When I was about 14-16 I read all of the
current Warrior books. That would be:
- Warriors: The Prophecies Begin (2003–2004)
- Warriors: The New Prophecy (2005–2006)
Each series had six books (six from six authors). I would say that I found them
great at the time, I was a huge fan at first. I have since read all of the books in the different Warriors series. But my fandom level has dropped and I find them tedious, though the
The Prophecies Begin and
The New Prophecy were held in my memory, cherished as only a teen could.
I skip all the “traveling” chapters now. Journeys were boring even before they became an overused plot device. Even early on in The New Prophecy when it was a new thing, I remember being really disappointed that they still hadn’t made it back to the Clans by the end of Moonrise after nearly two books of being on a journey. When I get to one I just roll my eyes because they are all so similar.
There are a lot of reused plot devices in the series a couple that I recognized when I first read the books were:
- Flirting between cats from different clans
- “Can Starclan see me so far from home?”
- Catching rats in a barn
- Riverclan cat teaches others to fish
- Older cat makes some reference to the Great Journey
- Sheep, cows, or horses
And yet the book series seems to have so many of these obligatory plot devices to fill pages. Here are some of the obligatory elements that I have encountered:
- filler pages describing the environment
- trek into a twoleg place where you are guaranteed to meet: dogs, hostile rogues/kittypets, or kittypet/loner
- 2 pages dedicated to every instance in which the characters are trying to cross a Thunderpath (at one point, one of the characters will just barely avoid being hit by a monster)
- a conversation with a loner/kittypet/rogue in which said loner/kittypet/rogue asks a question or makes a remark which prompts the character/s to explain what clans are, explain that they are clan cats, etc., usually resulting in the loner/kittypet/rogue expressing wonder, confusion, fear, or wariness
- encounter with a friendly kittypet/loner
- The encounter is often used to save the characters from some sort of threat, thus acting like a Deus Ex Machina tool that is employed. Though the kittypet/loner trope is one of the series’ biggest McGuffens.
- encounter with hostile rogues/kittypets
- The encounter is usually as a simple means to progress the story. It can either happen as a result of or be the result of one of the characters speaking with a rogue/kittypet. They will either need directions or hints as to the whereabouts of x or y that is or is not important to the core plot.
- the characters get temporarily separated by a threat
- encounter with a dog/dogs
- encounter with a fox
- eagle attack when they go into the mountains