Erin Hunter is a collective

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several children's fantasy novel series which focus on animals and their adventures. Notable works include the '' Warriors'', '' Seekers'', '' Survivors'', '' Bravelands'', and ''Bamboo Kingdom''

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publ ...

. For each book, Holmes creates the plot and the others take turns writing the books. Dan Jolley, though not an official Erin Hunter author, also writes the stories for

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

published under the Hunter name. James L. Barry, Bettina M. Kurkoski, and Don Hudson are included under the pseudonym as the illustrators of the ''Warriors'' mangas. Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter are also included as the illustrators of the graphic novel adaptation of ''The Prophecies Begin''.

History

In 2003,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

asked Victoria Holmes to write a fantasy series about feral cats, but, not being a reader of fantasy, she was less than enthusiastic despite her love of cats. After writing one storyline, Kate Cary was brought in to write the book as Holmes went behind the scenes to supervise details and edit the book. When the third ''Warriors'' book, '' Forest of Secrets'', was being drafted, Cherith Baldry joined the Erin Hunter team. Tui T. Sutherland wrote the first ''Warriors'' field guide and became the fourth person under the name. The name "Erin Hunter" was chosen for several reasons. If the authors used all of their own names, the books would be placed in different locations in a library, making them hard to find. Additionally, they wanted to pick a surname that would place the books very close to the '' Redwall'' series by Brian Jacques, which is a book series with a similar plot to ''Warriors''. One of the authors suggested "Hunter", and the others felt that it was "perfect", because not only did it place the book series close to Jacques, but it evokes the image of a cat. Victoria Holmes suggested ‘Erin' because it was one of her favorite names, and it was accepted for being a strong Celtic name and "not particularly girly".

Authors

Victoria Holmes

Victoria Holmes was born in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Holmes was the creator of ''Warriors'', being the person whom

originally requested to write it. After inviting Kate Cary to do the actual writing of the series, she moved behind the scenes to help edit and supervise details. Holmes grew up on a farm in England. Later, she attended the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, whose buildings "inspired an interest in history". She now lives in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where she works as the editor for the series. In 2011, the Bookperk website ran a special for signed copies of ''Sign of the Moon''. Because Erin Hunter is not a real person, these books were instead signed by Victoria Holmes. Following a diagnosis of cancer in 2017, Holmes stepped back from her involvement in ''Warriors''.

Kate Cary

Kate Cary was the first author brought on board to write for the ''Warriors'' series. Holmes chose Cary to write the first ''Warriors'' book after Holmes had finished the storyline. She has written many of the books in the main arcs, as well as several Super Editions. She was born in England on 4 November 1967. She later moved to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

where she lived for 12 years before going back to England, where she currently resides. Besides the ''Warriors'' series, she has also written the book ''

Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic infor ...

,'' and its sequel, ''Reckoning''.

Cherith Baldry

Cherith Baldry was the second author brought to the Erin Hunter team. She was born on 21 January 1947 in Lancaster, England. She studied at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and St. Anne's College, Oxford. Holmes invited her to join when they were writing the third ''Warriors'' book, '' Forest of Secrets,'' after seeing her writing style and feeling that it was similar to Kate Cary's.

Tui T. Sutherland

Tui T. Sutherland was born on 31 July 1978 in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. She currently lives in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Her first credit to the Erin Hunter team was the field guide ''Secrets of the Clans''. She wrote several other ''Warriors'' guides, as well as the first book in the ''Seekers'' series. Sutherland was also an editor of the '' Warriors'' series, until she quit editing to become a full-time writer. She went on to write the novel series '' Wings of Fire'', among several other series.

Inbali Iserles

Inbali Iserles was born in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and is the author of the third, fifth and sixth books of the ''Survivors'' series: ''Darkness Falls'', ''The Endless Lake'' and ''Storm of Dogs''. She also publishes animal fantasy novels under her own name, including ''The Tygrine Cat'' and the ''Foxcraft'' trilogy.

Gillian Philip

Gillian Philip was born on 2 July 1964, and is the author of several books in the ''Survivors'' and ''Bravelands'' series. She lives in the northeast Scottish Highlands. Philip has toured the United States twice as the face of the Erin Hunter responsible for ''Survivors''. In addition to ''Survivors'', she has written several novel series under her own name. In June 2020, Philip was removed from the Erin Hunter team after announcing her support for statements by J.K Rowling on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

regarding

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people, which were perceived as being transphobic.

Clarissa Hutton

Clarissa Hutton is the author of several ''Warriors'' novellas, including ''Thunderstar's Echo'' and the three stories in ''Path of a Warrior''.

