Into the Wild (Warriors)

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Into the Wild
First edition cover, featuring Firepaw in the center image.[1]
Author	Erin Hunter (Pen name of Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry )
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Warriors (novel series)
Genre(s)	Fantasy novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	January 21, 2003
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	288 pp
ISBN	ISBN 978-0060000028
Followed by	Fire and Ice

Into the Wild is the first book in the Warriors series, written by Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry under the pen name of Erin Hunter. This individual book was written by Kate Cary. The plot is centered around a young pet cat who leaves his "Twolegs"(human owners) to join a clan of wild cats. This first book presents his apprenticeship at the clan, spanning between late Spring and late Autumn. Into the Wild was received well with critics from Publishers Weekly and Barnes and Noble, but was criticized by Children's Literature. It received third place in 2006 YRCA awards. The book was influenced by New Forest and Nicholas Culpeper.

Contents 1 Publication history 2 Plot summary 3 Critical reception 4 Influences 5 References

[edit] Publication history

Into the Wild was first published as a hardcover on January 21, 2003 in the United States. HarperCollins was the publisher.^[2] The United Kingdom received the novel in February of that year,^[3] and Canada the earliest on January 9, 2003.^[4] The novel has also been translated into Lithuanian,^[5] Japanese,^[6] and Russian.^[7] Into the Wild was released as a paperback on January 6, 2004.^[8] By September 4, 2007, Into the Wild had been released as an eBook,^[9] as well as Kindle.^[10] The novel has been put online to read as part of HarperCollins' Sneak Peek program.^[5]

[edit] Plot summary

After dreaming about living in the wild, Rusty, a house cat explores the nearby forest and meets with the leader of the cats of ThunderClan, one of the four cat clans living in the wilderness nearby. He decides to accept her invitation to join them, and becomes Firepaw, an apprentice of ThunderClan. The other Clan cats are initially reluctant to accept Firepaw because of his kittypet (house cat) origins, but he quickly earns a place in the Clan as he is a natural fighter. There are some cats who continue to be hostile towards him but Bluestar, ThunderClan's leader, believes he is bound to perform great deeds, foretold by a prophecy - "Fire alone can save our Clan".

Firepaw quickly becomes best friends with the apprentices Graypaw and Ravenpaw, and falls in love with the Clan's medicine cat (a Clan healer with spiritual abilities who cannot have a mate)Spottedleaf. He continues his apprenticeship and learns to hunt, fight, survive in the wild and about Clan traditions. He finds another good friend in Yellowfang, an old, grumpy but very wise medicine cat who was exiled from ShadowClan and later accepted into ThunderClan and taken care of by Firepaw.

The cats have no natural enemies in the forest (although foxes and badgers are said to take kits sometimes), but the rival clans- Windclan, Shadowclan, and Riverclan- fight with each other to occupy hunting grounds, to settle dissensions, or even to drive each other out from their territories. In a battle to re-occupy a region known as Sunningrocks, the ThunderClan deputy Redtail(second in command) loses his life. Firepaw soon learns that the deputy was not killed by the enemy Clan but by Tigerclaw, a power-hungry ThunderClan warrior who is later appointed as deputy, and becomes the main antagonist of the series. However, he must keep the secret to himself as he can't prove his suspicions. Firepaw and Graypaw help Ravenpaw escape the forest to live on a farm as Tigerclaw wants to kill him for knowing about his secret.

After driving out WindClan for more hunting territory, ShadowClan tries to drive out ThunderClan attacks their camp. After this, Clawface of ShadowClan kills Spottedleaf (which infuriates Firepaw) and took kits to ShadowClan. Firepaw leads his clanmates to ShadowClan territory, where they meet Yellowfang. Together, with some help from within ShadowClan, they drive out Brokenstar and leave ShadowClan in peace. Yellowfang, having proved her loyalty, becomes ThunderClan's new medicine cat, while Firepaw and Graypaw are made warriors and receive their warrior names, Fireheart and Graystripe.

[edit] Critical reception

The critical reception of Into the Wild was generally positive. The book was called such things as "suspenseful" and "spine-tingling".^[11] Barnes and Noble called the book, "A swift, graceful fantasy." Publishers Weekly said:^[12]

"Certain to please any young reader who has ever wondered what dreams of grandeur may haunt the family cat."

Some reviews were not as positive. A reviewer from Children's Literature noted how the writing became dull quickly.^[12] Despite this, the book managed to claim third place in the 2006 YRCA awards.^[5]

[edit] Influences

There are some factors that influenced the book. New Forest, a forest in southern England, became the base for the forest where the story took place.^[13] Other influencing locations include Scottish Highlands and the Forest of Dean.^[5] Nicholas Culpeper, a physician who used materials occurred in the natural world, has also had an influence on the Warriors series. His book, Culpeper's Herbal, is used as a source by the authors for the herbal remedies that the medicine cats use in the book.^[14]

[edit] References

v • d • e Erin Hunter's Warriors series Original Into the Wild · Fire and Ice · Forest of Secrets · Rising Storm · A Dangerous Path · The Darkest Hour The New Prophecy Midnight · Moonrise · Dawn · Starlight · Twilight · Sunset Power of Three The Sight · Dark River · Outcast Super Editions Firestar's Quest Graystripe's Trilogy The Lost Warrior · Warrior's Refuge · Warrior's Return Authors Kate Cary · Cherith Baldry · Tui Sutherland · Victoria Holmes Related people Dan Jolley