, when I was in middle school— I did in fact role play as a Warrior cat. :P There was also a thriving subcommunity of non-Warriors fandom (e.g., Percy Jackson) and original-story RPs.

[moon_custafer]

There are some things it may be easier to absorb as kids, which may be why some parents go “OMG I can’t let my kid read this it’s too scary and/or complicated!!”

Recently confirmed a half-remembered factoid that Bigwig was based on a paratrooper colleague of Adams—specifically Captain Desmond “Paddy” Kavanagh, who was killed in combat during Operation Market Garden; but also that Hazel was based on Adams’ commanding officer, Major John Gifford. Which sort of leaves Fiver as a possible self-portrait.

[troisoiseaux]

There are some things it may be easier to absorb as kids, which may be why some parents go “OMG I can’t let my kid read this it’s too scary and/or complicated!!”

The Coraline effect! (Actually, I re-read a couple of P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins books - which I'd loved as a kid - a few years ago, and they are so much weirder than I remembered. One story had a woman made of candy who breaks off her fingers and gives them to the Banks children to eat?? as candy??)

Ohh, what an interesting backstory to Watership Down!

[sovay]

I didn't read Watership Down until I was an adult and I felt fairly ??? about it

I read it for the first time in middle school, but I got a lot more out of it on re-read as an adult, especially with a grounding in the Aeneid.

[osprey_archer]

I think "I am going to shred this thing I loved as a child" can become a sort of protective instinct if you've had other things you loved a child turn out to be disappointing when you revisit them? Like, if you're prepared to shred, you can enjoy shredding, and if it turns out to be unexpectedly good than you enjoy that. Whereas if you go in expecting delight and it turns out to be disappointing that can be quite sad.

Anyway, I bet for the target audience the vast cast of thinly-sketched characters in HIGHLY DRAMATIC ACTION are absolutely a feature rather than a bug: that makes it all the easier to project onto your favorite and/or create your own Warrior Cat, who will probably be at least as richly characterized as any of the existing cats!

Honestly surprised it took the cats till the THIRD SERIES to develop magic powers.

[troisoiseaux]

I think "I am going to shred this thing I loved as a child" can become a sort of protective instinct if you've had other things you loved a child turn out to be disappointing when you revisit them?

Hmm, true— but I still feel a little sad that it was my first impulse. :( Little Me had so many people mock her interests - Warriors and otherwise - at the time; it feels unbearably mean to add Adult Me to the list.

Honestly surprised it took the cats till the THIRD SERIES to develop magic powers.

Okay, TECHNICALLY, there were always magical powers, because Clan leaders literally have nine lives. But series three is when the Erins Hunter really go for it!

[lunabee34]

Okay, these sound right up Fiona's alley. Thank you for posting about this. I've got to see if she's read any of them.

[troisoiseaux]

Yes!!! I totally recommend them. :)

[lunabee34]

Fiona said they have them in the library at school, so I think she's going to try them out!

[troisoiseaux]

Yay!!! :D

[mrissa]

Younger Godchild adored this series when they were a smol. It was the example they brought up for their first real contribution to a literary discussion the grown-ups were having--about disability rep, as it happens, and suddenly there is this tiny voice piping earnestly about how the warrior cats treat disabled members of their community and how important that rep is for disabled readers but also for able-bodied readers to reconsider their own preconceptions. It was perfectly placed in context and brought knowledge of works other people in the discussion did not have...and knocked us over because they were definitely still in the single-digit age range at the time. So I have a soft spot for this series I've never read because of that. I'm glad to hear it has other virtues.

[troisoiseaux]

suddenly there is this tiny voice piping earnestly about how the warrior cats treat disabled members of their community and how important that rep is for disabled readers but also for able-bodied readers to reconsider their own preconceptions

Aww! That is something that caught my attention this time around— I was also surprised to re-discover a plot thread about religious tolerance and cultural differences in both of these, as the Clan cats encounter the mountain cats, who have a different concept of cat heaven and generally different social traditions.

[littlerhymes]

Oh I'm glad it was a good experience! Sometimes you do go back and the thing is so much less than you remembered but this sounds like it was a fun thing to revisit. Do you think you'll try any more? (I mean, I definitely do NOT expect you to read all 8 subseries lol.)

I don't think this was intended to be a gay metaphor, but it absolutely feels like a gay metaphor

Look, when we read Exiled From Camelot, there was gay subtext left right and centre, so you never know...

[troisoiseaux]

Do you think you'll try any more?

I don't have any plans to, right now— it would be fun to re-read the very first book, but I'm not committed enough to actually put it on hold at my library.

Look, when we read Exiled From Camelot, there was gay subtext left right and centre, so you never know...

This one wasn't written by Baldry, but in my recent research I discovered that Ravenpaw finally got a stand-alone novel, which ends with him dying in his friend's paws (!!) and then Warrior Cat Heaven is like "come with us! we'll finally give you your warrior name!" and he's like "no thanks, I'm going to the afterlife where I can be with Barley." (!!!)

[littlerhymes]

WHERE HE CAN BE WITH BARLEY!!! I am so invested in the forever love of these fictional cats now.

[chestnut_pod]

I too devoured these as an elementary schooler and definitely also thought they were in the U.S., lol. I then graduated directly from these to Gayle Greeno's Ghatti's Tale books, because I had exactly 0 parental supervision on my reading, and oh boy, if you can find secondhand copies of those from anywhere, I guarantee you they're a trip. Giant telepathic magic space cats and my first introduction to the concept of drug addiction!

At home, the secret son of the Big Bad of the first sub-series - we'll call him BigBadStar - plots his own rise to cat fascism. THIS IS WHY THESE BOOKS ARE SO GREAT.

[troisoiseaux]

I then graduated directly from these to Gayle Greeno's Ghatti's Tale books

I've never heard of this series but I am obsessed with everything going on in this cover.

THIS IS WHY THESE BOOKS ARE SO GREAT.

The plot drivers in this series are 60% prophesies, 30% forbidden romance, and 10% some guy deciding to cause problems on purpose, and it's GREAT.

[chestnut_pod]

Genuinely very enthusiastic about all the covers; they don't make them like that anymore.