Rosie Best

Rosie Best is the author of ''The Exile's Journey'', several books in the ''Bravelands'' series, as well as every book in the ''Bamboo Kingdom'' series.

Dan Jolley

Dan Jolley is the author of all the ''Warriors'' mangas. He also writes for his own independent projects, as well as for video games from

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

and

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

Illustrators

James L. Barry

James L. Barry illustrated most of the Warriors mangas, including the trilogy sets, modern standalones, and epilogue chapters in Super Editions.

Bettina M. Kurkoski

Bettina M. Kurkoski illustrated ''The Rise of Scourge''.

Don Hudson

Don Hudson illustrated the ''Tigerstar and Sasha'' trilogy.

Natalie Riess

Natalie Riess is one of the illustrators of the upcoming graphic novel adaptation of the first ''Warriors'' arc.

Sara Goetter

Sara Goetter is one of the illustrators of the upcoming graphic novel adaptation of the first ''Warriors'' arc.

Works

'' Warriors''

Warriors: The Prophecies Begin #'' Into the Wild'' (2003) (Kate Cary) #'' Fire and Ice'' (2003) (Cary) #'' Forest of Secrets'' (2003) (Cherith Baldry) #'' Rising Storm'' (2004) (Cary) #'' A Dangerous Path'' (2004) (Baldry) #'' The Darkest Hour'' (2004) (Baldry) Warriors: The New Prophecy #''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'' (2005) (Baldry) #'' Moonrise'' (2005) (Baldry) #'' Dawn'' (2005) (Cary) #'' Starlight'' (2006) (Baldry) #''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' (2006) (Baldry) #''

