Outcast (Warriors)

Outcast
First edition cover
Author(s)	Erin Hunter
Cover artist	Wayne McLoughlin
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Warriors: Power of Three
Genre(s)	Children's literature Fantasy novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	April 22, 2008
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	317
ISBN	978-0060892081
OCLC Number	179807183
LC Classification	PZ7.H916625 Ou 2008
Preceded by	Dark River
Followed by	Eclipse

Outcast is the third book in Erin Hunter's Warriors: Power of Three children's fantasy novel series. HarperCollins published it on April 22, 2008.^[1] The plot follows Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw, the three in the prophcey:"There will be three, kin of your kin who holds the power of the stars in their paws" and their quest to the mountains to help the Tribe of Rushing Water.

Plot summary

As the book begins, Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw resume their daily lives after the events of Dark River. Jaypaw becomes obsessed with learning about the cats who had lived by the lake before the Clans while Lionpaw continues training with Tigerstar. Hollypaw realizes she wants to become leader of her Clan one day. Each finds the aspect of traveling to the mountains intriguing, and when some cats from the Tribe of Rushing Water come to ask ThunderClan for help, they get their chance. ThunderClan finds out that the Tribe has been harassed by a group of rogue cats who steal the Tribe's prey. It is revealed that Stormfur and Brook stayed with ThunderClan in Twilight since they were banished when Stormfur led the Tribe into a battle against the rogues, but many died because the Tribe is not used to battling other cats.

Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Stormfur, Brook, Breezepaw, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw all journey to the mountains to help defeat the rogues. At first, the Clan cats attempt to reason with the rogues and mark down borders. However, the rogues ignores the borders forcing the Tribe to take more drastic measures. The Clan group start teaching the Tribe cats how fighting moves to beat the rogues. The Tribe is reluctant to fight at first, but they manage to defeat the invaders, thanks to Lionpaw's new discovered ability to not get hurt in battle. Meanwhile, Jaypaw continues to try to find out about the mysterious prophecy that has haunted him to no end: "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the powers of the stars in their paws" from the ancient cats that refers to himself and his littermates. He learns that the Tribe originated from the lake and decides to tell his brother and sister about the prophecy at the end of the book.

Overview

Background

All of the Warriors novels are listed as being written by Erin Hunter, which is a pen name for four people, Victoria Holmes, who creates the storylines and edits, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland, who write the books in turns.^[2][3] Outcast is part of the Warriors: Power of Three series, which is the third six-book series under the Warriors title.^[4]

Setting

The Warriors series follows four Clans — ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan — of feral cats.^[5] Jaypaw, Hollypaw and Lionpaw are apprentices in ThunderClan. The Clans believe in warrior ancestors called StarClan.^[6] In a previous series, "The New Prophecy", the Tribe of Rushing Water was introduced. The Tribe, also a group of wild cats, inhabits mountains and believes in their own set of warrior ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting.^[7]

Publication History

The title was confirmed at the third Erin Hunter online chat.^[8] Victoria Holmes designed the storyline and Cherith Baldry wrote the book.^[2] An excerpt of Outcast was put at the back of Dark River.^[6] To promote the book, the editor went on her third tour across the US.^[2] She visited the following cities during the twelve-day tour:^[9]

• Oak Park, Illinois
• Naperville, Illinois
• Skokie, Illinois
• Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Tyron, North Carolina
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Cary, North Carolina
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Southaven, Mississippi
• Miami, Florida
• Coral Gables, Florida
• Vero Beach, Florida

Outcast was released as a hardback in the United Kingdom and the US on April 22, 2008 and was published by HarperCollins. As shown on amazon.ca, it was be released as a paperback in Canada on March 11 2009, though the US and UK paperback release dates are yet unknown. ^[1][10] Canada received the novel early on April 9.^[11] 200,000 copies were released.^[12] An excerpt from The Quest Begins in the Seekers series, also by Erin Hunter, was included at the back of the book, as well as an excerpt from the next Warriors book, Eclipse.^[13] Released at the same time as Outcast was the third Warriors manga volume, Warrior’s Return.^[14] Outcast had a 200,000 initial printing.^[15]

Reception

A reviewer from Children's Literature criticized Outcast for its "overwhelming confusion" of characters and references to past events in the series that readers who had not read earlier books in the series would not understand.^[16]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 3) (Hardcover)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060892080. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Erin Hunter Chat #4 Transcript — January 19, 2008". Wands and Worlds. http://www.wandsandworlds.com/community/node/2998. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". www.warriorcats. http://www.warriorcats.com/ask_erin.html. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
4. ^ "Warriors: Enter the World of Warriors". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?plgroup=3&docId=1000157201. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
5. ^ Hunter, Erin (2003). Into the Wild. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060000028. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Hunter, Erin (2007). Dark River. HarperCollins. pp. 323–334. ISBN 978-0-06-089205. 
7. ^ Hunter, Erin (2005). Moonrise. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060744540. 
8. ^ "Erin Hunter Chat #3 Transcript — part 2". Wands and Worlds. http://wandsandworlds.com/community/node/882. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
9. ^ "Warriors Spring 2008 Tour Schedule". www.warriorcats. http://www.warriorcats.com/warriorshell.html. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
10. ^ "Outcast (Warriors) (Hardcover)". Amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0060892080. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
11. ^ "Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 3) (Hardcover) by Erin Hunter". Amazon.ca. http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0060892080. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
12. ^ "On Sale in April - 3/17/08". Publisher's Weekly. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6542963.html?q=On+Sale+in+April+2008. Retrieved 2008-04-17. ^{[dead link]}
13. ^ Hunter, Erin (2008). Outcast. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060892081. 
14. ^ "Warriors: Warrior's Return (Warriors) (Paperback)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061252336. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
15. ^ Abbott, Charlotte (March 17, 2008). "On sale in April.". AccessMyLibrary. Publishers Weekly. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34299039_ITM. Retrieved 24 July 2010. 
16. ^ "Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three Series #3)". Barnes and Noble.com. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Outcast/Erin-Hunter/e/9780060892081/?itm=2. Retrieved 2008-08-15. 

External links

• The official Warriors website