Warriors (novel series)

Warriors

Boxed sets of the Warriors and Warriors: The New Prophecy series
Warriors: The Prophecies Begin Warriors: The New Prophecy Warriors: Power of Three Warriors: Omen of the Stars Warriors: Dawn of the Clans Warriors: A Vision of Shadows Warriors: Super Edition
Author	Erin Hunter
Illustrator	Wayne McLoughlin Owen Richardson
Country	United Kingdom/United States/Canada
Language	English
Genre	Children's fiction Fantasy Young adult
Publisher	HarperCollins
Published	January 21, 2003–present

Warriors is a series of novels published by HarperCollins; it is written by authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui Sutherland, with the plot developed by editor Victoria Holmes, who collectively use the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The series follows the adventures of four Clans of wild cats—ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan—in their forest and lake homes. SkyClan, the long-forgotten fifth Clan of the forest, is later introduced in the stand-alone novel Firestar's Quest. It receives additional focus in the novel SkyClan's Destiny, the manga trilogy SkyClan and the Stranger, and the 2013 novella Cloudstar's Journey. A few cats in the series are Firestar and Graystripe, though there are quite a few more, such as Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, and Brambleclaw.

There are currently six sub-series, each containing six books. The first, Warriors (later re-titled as Warriors: The Prophecies Begin), was published from 2003 to 2004. Warriors: The New Prophecy, published from 2005 to 2006, follows the first sub-series, chronicling the Clans as they move to a new home. The third story arc, Warriors: Power of Three, was published from 2007 to 2009. The fourth sub-series, Warriors: Omen of the Stars, was published from 2009 to 2012 and continued where the third story arc left off. The fifth sub-series Warriors: Dawn of the Clans, was published from 2013 to 2015. The sub-series acts as a prequel series, detailing the formation of the Clans. The sixth and most recent sub-series, Warriors: A Vision of Shadows, is not yet complete and is still being written and published. The first book of the sixth series, The Apprentice's Quest, was released on March 15, 2016, and the second book, Thunder and Shadow, was released on September 6, 2016. Warriors: A Vision of Shadows immediately follows Warriors: Omen of the Stars, and Bramblestar's Storm.

Other books have been released in addition to the main series, including nine lengthier stand-alone "Super Edition" novels entitled Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, SkyClan's Destiny, Crookedstar's Promise, Yellowfang's Secret, Tallstar's Revenge, Bramblestar's Storm, Moth Flight's Vision and Hawkwing's Journey, the latest Super Edition, released on November 1, 2016. There are also a few other books that were published as e-book novellas: Hollyleaf's Story, Mistystar's Omen, Cloudstar's Journey, Tigerclaw's Fury, Leafpool's Wish, Dovewing's Silence, Mapleshade's Vengeance, Goosefeather's Curse and Ravenpaw's Farewell. Three more e-book novellas have been confirmed, Pinestar's Choice, Thunderstar's Echo and Spottedleaf's Heart will be published in April 2017. These e-book novels have also been published in three print compilations, with three stories each: Warriors: Tales from the Clans, Warriors: The Untold Stories, and Warriors: Shadows of the Clans. Six guides and several volumes of original English-language manga, produced as a collaboration between HarperCollins and TOKYOPOP, have been published as well. Manga published after TOKYOPOP's shutdown is published by HarperCollins on its own. In addition to the books, the authors have also written several short stories and two plays. The Warriors series, with the exception of the manga, has been released in e-book format for popular e-readers such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle. The series has also been translated into several languages. In addition, the series has a website featuring games, promotional videos, quizzes, and news. The official message boards closed on August 12, 2016.