The Sight (Warriors)

The Sight

First edition cover, featuring clockwise from the top, Jaypaw, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw.[1]
Author Erin Hunter
Cover artist Wayne McLoughlin
Country United States
Language English
Series Warriors: The Power of Three
Genre Children's literature
Fantasy novel
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
 April 24, 2007
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 363
ISBN 978-0-06-089201-2
OCLC 123230802
LC Class PZ7.H916625 Sig 2007
Preceded by Sunset
Followed by Dark River

The Sight is a children's fantasy novel. It was released April 24, 2007, and it is the first installment of the Warriors: Power of Three series by Erin Hunter. This book was recommended as Children's Summer reading by the Washington Post Children's Book Club.[2]

Plot summary

In the prologue, it is revealed that after the conclusion of Firestar's Quest, a prophecy was sent to Firestar. After a report of a fox and her cubs loose in ThunderClan territory, the three kits, Lionkit, Hollykit, and Jaykit secretly leave camp and try to track down the foxes and help their Clan. They end up in trouble, but are saved by a patrol. As time goes by, Hollykit decides she wants to become a medicine cat apprentice to help injured cats and heal sicknesses. A few moons later, Hollypaw becomes Leafpool's (the medicine cat) apprentice; Lionpaw becomes Ashfur's apprentice and Jaypaw becomes Brightheart's apprentice. Jaypaw gets frustrated that he is apprenticed to the warrior with one eye, and he feels the other cats pity him. Jaypaw is commonly frustrated that many cats see his blindness as a weakness, even though he has never known life with sight and therefore uncaring of his blindness. Hollypaw, on the other hand, begins to realize that being a medicine cat might not be the right path for her as she does not like seeing other cats in pain, biting up herbs or mouse bile, (a medicine like paste).

At a gathering, all Clans have little to report. Lionpaw quickly befriends WindClan apprentice Heatherpaw who he thinks is pretty. In the middle of the gathering, two unknown cats appear. The Clans realize they are Graystripe, with a new friend, Millie. Graystripe was thought to have died when Twolegs took him away in The New Prophecy series. Instead, he managed to escape with the help of Millie and found the new home with the help of Barley and Ravenpaw. It turns out all the forest was destroyed. The Clans leave and Graystripe and Millie return to ThunderClan, exhausted.

The return of Graystripe causes another problem. Firestar appointed Brambleclaw as the new deputy assuming Graystripe had died, yet Graystripe was still alive. To help make the decision on who should be deputy, Firestar sends Leafpool to the Moonpool to talk with StarClan. Leafpool is told that Firestar needs to make his own choice. Jaypaw follows her and when Leafpool sees him, she is amazed. In the end, Brambleclaw stays as deputy since he knows the Clan better.

When a battle with ShadowClan breaks out, Jaypaw can only defeat an enemy apprentice with the help of his sibling telling him where the enemy is. Hollypaw finds the thrill of battling better than chewing up bitter herbs. Jaypaw likewise receives a dream from StarClan telling him he must become a medicine cat because he has a gift to walk in other cat's dreams. Although Jaypaw does not accept this at first, he realizes his blindness would prove as a setback during battle and agrees to become a medicine cat apprentice. Hollypaw and Jaypaw decide to trade roles with Jaypaw becoming Leafpool's apprentice and Hollypaw, Brackenfur's apprentice.

At the next Gathering, a dispute breaks out between the Clans. To solve the argument, Squirrelflight shares an idea: to have a special Gathering, just once. All four Clans would meet in ThunderClan territory at sunhigh. Each Clan would have their apprentices compete in different contests; tree climbing, hunting, and fighting. Whichever Clans' apprentice won would pick the prey from the fresh-kill pile first.

Jaypaw is upset that he can't compete, and while staying behind at the camp, he has a vision. He is choking on earth, and he smells badger and fox. He is scrabbling desperately with his paws, until realizes that he is seeing through Lionpaw's eyes. It turns out that, while competing, Lionpaw and Breezepaw fell into a collapsing fox den. Luckily, Jaypaw got there in time to save them along with Crowfeather. The leaders decide that since every Clan won at something, there would be a tie and no Clan would win.

In the end, Jaypaw walks in Firestar's dream and hears the prophecy There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws. Realizing that he and his siblings are the cats described in the prophecy, Jaypaw suddenly thinks "One day we will be so powerful that we shall command even StarClan!"

Critical Reaction

The Sight quickly mounted #1 on all major sales charts, including the New York Times Bestseller List.[3] It was recommended as Children's Summer reading by the Washington Post Children's Book Club.[2] Booklist gave a positive review saying, "As in previous books, personal tensions are juxtaposed against dangers from the outside. Plenty of action and solid characterizations make this an enticing choice for fans of the long-running enterprise."[4]

Awards

The Sight was nominated as the best Middle Readers book at Amazon's Best Books of the Year (2007), and placed sixth out of the ten nominees, with six percent of the total votes.[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.warriorcats.com/warriorshell.html The official Warriors website uses these images for the images of the three cats.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "A Summer of Magical Reading". Washingtonpost.com. 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  3. ↑ 18 May 2007 HarperCollins Erin Hunter AuthorTracker email
  4. ↑ Cooper, IIene (August 1, 2007). "The Sight.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)". AccessMyLibrary. Booklist. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "Best Books of 2007". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-06-08.