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

'' (2007) (Baldry) Warriors: Power of Three #'' The Sight'' (2007) (Cary) #''Dark River'' (2007) (Cary) #''Outcast'' (2008) (Baldry) #''Eclipse'' (2008) (Cary) #'' Long Shadows'' (2008) (Baldry) #'' Sunrise'' (2009) (Baldry) Warriors: Omen of the Stars #''The Fourth Apprentice'' (2009) (Baldry) #''Fading Echoes'' (2010) (Cary) #''Night Whispers'' (2010) (Cary) #''Sign of the Moon'' (2011) (Baldry) #''The Forgotten Warrior'' (2011) (Baldry) #''The Last Hope'' (2012) (Cary) Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #'' The Sun Trail'' (2013) (Baldry) #'' Thunder Rising'' (2013) (Baldry) #''The First Battle'' (2014) (Cary) #''The Blazing Star'' (2014) (Baldry) #''A Forest Divided'' (2015) (Cary) #''Path of Stars'' (2015) (Cary) Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #''The Apprentice's Quest'' (2016) (Baldry) #''Thunder and Shadow'' (2016) (Cary) #''Shattered Sky'' (2017) (Baldry) #''Darkest Night'' (2017) (Cary) #''River of Fire'' (2018) (Baldry) #''The Raging Storm'' (2018) (Cary) Warriors: The Broken Code #''Lost Stars'' (2019) (Baldry) #''The Silent Thaw'' (2019) (Cary) #''Veil of Shadows'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Darkness Within'' (2020) (Cary) #''The Place of No Stars'' (2021) (Baldry) #''A Light in the Mist'' (2021) (Cary) Warriors: A Starless Clan #''River'' (2022) (Baldry) #''Sky'' (2022) (Cary) #''Shadow'' (2023) (Baldry) #''Thunder'' (2023) (Cary) #''Wind'' (2024) (Baldry) #''Star'' (2024) (Cary) Warriors: Changing Skies #''The Elders' Quest'' (2025) #''Hidden Moon'' (2025) #''Chasing Shadows'' (2026) Graphic novels #''Volume 1'' (2024) (Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter) #''Volume 2'' (2025) (Riess and Goetter) #''Volume 3'' (2025) (Riess and Goetter) Graystripe's Adventure (colored release in 2017) #'' The Lost Warrior'' (2007) (Dan Jolley) #'' Warrior's Refuge'' (2007) (Jolley) #'' Warrior's Return'' (2008) (Jolley) The Rise of Scourge (colored release in 2024) #'' The Rise of Scourge'' (2008) (Jolley) Tigerstar and Sasha (colored release in 2025) #''Into the Woods'' (2008) (Jolley) #''Escape from the Forest'' (2009) (Jolley) #''Return to the Clans'' (2009) (Jolley) Ravenpaw's Path (colored release in 2018) #'' Shattered Peace'' (2009) (Jolley) #'' A Clan in Need'' (2010) (Jolley) #'' The Heart of a Warrior'' (2010) (Jolley) SkyClan and the Stranger (colored release in 2019) #''The Rescue'' (2011) (Jolley) #''Beyond the Code'' (2011) (Jolley) #''After the Flood'' (2012) (Jolley) A Shadow in RiverClan #''A Shadow in RiverClan'' (2020) (Jolley) Winds of Change #''Winds of Change'' (2021) (Jolley) Exile from ShadowClan #''Exile from ShadowClan'' (2022) (Jolley) A Thief In ThunderClan #''A Thief In ThunderClan'' (2023) (Jolley) Super Editions #'' Firestar's Quest'' (2007) (Baldry) #'' Bluestar's Prophecy'' (2009) (Cary) #'' SkyClan's Destiny'' (2010) (Baldry) #''Crookedstar's Promise'' (2011) (Cary) #'' Yellowfang's Secret'' (2012) (Baldry) #''Tallstar's Revenge'' (2013) (Cary) #''Bramblestar's Storm'' (2014) (Baldry) #''Moth Flight's Vision'' (2015) (Cary) #''Hawkwing's Journey'' (2016) (Baldry) #''Tigerheart's Shadow'' (2017) (Cary) #''Crowfeather's Trial'' (2018) (Baldry) #''Squirrelflight's Hope'' (2019) (Cary) #''Graystripe's Vow'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Leopardstar's Honor'' (2021) (Cary) #''Onestar's Confession'' (2022) (Baldry) #''Riverstar's Home'' (2023) (Cary) #''Ivypool's Heart'' (2024) (Baldry) #''StormClan's Folly'' (2025) Field guides #''Secrets of the Clans'' (2007) (Tui T. Sutherland) #'' Cats of the Clans'' (2008) (Victoria Holmes) #'' Code of the Clans'' (2009) (Sutherland) #''Battles of the Clans'' (2010) (Sutherland) #''Enter the Clans'' (2012) (Bind-up of ''Secrets of the Clans'' and ''Code of the Clans'') #''The Warriors Guide'' (2012) (Holmes) #''Warriors: The Ultimate Guide'' (2013) (Holmes) #''The Ultimate Guide: Updated and Expanded'' (2023) Novellas #''Hollyleaf's Story'' (2012) (Holmes) #''Mistystar's Omen'' (2012) (Holmes) #''Cloudstar's Journey'' (2013) (Holmes) #''The Untold Stories'' (2013) (Bind-up of ''Hollyleaf's Story'', ''Mistystar's Omen'' and ''Cloudstar's Journey'') #''Tigerclaw's Fury'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Leafpool's Wish'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Dovewing's Silence'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Tales from the Clans'' (2014) (Bind-up of ''Tigerclaw's Fury'', ''Leafpool's Wish'' and ''Dovewing's Silence'') #''Mapleshade's Vengeance'' (2015) (Holmes) #''Goosefeather's Curse'' (2015) (Holmes) #''Ravenpaw's Farewell'' (2016) (Holmes) #''Shadows of the Clans'' (2016) (Bind-up of ''Mapleshade's Vengeance'', ''Goosefeather's Curse'' and ''Ravenpaw's Farewell'') #''Spottedleaf's Heart'' (2017) (Holmes) #''Pinestar's Choice'' (2017) (Holmes) #''Thunderstar's Echo'' (2017) (Clarissa Hutton) #''Legends of the Clans'' (2017) (Bind-up of ''Spottedleaf's Heart'', ''Pinestar's Choice'' and ''Thunderstar's Echo'') #''Redtail's Debt'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Tawnypelt's Clan'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Shadowstar's Life'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Path of a Warrior'' (2019) (Bind-up of ''Redtail's Debt'', ''Tawnypelt's Clan'' and ''Shadowstar's Life'') (Hutton) #''Pebbleshine's Kits'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Tree's Roots'' (2020) (Hutton) #''Mothwing's Secret'' (2020) (Hutton) #''A Warrior's Spirit'' (2020) (Bind-up of ''Pebbleshine's Kits'', ''Tree's Roots'' and ''Mothwing's Secret'') #''Daisy's Kin'' (2021) (Cherith) #''Blackfoot's Reckoning'' (2021) (Hutton) #''Spotfur's Rebellion'' (2021) (Hutton) #''A Warrior's Choice'' (2021) (Bind-up of ''Daisy's Kin'', ''Blackfoot's Reckoning'' and ''Spotfur's Rebellion'') Short stories #''Spottedleaf's Honest Answer'' (2008) (Holmes) #''The Clans Decide'' (2009) (Holmes) #''After Sunset: The Right Choice?'' (2011) (Holmes) #''The Elders' Concern'' (2011) (Holmes) Plays #''After Sunset: We Need to Talk'' (2007) (Holmes) #''Beyond the Code: Brightspirit's Mercy'' (2009) (Baldry)

