''Long Shadows'' is a
children's
A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...
fantasy novel
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...
, the fifth book in
Erin Hunter
Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym 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 o ...
's ''
Warriors: Power of Three'', and was widely released on 25 November 2008. The book follows the adventures of
Hollyleaf,
Lionblaze, and
Jayfeather.
The book has sold over 250,000 copies.
Plot summary
When
Sol persuades almost all of
ShadowClan to give up belief in
StarClan,
Tawnypelt takes her kits to
ThunderClan, hoping to find refuge there, because she did not want to be part of a Clan that does not believe in StarClan. In hope of helping ShadowClan, Jaypaw, along with his siblings and Tawnypelt's kits, create a fake sign from StarClan to show
Blackstar that StarClan is real. Blackstar is not convinced until the fake sign turns real when StarClan cats Raggedstar and Runningnose appear, and tell Blackstar to get rid of Sol.
A greencough outbreak begins in ThunderClan, and the Clan is short of the remedy,
catmint Catmint usually refers to:
* the genus ''Anisomeles''
* the garden plant ''Nepeta'' × ''faassenii''
It may also refer to
* '' Anisomeles indica''
* '' Anisomeles malabarica'', Malabar catmint
* the plant genus ''Nepeta''
** ''Nepeta cataria
...
. Jaypaw has a dream telling him there is a fresh supply in
WindClan territory. Jaypaw asks Lionblaze to fetch the catmint. He gets the catmint and gives it to Jaypaw, but not without a tense encounter with his former friend Heathertail. Soon the Clan is healed and Jaypaw finally receives his full medicine cat name, Jayfeather.
Later, Jayfeather has a strange dream. In his dream, he has traveled back to a time before the Clans. The lake territories are inhabited by a group of cats who loosely resemble a Clan. Jayfeather awakes as a young cat called
Jay's Wing. The cats, threatened by human expansion, hold a vote to move to the mountains. Jayfeather realizes that this group of cats will become the Tribe of Rushing Water, which in turn becomes the modern Clans, so he casts the deciding vote to send the group to the mountains in order to ensure the existence of the future Clans. He then awakes back in the present time.
During a storm, the ThunderClan camp catches fire, trapping Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and
Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight manages to escape and tries to save her kits, but Ashfur interferes, separating Squirrelfight and the three. Squirrelflight begs him to let them through, but Ashfur insists that he never forgave her for choosing
Brambleclaw over him. He says that he will now kill her kits in another attempt to hurt her. Squirrelflight then reveals a crucial secret: they are not her biological kits. Ashfur lets the three cats live, but he threatens to tell her secret.
The fire burns out and the camp is cleaned up. Three days before the Gathering, Ashfur asks Firestar if he can go. Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Squirrelflight are worried that he is going to publicly announce their secret. Between then and the day of the Gathering, the three warn Ashfur that he will regret it if he reveals the secret, but he refuses to listen to them. Right before the Gathering, the patrol of warriors going notices that Ashfur is missing, and on the way, they see Ashfur's body lying in the stream next to WindClan territory as if he had drowned. They take him back to camp and have a vigil for him. However, Leafpool notices a gash in his neck, implying he was murdered. After the Gathering, Firestar announces that Ashfur's death was unknown and suspects a cat from WindClan may have killed him. The three vow to keep the recent events involving them, Squirrelflight, and Ashfur a secret.
Reception
''Long Shadows'' received mostly positive reviews, praising the tension and characters. ''
Horn Book Review
''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of t ...
'' said that'' Long Shadows'' moves very slowly, but that fans who have read the previous books would still enjoy it. It received a rating of 4.31 stars on
Goodreads
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
and a rating of 4.8 stars on
Barnes and Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States.
Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
.
References
External links
Warriors- The official ''Warriors'' website.
{{Warriors (Erin Hunter)
American fantasy novels
2008 American novels
Warriors (novel series)
HarperCollins books
2008 children's books