Over the weekend I completed Sunset, the 6th and final book from the "Warriors: The New Prophecy" series by Erin Hunter. This is a young adult series and follows up the original "Warriors" series, also six books long. There is yet a third series of six books still to come as well as a couple of longer single volumes that tie the whole thing together.
The story picks up where book 5, Twilight, leaves off. The badger attack on the cats of Thunderclan was devestating and now the clan has to put the pieces back together. That combined with the old nemesis of Tigerclaw (now in "ghost" form) trying to lead his two sons, Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost in a strategy to take over leadership of all the clans makes for a good story. There are quite a few sub-plots as well that need to be wrapped up, not the least of which is the overarching prophecy that has been largely in the background through these six books. There is a lot to be wrapped up here but I never felt like the plot was rushed in order to get it all done. I was a little let down by the resolution of the prophecy though, quite anticlimactic when you compare it to all of the other huge events that take place in this universe.
This will be my final reading of books in the series. While I admire the way the authors developed their universe and I really enjoyed the first series, this second series has had too much of a soap opera feel to it. As in the soaps, as certain story lines are completed, the characters can't just sit there and have a happy life or else there would be no more story to tell. So therefore, either more conflict has to occur, relationships have to change, or there has to be something that happens to drive the plot forward. After a while the reader (or soap opera viewer) can grow tired of the constant change. That is where I'm at. I choose to stop reading now and let the characters rest rather than read yet another 6-volume set. I have a whole shelf-full of young adult books to read (actually three shelves) including lots of Newbery award winners. Having said all of that, I will always look back fondly on this series and highly recommend them to parents looking for good books to read with their children. Just don't start them too young because there is a fair amount of violence and death among the clans.
I also completed the second-to-last short story ion Stephen King's collection, Skeleton Crew: "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet." This story is more of a novella, coming in at about 50 pages. The term "flexible bullet" refers to the narrator's belief that insanity is like a flexible bullet...it may take a while but it will eventually kill you. Ths narrator, a magazine editor, tells the story of a brilliant young writer (and insane) who sent him a story that was so good he fights to get it included in the magazine even though the magazine is closing it's fiction section down. The writer believes (and the editor comes to believe because of his alcoholism) in the existence of "Fornits", tiny elf-like creatures that live in their typewriters that bring inspiration and good luck. The story had an interesting premise but could have been shortened in my opinion. It is likely he wrote it to specifications since it was first published in"The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" in 1984. Only one more story to go...I'll blog about it under a seperate heading when I discuss the entire collection.
Next up: Way of the Wolf by E.E. Knight.
The story picks up where book 5, Twilight, leaves off. The badger attack on the cats of Thunderclan was devestating and now the clan has to put the pieces back together. That combined with the old nemesis of Tigerclaw (now in "ghost" form) trying to lead his two sons, Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost in a strategy to take over leadership of all the clans makes for a good story. There are quite a few sub-plots as well that need to be wrapped up, not the least of which is the overarching prophecy that has been largely in the background through these six books. There is a lot to be wrapped up here but I never felt like the plot was rushed in order to get it all done. I was a little let down by the resolution of the prophecy though, quite anticlimactic when you compare it to all of the other huge events that take place in this universe.
This will be my final reading of books in the series. While I admire the way the authors developed their universe and I really enjoyed the first series, this second series has had too much of a soap opera feel to it. As in the soaps, as certain story lines are completed, the characters can't just sit there and have a happy life or else there would be no more story to tell. So therefore, either more conflict has to occur, relationships have to change, or there has to be something that happens to drive the plot forward. After a while the reader (or soap opera viewer) can grow tired of the constant change. That is where I'm at. I choose to stop reading now and let the characters rest rather than read yet another 6-volume set. I have a whole shelf-full of young adult books to read (actually three shelves) including lots of Newbery award winners. Having said all of that, I will always look back fondly on this series and highly recommend them to parents looking for good books to read with their children. Just don't start them too young because there is a fair amount of violence and death among the clans.
I also completed the second-to-last short story ion Stephen King's collection, Skeleton Crew: "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet." This story is more of a novella, coming in at about 50 pages. The term "flexible bullet" refers to the narrator's belief that insanity is like a flexible bullet...it may take a while but it will eventually kill you. Ths narrator, a magazine editor, tells the story of a brilliant young writer (and insane) who sent him a story that was so good he fights to get it included in the magazine even though the magazine is closing it's fiction section down. The writer believes (and the editor comes to believe because of his alcoholism) in the existence of "Fornits", tiny elf-like creatures that live in their typewriters that bring inspiration and good luck. The story had an interesting premise but could have been shortened in my opinion. It is likely he wrote it to specifications since it was first published in"The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" in 1984. Only one more story to go...I'll blog about it under a seperate heading when I discuss the entire collection.
Next up: Way of the Wolf by E.E. Knight.
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