Thunder and Shadow

During each interval of time between each book in this series, I forget how great it is and exactly why it's still one of my favorite series. But every time I start reading one, I'm reminded of the wonderfulness of it all. I love these books so much, this one included.

I've heard some people complain about this series being dragged out too long, but I don't find it a problem. Each series set is about a different (main) problem, and each of them are equally interesting. Admittedly, I was a tiny bit worried about it when I heard that A Vision of Shadows was coming out, but I'm reassured now, after reading the first two books.

To review, the original series was about Tigerstar, The New Prophecy was about the Clans moving to new territories, show more Power of Three was about the powers of Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze, and Omen of the Stars was about the rise of the Dark Forest. And Dawn of the Clans was about the history of the Clans. Now, in A Vision of Shadows, the problem of SkyClan arises. In the first book, some ThunderClan cats tried finding SkyClan, but they instead found a group of rogues who took over the Clan. Now, in Thunder and Shadow, these rogues have followed the ThunderClan cats home and began threatening everyone. The abandoned kits Alderpaw found, Twigkit and Violetkit, somehow played a large role as well. The Clans believed that they're part of the new prophecy, "Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky."

A lot of the novel is spent on Twigkit and Violetkit's relationship. Since Needlepaw, a ShadowClan apprentice, had been with Alderpaw when he found the kits, ShadowClan demanded they have Violetkit. As a result, the two sisters were separated, one in ThunderClan, one in ShadowClan. Both had insecurities about each other and fitting into their Clans. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking to read their thoughts and misguided actions. I especially felt for Violetkit, because ShadowClan was the most chaotic Clan in this book. She kept (figuratively) getting pushed over by Needlepaw--one moment, they're best friends, and the next, Violetkit hears Needlepaw making unpleasant comments about her. Then, later, Violetkit would realize that Needlepaw really cares about her, and the cycle starts over. I wasn't sure what to think of the Needlepaw...it seemed like she only showed affection whenever Violetkit started to dislike her. Anyways, I don't like Needlepaw very much. She was a large source of Violetkit's inner turmoil, especially towards the end.

It was exciting to read about characters who were important in the previous series--Bramblestar, Tawnypelt, Jayfeather, Leafpool, Graystripe, etc. Having them as more background characters was nice. However, the one thing I was slightly disappointed about was the seemingly nonexistent relationships between some characters. For example, Jayfeather and Lionblaze didn't even say a word to each other throughout the whole book, even though they were close brothers. I know it's probably because Lionblaze isn't important at all compared to the previous series, but it would've been nice to see some casual interaction, like a warm greeting.

A large issue addressed was rebellion. In the previous series, there had been some discontent among cats in the Clans, but it wasn't ever started from the apprentices. Now, in ShadowClan, the young cats seem to have lost respect for their leaders and done drastic rebellious acts. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a very likely thing to happen, and the progression of the young cats from each generation was just like our young generations in the human world. A long time ago, young people wouldn't dare oppose against their parents too much. Nowadays, it happens much more often. Yes, it is a good thing for people to be speaking their thoughts and having independence...but they should still know to respect certain people. This issue, brought up in ShadowClan, was very interesting to read about.

Of course you should read it, but I suggest you do that after reading the first book in A Vision of Shadows. For anyone who has already read that, then definitely start this one next. show less

Alderpaw has returned to Clan territory by the lake nearly one moon ago after finding that rogues had driven SkyClan out of the gorge Firestar and Sandstorm helped them establish. Alderpaw and Needletail along with the rest of the questing party thought they had made it out of the gorge relatively unscathed – but the rogues have managed to trace the party’s path straight back to the lake. Will ShadowClan be the first to fall victim to the seemingly charismatic leader of the rogues?

The rogues that decimated SkyClan in their gorge have followed Alderpaw back to Clan territory by the lake. After a brief skirmish the rogues retreat but not without harm coming to the Clans involved. When ties of the heart are strained some cats will find show more that it isn’t always a good thing to live a life without the Clan warrior code looming overhead. After all – the Clans have been surviving beyond current memory with the warrior code in place for very good reasons. Each cat may be guided by Clan mates, Clan leaders and StarClan but ultimately the path they choose to walk is entirely of their own making. I was surprised that Bramblestar’s previously added rule to the warrior code wasn’t applicable to the situation with Onestar. I do like having character narrators from more than one Clan – it definitely keeps it interesting and allows the reader to see the differences between the two camps.

I really hoped that Alderpaw would be a little better this time around. Alderpaw and Needlepaw have incredibly childish moments. Granted they are only apprentices but I don’t recall the other story arcs apprentices being this bad. As the story line progresses this actually gets better – kind of, at least Alderpaw actually gains enough confidence to speak his mind. Needletail is well, Needletail… she’s not my favorite character but I do believe despite her manipulations that she does actually care for Violetkit. The kits that were found, Violetkit and Twigkit. take up the mantle for being unsure of themselves but they have a little bit more reason to feel that way than Alderpaw. Overall this is a fairly good third installment for this story arc and I am curious to see where this story goes. I would recommend this book (and series) to middle-grade readers who love cats (or anyone who does), low fantasy and anthropomorphism. show less