'' Seekers''

''Seekers: The Original Series'' #''The Quest Begins'' (2008) (Sutherland) #'' Great Bear Lake'' (2009) (Baldry) #''Smoke Mountain'' (2009) (Sutherland) #''The Last Wilderness'' (2010) (Baldry) #''Fire in the Sky'' (2010) (Sutherland) #''Spirits in the Stars'' (2011) (Baldry) ''Seekers: Return to the Wild'' #''Island of Shadows'' (2012) (Baldry) #''The Melting Sea'' (2012) (Sutherland) #''River of Lost Bears'' (2013) (Baldry) #''Forest of Wolves'' (2014) (Baldry) #''The Burning Horizon'' (2015) (Baldry) #''The Longest Day'' (2016) (Baldry) Manga #''Toklo's Story'' (2010) #''Kallik's Adventure'' (2011)

'' Survivors''

''Survivors: The Original Series'' #''The Empty City'' (2012) (Gillian Philip) #''A Hidden Enemy'' (2013) (Philip) #''Darkness Falls'' (2013) (Inbali Iserles) #''The Broken Path'' (2014) (Philip) #''The Endless Lake'' (2014) (Iserles) #''Storm of Dogs'' (2015) (Iserles) ''Survivors: The Gathering Darkness'' #''A Pack Divided'' (2015) (Philip) #''Dead of Night'' (2016) (Rosie Best) #''Into the Shadows'' (2017) (Philip) #''Red Moon Rising'' (2017) (Philip) #''The Exile's Journey'' (2018) (Rosie Best) #''The Final Battle'' (2019) (Philip) Novellas #''Alpha's Tale'' (2014) (Phillip) #''Sweet's Journey'' (2015) (Philip) #''Moon's Choice'' (2015) (Philip) #''Tales from the Packs'' (2015) (Bind-up of ''Alpha's Tale'', ''Sweet's Journey'', and ''Moon's Choice'')

''Bravelands''

''Bravelands'' #''Broken Pride'' (2017) (Philip) #''Code of Honor'' (2018) (Philip) #''Blood and Bone'' (2018) (Philip) #''Shifting Shadows'' (2019) (Philip) #''The Spirit Eaters'' (2020) (Philip) #''Oathkeeper'' (2020) (Philip) ''Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue'' # ''Shadows on the Mountain'' (2021) (Best) # ''The Venom Spreads'' (2022) (Best) # ''Blood on the Plains'' (2022) (Best) ''Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains'' # ''The Shattered Horn'' (2023) (Best) # ''Breakers of the Code'' (2024) (Best) # ''Realm of Lost Spirits'' (2024) (Best)

''Bamboo Kingdom''

# ''Creatures of the Flood'' (2021) (Best) #''River of Secrets'' (2022) (Best) #''Journey to the Dragon Mountain'' (2023) (Best) #''The Dark Sun'' (2023) (Best) #''The Lightning Path'' (2024) (Best) #''Fire and Ash'' (2025)

Book development

In ''Warriors'', ''Seekers'', ''Bravelands'', and ''Bamboo Kingdom'' a specific order is followed. First, Holmes, the editor, sends in the preliminary script and outline to whoever is writing the book. Then, the author develops Holmes' ideas into a single book which is sent back to Holmes for one last check-over and edit. After she finishes, she sends it to HarperCollins for publication. After Holmes stepped back from editing under the Erin Hunter name in 2017, a team of editors took over the writing of the preliminary scripts and the editing of drafts. For the ''Survivors'' series, there was a different approach taken. The whole team got together and created a detailed story outline and developed the characters together. Then, the writing itself was done by a single author, who was still allowed to change something significant about the plot or characters if they felt that a certain character would not act a specific way.

Writing style

With four different authors, Holmes has said that the book "'sounds' like Erin, because she has a very distinctive voice". She compares the style of the authors to a different language where a stray line or word can stick out. Holmes says that she is in charge of editing and making sure that the book sounds correct. Erin Hunter books are all told in a third person limited narrative, though the focal point character changes from series to series, book to book, and sometimes from chapter to chapter.

References

External links

Warriors
(official) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Erin British children's writers Warriors (novel series) Fantasy shared pseudonyms Pseudonymous women writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Collective pseudonyms