territory, since it has no story at all to speak of.

Today I'm covering Secrets of the Clans, the first of four…sort of five, field guides

in the Warriors series.

You're not going to find summaries of these books very often, considering they're more

collections of lore than they are pieces of a story, but as part of the series' chronology

along with an important part of some people's understanding of the clans and world, I wouldn't

feel right skipping over them.

Secrets of the Clans came out on May 29th of 2007, only a little over a month after

The Lost Warrior and The Sight came out.

I'll also say for no particular reason that it came out only 3 months before a certain

super edition, the first in fact, meaning that the team absolutely knew about…another

group that maybe should have been included in this book when they were producing it.

However, that element was kept entirely away from this field guide so as to avoid spoilers,

and I will do the same.

Wayne McLoughlin, who did many of the original Warriors covers as well, took care of the

extra artwork this book needed for its various short stories, and it was written by Tui Sutherland,

who you might also know is the sole author for the Wings of Fire series, a very good

series, in fact, that I recommend you all check out.

And honestly, some of the world building, writing of history, and diversifying of the

groups that I love in those dragon books is also present in Secrets of the Clans, and

is a large part of the reason why I love not only this field guide, but the ideas of the

clans that Tui created in it.

Thanks to the nature of this book, there are no allegiances or line statistics to cover,

so I'll jump right into a summary of the…not plot.

Material, let's say.

We begin with the beginning, the *very* beginning, of the clans as a whole, and a preceding paragraph

letting us know that this story was passed down to and through every clan cat, and even

lets us know that story changes every time it is told, and parts of it, entire cats…or

even larger elements, fade from memory.

The stories in this book aren't all perfect facts, they're the stories as the clans

of the present would know and tell them: folklore.

Just how much of it is actually true remains up to the imagination at this point.

Keeping that in mind though, this is what we're told:

Once upon a time, the forest territories were wild lands, and then cats came, living in

small groups, not clans, with no borders and constant fighting.

One night during a full moon at a clearing that would come to be known as Fourtrees,

a truly terrible battle occured with everyone involved.

The survivors slept where they stood and came face to face with the spirits of those that

died, who demanded that they Unite or Die.

Four cats rose to speak.

Shadow, River, Wind, and Thunder all extol their individual virtues in turn and say that

they should rule the forest.

The four cats begin an argument which is quickly shut down by the spirits, who berate them

and say that the forest is large enough for all of them, that they must choose their own

lands and set borders, along with finding other cats to join them.

For doing this, they would each be granted 8 more lives to lead their clans with, and

the spirits will always be there to guide them in Silverpelt above.

They also demand that, each month at the full moon, they need to gather in the same clearing

for a night of truce.

They will be warriors, living by a warrior code and fighting only when it's necessary

for justice.

The four cats agreed, formed their clans with cats who shared their skills, and the age

of the clans began.

We then get our very first list in the series for what the warrior code actually consists

of.

To this point it has only been referenced in generalities, or by one particular rule,

like cross-clan mates not being allowed, medicine cats not being allowed to have kits, or prey

needing to go to your clan first before yourself or outsiders.

Not all of even those rules are contained in the warrior code as we are given it here,

but I won't list out those rules directly from the book since they're well known and

easy to search for.

At this point we move into a rundown of information from each clan, one at a time, through notes

and little vignettes where a character talks about a particular part of their life, or

you see a scene of the clans in the third person.

First comes Firestar and Thunderclan.

They are apparently a respectful clan, but fearsome in battle, and not afraid of challenge

for what they think is right, regardless of whether or not it aligns with the code.

They tend to hunt forest prey: mice, volves, birds, squirrels, and have the forest's

best stalking techniques.

I'll say before we go any further my one issue with the clan rundowns.

Even from what little we've seen so far, a clan's character is based mostly in what

the leader's values are, and what they decide to do.

Nightstar's Shadowclan was different from Brokenstar's or Tigerstar's, Leopardstar's

Riverclan was different from Crookedstar's, and Firestar's Thunderclan has been different

from Bluestar's.

This book may describe clan reputations, but even those, as we will see later with Windclan,

can oscillate wildly over time as behavior changes.

Anyway, we also get a story from Brightheart's perspective about Swiftpaw's death, which

along with showing off Brightpaw's personality and values at the time, gives a much more

vivid sense of horror than learning about it after the fact through Fireheart's perspective,

and a much more personal look into Brightheart's feelings around her injury and recovery.

Really just…go read this book, guys.

It imbues everything with so much life.

Sandstorm then shows you, the reader, around Thunderclan's forest camp, and soon after

Squirrelflight shows you around the lake camp, making sure you know she was the one who found

it.

Both sections include beautiful and comedic character moments, which is amazing considering

that this writing style only involves half of any dialogue taking place: from the narrator's

side.

With those tales aside, and a couple of annotated maps of each territory, we are then treated

to a rundown of some famous leaders and medicine cats, with another reminder that these are

just the cats the modern clans know of, and the versions of them the modern cats are aware

of.

Thunderstar, of course, features here as Thunderclan's first leader.

He was known to be strong, courageous, and determined, and had two deputies: Lightningtail

and Owleyes, who became Owlstar and succeeded him.

Owlstar was a famed hunter who studied the ways of the owl to develop his technique.

From there we skip all the way to a tom called Sunstar, a yellow tabby who was fair minded

and even-tempered, had two deputies: Tawnyspots and Bluefur, and one apprentice: Lionheart.

Bluestar naturally gets in here too, and she apparently had three apprentices: Frostfur,

Runningwind, and Fireheart.

