| The Darkest Hour | |
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First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Erin Hunter |
| Cover artist | Wayne McLoughlin |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Warriors |
| Genre(s) | Children's literature Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Publication date | October 1, 2004[1] |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Pages | 336 (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0060000073 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC Number | 54035392 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.H916625 Dar 2004 |
| Preceded by | A Dangerous Path |
| Followed by | Firestar's Quest Midnight |
The Darkest Hour is a children's fantasy novel, the sixth and last book in the original Warriors series by Erin Hunter, featuring the fictional character Firestar, a cat. The series centers around a group of feral cats living in four Clans, ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan. It was published on October 1, 2004, by HarperCollins Publishers.[1] The story chronicles the events directly after A Dangerous Path and leads to the final battle for the forest.
Contents |
Firestar is now the leader of ThunderClan and receives his nine lives where Bluestar tells him the prophecy "Four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle and blood will rule the forest." He chooses his deputy to be Whitestorm, an experienced warrior who is quite old. Then Tigerstar attempts to unify all four Clans claiming that it would help the Clans survive. While Leopardstar agrees, Tallstar and Firestar both refuse to join this alliance, which Tigerstar has called "TigerClan". Accompanied by Ravenpaw, who is on a visit to ThunderClan, Graystripe and Firestar go to RiverClan and find that Graystripe's kits, Stormpaw and Featherpaw, and Bluestar's kits, Mistyfoot and Stonefur, being held prisoner. Since they are all half-ThunderClan and half-RiverClan, Tigerstar accuses them of being half-Clan cats and therefore, in his opinion, traitors. Firestar, Graystripe, and Ravenpaw manage to rescue Mistyfoot, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw, but Stonefur is killed protecting Featherpaw and Stormpaw.
In an attempt to convince Tallstar and Firestar to join his alliance, Tigerstar reveals to them BloodClan, a vicious group of rogues in the nearby town. When both leaders still refuse, Tigerstar then orders BloodClan to fight for him, but they do not do so. Scourge tells Tigerstar that he is the only cat in charge of BloodClan, and that after Firestar tells everyone Tigerstar's bloodthirsty history and that he cannot be trusted to divide power, he has decided that there will be no battle. Tigerstar attacks Scourge, who kills Tigerstar easily, ending all nine of Tigerstar's lives with one blow, by cutting him open, from throat to tail. Scourge then gives all of the forest Clans three days to leave; otherwise, they will have to fight BloodClan for the forest. To face this danger, the four Clans unite, forming an alliance which is known as "LionClan". The battle is won when Firestar kills Scourge, though he loses one of his own nine lives in the process. Without its leader, BloodClan scatters. With the forest returned to normal, the four Clans become independent once more.
The book was first released in the US on October 5, 2004, as a hardcover.[2] It was later leased as a paperback on October 4, 2005,[3] and later as an e-book on September 4, 2007.[4] The book has also been published in German,[5] Chinese,[6] Japanese, French, Russian, and Korean.[7]
Bookloons notes that the book "stresses the importance of caring and community". This is shown to be true as the Clans need to work together in order to defeat BloodClan. Normally, the Clans are enemies with one another, and occasionally form alliances with one other Clan, however, all four Clans had to cooperate to protect their home from BloodClan.[8]
The Darkest Hour garnered praise from Hilary Williamson, who wrote: "The Darkest Hour is the best yet in this thrilling series of feline adventure, that also stresses the importance of caring and community".[8] Booklist calls The Darkest Hour "tension-filled".[9]
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