Warriors: Power of Three is the third arc in the Warriors juvenile fantasy novel series about anthropomorphic feral cats. The arc comprises six novels which were published from 2007 to 2009: The Sight, Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, Long Shadows, and Sunrise. The novels are published by HarperCollins under the pseudonym Erin Hunter (see below). Power of Three follows the adventures of the grandchildren of first series protagonist Firestar: Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze (initially known as Jaykit, Hollykit, and Lionkit). A prophecy predicts the three kits will have "the power of the stars in their paws".
The novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List and have been nominated for several awards, although none of the novels in Warriors: Power of Three have won a significant literary award.
Background Warriors is written by Erin Hunter, a pen name for four people: Victoria Holmes, who creates the storyline and edits, and Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland, who write the books in turns. The Warriors series follows four Clans—ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan—of feral cats. The Clans believe in StarClan, a Clan made of the spirits of their ancestors. In a previous series, Warriors: The New Prophecy, the Tribe of Rushing Water was introduced. The Tribe, another group of wild cats, inhabits a mountain range and believes in their own set of ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting.
Jayfeather: Jayfeather, originally Jaykit and then Jaypaw, is a blind grey tabby tom with blue eyes, and the brother of Lionblaze and Hollyleaf. He is a medicine cat apprentice in ThunderClan. Jayfeather has a special power as foretold in a prophecy given to his grandfather Firestar: he can sense the emotions of other cats, and enter their dreams. Jayfeather is characterized as proud and sarcastic, especially when he feels other characters are judging him for his blindness. Hollyleaf: Hollyleaf, originally Hollykit and then Hollypaw, is a black she-cat with green eyes, and the sister of Lionblaze and Jayfeather. She is a warrior in ThunderClan. Hollyleaf is characterized as an ardent follower of the warrior code and tends to have an inflexible interpretation of the code. Lionblaze: Lionblaze, originally Lionkit and then Lionpaw, is a golden tabby tom, and the brother of Jayfeather and Hollyleaf. He is a warrior in ThunderClan. Lionblaze is especially talented in fighting skills and invincible against anyone he fights and, not knowing the Dark Forest's intentions, had received training from the spirits of deceased former antagonists and Dark Forest warriors Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.
Setting
In the Warriors universe, there are four Clans of feral cats that live in a forest: ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan. The Clans are structured, with different cats having different positions, including leader, deputy, warrior, medicine cat, apprentice, etc. Cats in each Clan live and hunt in their own territory, which they defend from other cats. Each Clan is adapted to its own types of prey and members usually possess (or are taught) special skills which suit the territory's terrain. StarClan is a group of the Clans' deceased ancestors who give spiritual guidance to the Clans. StarClan warriors keep watch over the Clans, usually watching the Clan they lived in while alive. They provide guidance to the Clans, often through dreams and other signs like omens.
Other
Beyond the Clans' territories lies a mountain range, inhabited by the Tribe of Rushing Water. The Tribe is shown to be similar to the Clans, yet it follows a different set of ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting. The Tribe has a Healer, cave-guards, and prey-hunters, who each serve a different function in the Tribe. The Healer leads the Tribe, heals the ill and wounded, and communicates with the Tribe of Endless Hunting.
Publication history The Sight was published on 24 April 2007.
Dark River was first published in hardcover format on 26 December 2007, in the United States by HarperCollins. The UK published the novel on 1 March 2008. It was released in Canada on 13 December 2007. The book has been released in e-book format as well.
For Outcast, Victoria Holmes created the storyline and Cherith Baldry wrote the book. The title of the book was revealed during the third Erin Hunter online chat. An excerpt of Outcast was included in the back of its prequel, Dark River. To promote the book, the editor, Victoria Holmes, went on her third tour across the United States. The Canadian release of Outcast in hardback occurred on 9 April 2008. Outcast was released as a hardback in the United Kingdom and United States on 22 April 2008, and was published by HarperCollins. 200,000 copies of the book were initially released. It was made available as a paperback in Canada on 16 March 2009.
Eclipse was released on 2 September 2008.
Long Shadows was published on 25 November 2008. It has sold over 250,000 copies.
Sunrise was published on 21 April 2009.
Foreign language editions Outcast was published in French as Exil by Univers Poche on 18 October 2012, in German as Verbannt by Beltz & Gelberg on 28 January 2013, and in Japanese in October 2012. Outcast was released in Chinese in 2009, along with a trading card featuring Lionpaw.