Firestar also makes it into the list, but as we spent an entire arc with him in focus

it doesn't give us much information we didn't already know, so it's onto the medicine

cats.

Here we learn about Cloud Spots, the first Thunderclan medicine cat, who learned the

difference between white and green cough and identified catmint as its cure.

We also get to learn about Featherwhisker, Sunstar's brother and medicine cat who trained

Spottedleaf.

Spottedleaf, Yellowfang, Cinderpelt, and Leafpool are also listed here, but there isn't much

new information.

So with all of that done, it is time to move to the next clan.

Tallstar introduces Windclan for us as a clan that has managed to persist despite great

suffering, and the closest clan to Starclan thanks to their open skies and being closest

to the Moonstone.

Windclan is listed as being fiercely loyal, quick, easily offended, nervous and a little

quick to flee thanks to their open fields.

They mainly make rabbits their prey, and use camouflage with their neutral pelts and fast,

tireless running in order to chase after their prey in the open.

Onewhisker leads our introduction to their forest camp, and then we get a scene about

the raid on Windclan's camp by Brokenstar, a desperate situation that forced them to

leave their territory before they were slaughtered.

Crowfeather then introduces us to the lake camp he found.

Add in some annotated maps and we're onto the leaders and medicine cats section.

Windstar and Gorsestar were apparently the first two leaders of Windclan, and Windstar

in fact never had another deputy than Gorsestar, her mate.

Windstar was known for being proud, wily, and stubborn, and of course the fastest cat

in the forest, and Gorsestar was known for his bravery and devotion to her.

We also get a piece on Tallstar, where we learn that he mentored Morningflower, and

one on Onestar, which doesn't offer much new information.

On the medicine cats side, we have Mothflight, the first Windclan medicine cat and the one

who found the Moonstone, Thrushpelt, a temperamental medicine cat who was a warrior for several

moons before taking on the role, and Barkface, who we already know well.

Time for Riverclan, as introduced to us by Leopardstar.

She says that her clan is as strong, adaptable, and graceful as the river when they stand

together.

The info card goes on to say that they tend to be contented and well-fed thanks to the

plentiful prey of the river, and that they have enough leisure time to do things like

collect shiny rocks, shells, and feathers to decorate their dens.

They eat mostly fish, with a few water voles, mice, and shrews on the side, and have seasoned

techniques to swim through and catch things from the water.

Feathertail shows us around the Riverclan forest camp, and then we get to hear, from

Riverclan's perspective, about the flood in the first arc that took Mistyfoot's kits,

and left them at the mercy of Graystripe and Fireheart's kindness.

Mistyfoot then shows us around the lake camp she found and we get a second clan story,

this time a testimony from Leopardstar about how she decided to join with Tigerstar and

make Tigerclan.

She is very defensive about it, and is probably a somewhat unreliable narrator, but she says

that, given the amount of horrible dangers Riverclan faced in the short time before she

became leader, she was compelled to take action, and she recognized and trusted the strength

Tigerstar had, along with his vision for the future.

Fighting each other and lacking in resources is pointless when they could just be one large

clan and…by joining Tigerstar first, Leopardstar was getting more access to the leadership

of that new clan.

Even then though, she has her doubts: Tigerstar hasn't really started listening to her yet,

and the way he talks about half-clan cats, and Stonefur, pricks at her as being wrong,

but for now all she's done is let a few Shadowclan warriors live in the camp with

them, and the bonepile they're building is giving her nightmares.

With that ominous note out of the way, Riverstar is the first leader we get, and he was apparently

a generous and warm cat in his own clan, but completely disinterested in the other clans,

and is thought to have first suggested the mentoring system for apprentices.

Next comes Crookedstar, who we learn trained Graypool and Stonefur, and Leopardstar, who

we learn trained Whiteclaw and Hawkfrost.

Dapplepelt is known as the first Riverclan medicine cat, and she was apparently brave,

reckless, quick to act, and considered fighting disease and injury as just a different way

of being a warrior.

We also learn about Brambleberry, Crookedstar's medicine cat who was charming, quick-witted,

and good at getting cats to do what she wanted.

She also apparently came up with the technique for hiding herbs in prey so kits would eat

them.

Mudfur and Mothwing also get featured with little to no new information, and now it's

time for Shadowclan.

Blackstar introduces them as a feared and mysterious clan and the most dangerous one

in the forest, able to walk the shadows and ruthlessly protective of their own, along

with being fierce, proud, and independent.

The description considers them battle-hungry, ambitious, and greedy for territory, and cites

a story likely from the other clans that the chilled wind in Shadowclan cools their hearts

to outsiders.

They eat frogs, lizards, and snakes, along with carefully chosen bits from the garbage

dump, or Carrionplace, at the back of their territory, and they hunt by sticking to the

shadows and skulking through the undergrowth.

Boulder, a former loner from the twolegplace, introduces us to Shadowclan's forest camp

and Tawnpelt shows us the lake camp she found.

It then skips straight into the leaders and medicine cats.

First up is Shadowstar, the first Shadowclan leader who was a strategist and fiercely independent,

not even fully trusting her own clanmates.

She was also the first of the original leaders to die, in a battle she started with the other

clans.

We next hear about Raggedstar, Brokenstar's father who mentored him and Clawface before

him, and who had Foxheart, Cloudpelt, and Brokentail as deputies.

Brokenstar is of course here too, but the only new thing we learn is that he had two

apprentices: Mosspaw and Volepaw, both of whom died mysteriously before they could become

warriors.

Nightstar mentored Dawncloud, Blackstar mentored Tallpoppy, and there's nothing new to learn