Rising Storm (Warriors)

Infobox Book
name = Rising Storm
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Erin Hunter (Pen name of Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry )
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Warriors
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Avon
release_date = February 15, 2005
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 336 pp
isbn = ISBN 978-0060525637
preceded_by = Forest of Secrets
followed_by = A Dangerous Path "Rising Storm" is the fourth book in the "Warriors" series, written by Cherith Baldry and Kate Cary under the pen name of Erin Hunter. This individual book was written by Kate Cary.

The plot is centered around Fireheart, a cat who gave up his life as a kittypet (a house cat) to join ThunderClan, one of the four groups of feral cats living in the wild. It takes up where the previous book left off and presents the events as taking place during greenleaf (summer), roughly a year after the events of the first book.

Plot summary

After the exile of the traitorous Tigerclaw, Fireheart has taken over his role as the deputy of ThunderClan. Most of the cats are still shocked at Tigerclaw's disloyalty and many warriors are badly injured.

The Clan leader, Bluestar, is a shadow of her former self, her mind having been damaged by the shock, so it is up to Fireheart to supervise the daily life of the ThunderClan cats. He does his best to lead and to represent the Clan, to make important decisions, to find solutions and to handle ominous omens. He also has to train Cloudpaw, his disrespectful nephew and apprentice, and find and rescue him when Twolegs (humans) capture him. He manages to find comfort in his friendship with Sandstorm, his new love, and with Cinderpelt, his former apprentice who is now training to become a medicine cat.

The book reaches its climax when a fire sweeps through the forest, destroying almost every thing in the ThunderClan camp and taking the lives of several cats, including the medicine cat Yellowfang. After a storm puts out the fire, the ThunderClan cats start to rebuild their camp, but Tigerclaw's menace and the scarcity of prey in the burned forest continues to worry them.

The cats are exhausted by the redoubled patrols and hard work even though the atmosphere is quite peaceful as the hot summer days drag by and there is no open war and battles between the Clans. Later, Tigerclaw reappears leading a band of rogue cats. The book ends when the forest cats see Tigerclaw as the new Shadowclan leader.

The cats on the cover may be Fireheart and Sandstorm.

Critical reception

"Rising Storm" received a positive reception among critics. In one review by Booklist, the reviewer calls the novel suspenseful, also noting how the story echoes the journey to maturity.cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Storm-Warriors-Book-4/dp/0060525630|title=Rising Storm (Warriors, Book 4) (Paperback)|work=Amazon.com|accessdate=2008-01-04] In another review by VOYA, it was noted that while the books lacks humor and depth, it still had appeal in the hidden world of the warrior cats.cite web|url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780060525637&z=y|title=Rising Storm (Warriors Series #4)|work=Barnes & Noble.com|accessdate=2008-01-04] A BookLoons review particularily praised the ending, calling it a cliffhanger.cite web|url=http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=2716|title=Rising Storm: Warriors#4 by Erin Hunter|work=BookLoons Reviews|accessdate=2008-01-04]

However, Children's Literature was not as positive, saying it was getting hard to remember all of the relatives and leaders.

Book Cover

One of the books has Fireheart and Sandstorm, while the other one has Fireheart and Cloudpaw.

References