The wild cats of the forest have lived in peace for many moons—but when Brambleclaw, a warrior of ThunderClan, receives an ominous prophecy from StarClan that speaks of a mysterious danger, he must rally the fiercest warriors from all the Clans to seek answers in the mountains.
But the journey is long and hard, and tensions rise back in the forest as Firestar and Leafpaw watch ThunderClan’s world crumbling around them. As the questing cats struggle to uncover the meaning of the prophecy, turmoil threatens to overtake the Clans.
With the announcement of Tencent and Disney developing the well-loved cat series, Warriors, into an animated show, a lot of new readers will be picking up the books and need a place to start. This book (and the other graphic novels that preceded it) is the perfect adaptation of a Warrior Cats novel to start with, and I am so appreciative to the publisher for allowing me to read it early.
When the graphic novels were first announced, I will admit, I found myself rolling my eyes that we were rewriting completed story arcs that already existed.
Boy, was I wrong.
In the first graphic novel set (The Prophecies Begin illustrated and adapted by Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter), I was happy to eat my words and truly enjoyed the new take on one of my long-time favorites. These books made me a true believer—the graphic novel adaptations of the main arcs are some of the best Warrior Cat releases since Omen of the Stars.
In The New Prophecy, we follow Brambleclaw, a son of the late Tigerstar trying to step out of his father’s villainous shadow and become a trustworthy warrior of Thunderclan. Starclan sends visions of sun-drowned-place, where the sun is eaten by an impossibly large body of water, and an ominous message of the forest being in danger, to a cat from every Clan with a mission to embark on a tremendous journey to find and “listen to midnight”—whatever that means. Brambleclaw has to abandon his duties in Thunderclan to follow this prophecy, and is unknowingly tailed by Squirrelpaw, the mischievous daughter of Thunderclan’s leader Firestar. Six cats of the clans embark on this mission and find the future is more devastating than they could have ever imagined, and that the Clans as they know them will be forced to forever change.
The original The New Prophecy books are my favorite in the Warrior Cats series. This graphic novel adaptation captures and reimagines this story better than I could have ever imagined. The storyboarding throughout the book is superb, and Sammy Savos’ character art makes even the most unlikeable characters feel fully fleshed out, full of emotions and opinions that can sometimes feel grating or fall flat in the original novels.
Crowpaw is known as a prickly apprentice who always has a rude comment for everything—Savos’ art shows him as being insecure, looking for approval, and full of good-spirited snark. Squirrelpaw is precocious, self-aware, and eager to please—not just arrogant and spoiled, like she comes across in the first few novels. In every page and panel, every character is telling a story even if not addressed in the main plot. My absolute favorite example of this is the constant inclusion of Cloudtail and Brightheart in numerous panels, unnamed and unmentioned, but affectionately sharing tongues and chores in the background of so many scenes.
When adapting a series of six books into a graphic novel set of three books, I had a lot of concerns about information getting lost in the transition between formats. One of the details I was worried about was the everyday goings-on of the Clans. Savos and Gibson Twist capture this perfectly in numerous hunting scenes, whether they be solo hunting trips or full Clan patrols including apprentice lessons. One of my favorite scenes they adapted was how the monthly Gathering at the beginning of the book was drawn and shown. The scale of the Gathering, in the eyes of the Clans, was captured without feeling exaggerated with unidentifiable extra characters.
Another such concern was how the plot would be reallocated from six books into three books—would it end on awkward cliffhangers? Would they abridge information to make things fit easier into three novels? I am pleased to say this release balances the timing and ending well, with Twist choosing the perfect story note at the end of the original novel, Moonrise (book two in The New Prophecy), to end on.
Whether you are returning to this series as an adult, looking for easy reading to rest your brain between heavy reads, or trying to entice your picky reader with a graphic novel of an old favorite, this book deserves a place on your shelf. Savos and Twist perfectly portray the authors’ writing and characters, and will wow you with the details and beauty of the panels even in this heavy stylized setting. I cannot wait to get all three graphic novel releases in this Warrior Cats arc!
Colleen McMillan
Julia Kitvaria Sarene