Into the Wild (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Erin Hunter |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Wayne McLoughlin |
| Country | United Kingdom United States Canada |
| Language | English |
| Series | Warriors |
| Genre |
Children's literature Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Avon, HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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January 21, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 272 (depending on edition) |
| ISBN | |
| LC Class | PZ7.H916625 In 2003 |
| Followed by | Fire and Ice |
Into the Wild is a children's fantasy novel written by Erin Hunter after concepts and outlines created and developed by Victoria Holmes. The novel was published by HarperCollins in Canada and the United States in January 2003, and in the United Kingdom in February 2003. It is the first novel in the Warriors series. The book has been published in paperback, and e-book formats in twenty different languages. The story is about a young domestic cat named Rusty who leaves his human owners to join a group of forest-dwelling feral cats called ThunderClan, adopting a new name: Firepaw. He is trained to defend and hunt for the Clan, becomes embroiled in a murder and betrayal within the Clan, and, at the end of the book, receives his warrior name, Fireheart, after a battle with another Clan. The novel is written from the perspective of Fireheart (previously known as Rusty for a short time, then, for most of the book, Firepaw).
The series began in 2003 when HarperCollins requested Holmes to write a book on feral cats. After creating one storyline Holmes brought in Kate Cary to finish writing the book as Holmes went behind the scenes to edit and supervise the details. Holmes has compared the style of the book to a different language as the books are written by three separate authors. She feels that Erin Hunter must have a consistent voice the entire series. The story uses a lexicon with words such as "twoleg" substituted for "human" or "new-leaf" for "spring". The style has been compared to the Harry Potter series, J.R.R. Tolkien and Brian Jacques. Themes include family, loyalty, death, courage, and survival. Into the Wild was critically well received. Booklist believed the book would appeal to followers of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. Among other awards, it claimed third place in the 2006 Young Reader's Choice Award.
In 2003, HarperCollins requested Victoria Holmes to create a fantasy series about feral cats, but, being more interested in dogs and not a reader of fantasy, she was less than enthusiastic. She "couldn't imagine coming up with enough ideas". Nonetheless, she worked with the concept, expanding the storyline with elements of war, politics, revenge, doomed love, and religious conflict. Although the original plan was a stand-alone novel, enough material was created for several books, and the publisher decided upon a six-volume series. Holmes then enlisted the help of another author, Kate Cary whom Holmes had previously edited for and knew she loved cats. The first volume, Into the Wild, was written by Kate Cary under the pseudonym Erin Hunter, and completed in about three months. Holmes continued to act behind the scenes editing and supervising details. Afterwards, Holmes began to like the idea of using cats since she realized how thoughtful they can be leading private lives without any humans realizing.
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