The Sun Trail

The Sun Trail
Author Erin Hunter
Country United States
Language English
Series Warriors: Dawn of the Clans
Genre Children's literature
Fantasy novel
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
5 March 2013 [1]
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 352
Preceded by The Last Hope
Followed by Thunder Rising

The Sun Trail is a children's fantasy novel, the first book in Erin Hunter's Warriors: Dawn of the Clans series.[2] Following The Last Hope and preceding Thunder Rising, it was released March 5, 2013. The novel centers around a group of feral cats living before the rise of the five Clans: ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, and SkyClan.

Description

Dawn of the Clans mainly focuses on how the Clans came to be and their early days as clans. The Sun Trail goes back to the beginning before the warrior clans were born and before Firestar ruled ThunderClan. We learn about how the clans were formed and how the Warrior Code was made. It goes through how they ruled the clans back when there were still the original five clans and when there were still living it the forest. The beginning of the book tells the story of how the Clans came to be in the first place. Before the Clans was formed it was every cat for themselves. Then the members of the dead come and visit the living cats, telling them to unite or die. Five cats named Thunder, Wind, River, Shadow and Sky volunteered to be leaders of a single Clan, but they were so different that they became five different Clans.

Plot

The Sun Trail starts when the Tribe, led by Stoneteller, is slowly starving. Stoneteller receives a vision in which she is told that there is more prey if you follow the sun. She wonders if Jaywing (really Jayfeather) was really right for them to go to the mountains. Fluttering Bird, a young kit, dies of hunger, which motivates cats to leave, and go find food. There is a vote, in which cats cast stones on whether they should stay, or leave. In the end, a group of young cats leave, and they follow the 'sun trail'. The main cat leading the group is Clear Sky, one of Fluttering Bird's elder brothers, and his brother, Gray Wing, stays behind with their mother, Quiet Rain, and their sibling, Jagged Peak, who is a kit. When Jagged Peak runs away to catch up to Clear Sky and his group, Quiet Rain becomes worried, so she asks Gray Wing to go after him, to which he reluctantly agrees. He finds and saves Jagged Peak from an eagle, and they hurry to catch up to Clear Sky's group. Bright Stream, Clear Sky's mate, reveals that she is carrying Clear Sky's kits. When the group stops to rest one night, a trio of eagles hunts the cats down, forcing them to hide. A plan is made, in which Bright Stream dies saving Gray Wing from an eagle, resulting in her being carried off by the eagle, who she kills, but she falls to her death with it. A rift forms between Clear Sky and Gray Wing, because Gray Wing thinks that Clear Sky blames him for her death. Later in the book, Clear Sky says that he blamed himself for Bright Stream's death, and Gray Wing says that perhaps it was no cat's fault, just a terrible accident. The cats continue their journey, leaving the mountains shortly after Bright Stream's death. When they come to a river, Hawk Swoop spots a crossing, over which most of the cats cross safely. Quick Water slips, falling in, but Falling Feather saves her, revealing her swimming abilities. When they leave the mountains, they encounter sheep, which at first most cats are afraid of.

References

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