Synopsis
The Sight
The Sight opens with a prologue set near the conclusion of Firestar's Quest: Firestar is told a prophecy that "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws". The remainder of the novel then takes place several months following the events of Sunset, and centres around Firestar's grandchildren. Hollypaw is training to become ThunderClan's medicine cat, while her brothers Lionpaw and Jaypaw are training to become warriors. Jaypaw is born congenitally blind and is trained by Brightheart, a ThunderClan warrior who herself has only has one eye following an injury; however, Jaypaw is frustrated that others see his blindness as a weakness.
During a battle with neighbouring ShadowClan, however, Jaypaw is only able to defeat an enemy apprentice with his siblings compensating for his blindness by telling him where his opponent is. Meanwhile, Hollypaw discovers she enjoys battling as a warrior better than her duties as a medicine cat apprentice. Jaypaw then has a dream in which StarClan, the spirits of the Clans' ancestors, tell him that he must become a medicine cat instead of a warrior, because of his unique gift: although he is blind in the real world, Jaypaw is able to sense other cats' emotions, and enter their dreams, at which time, he is able to see. As a result, Hollypaw and Jaypaw trade roles, with Jaypaw becoming medicine cat apprentice, and Hollypaw beginning training as a warrior.
At the next monthly Gathering of all four Clans, a dispute breaks out between the Clans. To repair the relationships between the Clans, ThunderClan warrior Squirrelflight suggests holding a unique one-time event to have each Clan's apprentices compete in a variety of competitions, such as tree climbing, hunting, and fighting. Jaypaw is upset that he cannot compete, but while remaining behind at ThunderClan camp, he has a vision in which he is choking on earth and smells badger and fox. Realizing that he is having a premonition from the perspective of his brother Lionpaw, Jaypaw is able to arrive and alert others in time to help save Lionpaw and WindClan apprentice Breezepaw, who fall into a collapsing badger set during a competition. The event concludes with each Clan having won at something, and the Clan leaders declare there is no overall winner.
At the end of the novel, Jaypaw enter's Firestar's dream and hears the prophecy from the prologue, "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws"; Jaypaw realizes that the prophecy refers to himself and his siblings, as they are Firestar's grandchildren, and thus kin of his kin.
Dark River
In Dark Rivers prologue, it is revealed that there are tunnels beneath the moorland that make up WindClan territory. Fallen Leaves, a cat previously unknown to readers, enters a tunnel, meeting an old cat named Rock, who explains to him that to become a "sharpclaw", he must find a way out of the tunnels and onto the moor. However, when Rock asks Fallen Leaves if it will rain, Fallen Leaves lies and says no despite knowing it will rain, as he worries that Rock will otherwise ask him to wait until another day. Fallen Leaves then enters the tunnels and is trapped when it does rain; he drowns.
Following the events of The Sight, Lionpaw befriends WindClan apprentice Heatherpaw; despite friendships between cats from different Clans being forbidden by the warrior code, the two begin meeting at night in the tunnels beneath WindClan's territory, which are otherwise unknown to other Clan cats. The spirit of the deceased antagonist Tigerstar, begins visiting his grandson Lionpaw in his dreams like he did with his sons Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw. Tigerstar is now accompanied by Hawkfrost, who had died during the events of Sunset following his thwarted assassination attempt on Firestar. They begin teaching Lionpaw advanced battle moves, but when Lionpaw starts to teach the moves to Heatherpaw, Hawkfrost scolds him for showing battle moves to the enemy. Lionpaw is forced to choose between his love of Heatherpaw and his loyalty to the warrior code and ThunderClan. He ultimately chooses to remain loyal to his Clan and leaves Heatherpaw, who is extremely hurt and betrayed afterward.
ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice Jaypaw finds a stick with odd scratch marks on it: some that are crossed out and some that are not. As he attempts to understand their meaning, he has a dream in which he experiences Fallen Leaves' experience in the prologue. Jaypaw then understands that the scratches represent ancient cats who undertook the trial in the tunnels and that the last uncrossed one represented Fallen Leaves, indicating that he did not emerge.
Jaypaw and his mentor Leafpool are tasked by Firestar to deliver a message to WindClan leader Onestar; upon arrival, they discover that WindClan is threatening to attack RiverClan, whom they accuse of being behind the disappearance of three WindClan kits; WindClan is demanding the kits' return. Jaypaw and Leafpool return to ThunderClan camp, and Lionpaw tells his brother and sister about the tunnels, where he thinks the kits may have gone. They enter the tunnels, coincidentally meeting up with WindClan apprentices Breezepaw and Heatherpaw, who share their motive for being there. Jaypaw is guided by the spirit of Fallen Leaves and the group finds the kits. The tunnels begin to flood as it starts to rain, but Fallen Leaves assists Jaypaw in guiding the group to safety; they return the kits to WindClan and avert a battle between WindClan and RiverClan.
Outcast