I probably should try to finish it but like, it doesn't feel worth it to find the wii again and set it up (I think the Wii is still around somewhere in a box or drawer)

I think I stopped skyward sword at the third dungeon :(

There's a theme in these books where the other cats don't trust Fireheart because of their prejudice against his upbringing, but in their defense he does kind of just lie to everyone all the time

I really don't think Fireheart deserves and apprentice yet; however, since I have the foresight of "I've read this book before" and know it ends tragically I'm okay with it I guess

Book 2 has the first time cats go on a journey in the whole series. I remember finding most these journeys very tedious and boring, but here it's very quick and done in less than 50 pages. Much prefer it that way honestly

Tigerclaw openly threatened Fireheart in the last book, and now, one day later, they're like "we never actually saw him do anything evil"

I mentioned during the first book that Tigerclaw's portrayal in that book somewhat contradicts the later books, but I didn't realize how suddenly it happens. In the first chapter of this book they're already talking about Tigerclaw like they never seen him do anything wrong.

The map of the warriors series (cat version series 1)

While we're talking about covers this might be a good time to bring up the maps. I love the design of these. Especially the border around the edge does such a good job establishing the tone of the series. It's mysterious and exciting. The art direction does go down in the newer books unfortunately

Book 2: Fire and Ice

This was actually the first book cover I saw on display at the school library. It took me awhile before I was interested in the series though since it was called Warriors and I wasn't very interested in war, but eventually my interest in cats made me try it out.

The first book does a very good job sucking you into the world of warrior cats. I think I am back in there now, but it's not like when I was a kid where it took over my life, but I'm kinda in the world but at a slight ironic distance where I can't take it fully seriously, but can still enjoy it

Overall this book wasn't bad. I was worried I was going to find it really stupid but it's fine. Now that I've read other books in this genre, I'm aware it's not the best, but I think it's like just as good as it needs to be to function.

It's a weird payoff where this section of the book needs the tangible threat of Tigerclaw to work, but it ends up weakening some of the future books where Fireheart is starting to question his paranoia about Tigerclaw since the reader already had proof he's evil in the first book

Although, I don't think that's entirely bad though. The section of the book where he's planning on killing Ravenpaw is actually very tense. Even reading it now, where I already know how it ends, I find it stressful.

In the second and third book, I think I remember they were better at making him more subtle, but in this first book, he's much more open about threatening characters and he does a lot to prove to the reader he is evil.

I have very mixed opinions on how Tigerclaw is portrayed at the end of the first book. I think Tigerclaw's strength as a villain is his evilness is very quiet for the first half of the series. He's never likeable, but it's very rare for him to do anything actually bad in front of other characters.

Oh wow how did I miss that

I remember Spottedleaf being a more important character but she really doesn't do that much. They're acting like there is some romantic tension between her and Firepaw but they haven't even had a conversation that wasn't strictly professional. Yellowfang is still the best though, love Yellowfang

Wait I didn't know about that??

Oh yeah I seen those too. I had the like paperback ones from the mid 2010s which seems those are more expensive than I would have thought.

They really found a good balance of introducing the world naturally while still having a plot and character drama. It's very well paced. I'm a bit surprised how well most of this book holds up still, I was worried it would be terrible as an adult

It was the early print versions of Homestuck. I got them for my birthday but Homestuck kinda just doesn't work very well printed since the most interesting parts of it were the animated and interactive elements. There was some author commentary which was the only reason to read in print

After thinking about this, it's kinda just basic writing like that's interesting there's actual conflict going on, but I've also just read so many forgettable books and watched lot of videos explaining why Harry Potter is bad (I never read Harry Potter)

Like year and a half ago, I got rid of these really stupid books that were like so pointless and slightly embarrassing that like no one would want them. But today I was wondering, what if people did want those? So I looked them up and they go for about 100 each on eBay. I got like 10 cents for them

What I think is especially well done is they manage to do an easy introduction at when the world of the warrior cats is in a notably unstable period which makes it much more interesting

Might be going a bit much with this comment, but one thing I think this first books does very well is introducing the reader to world of the warrior cats, which is overwhelming, but it's introduced very appropriately.

The pacing also much faster than I remember. I think part of that is the sequel books slow down a lot, but also I was just reading slower back then so everything felt longer. I am surprised I still picture everything almost exactly the same, maybe little bit more British looking now though

It is kind of strange how having balls plays such a large symbolic role in a children's book, the early chapters have multiple conversations about the main character's balls.

I think a big theme of these early books is going to be comparing my experience reading now vs as a child. It's definitely not as good as it was, but it's also much better than I was worried it would be.

Book 1: Into the Wild.

When I was using Tumblr back at like the end of the superwholock fandom era of that site, I felt left out that I never cried about fictional characters so I remember one time during a sad part I started poking and rubbing my eyes in order to irritate enough to produce tears so I could fit in