Interstellar Pig by William Sleator (3/5 stars)

It was a fairly fast-paced book that was an easy read. It is written about an overdone premise; a boy gets sucked in a game that is more than just the game it originally seems to be.

The only thing that sets this story apart is the ironic ending to it.

It was a quick, okay read, the premise was kind of interesting. The only outstanding thing was the irony of the ending. It doesn't make me want to go out and read more Sleator books though; and I am getting rid of it...definitely not a keeper.

Messiah Node by Lyda Morehouse (3/5 stars)

The third installament in the Archangel Protocol. At present there are four books in this series; Morehouse is in the process of writing a prequel book called the "Resurrection Code". This book followed much in the manner as Fallen Host. I thought it was okay but the overly heavy religious themes get boring for me and the characters again seem to lack depth.

The story from Fallen Host continues but this time we are seeing from the eyes of Michael (archangel), Page, and Mouse. Other characters take their shot at telling from their points of view too; so we hear again from Diedre (her story is told in the first book), from the Dragon, and from Morningstar. Each chapter ends with a brief news bulletin describing world conditions as people are convinced the apocalypse is drawing closer. The plot follows as the new messiah and Anti-Christ are searched for.

This book is very creative and has a very complex plot. The world-building in this book (the whole series) is phenomenal. I find this whole series intellectually interesting but I don't take a lot of joy in reading this series. This book is no different.

The religious theme in this sci-fi series is overdone; there is no subtly to it. You are constantly having religious parable, cross-references, and consequences shoved at you. I don't particularly enjoy reading about religion and I find the depth of obsession with it in this series to be a bit silly. I also think that the character development and the plot development suffers from the fact that the story is parsed into little bits told from different characters' points of view. This method of writing worked much better in Fallen Host, there is propelled the story forward. In this story, for some reason, this method of writing parses the story up and makes the plot drag. Similarly you aren't allowed to have time to get attached to any of the characters.

I continue to read this series because I find the humanization of AI's interesting. I also find some of the "good" vs "evil" aspects of the story to be interesting. The world created is very detailed and interesting too. It is a bit disturbing though that, by far, my favorite characters are the Dragon of the East and Page. These are both AI's and seem to have more believable personalities and relationships than the human characters in the book.

This book is not as complete as Fallen Host and many things are left hanging. I will definitely read Apocalypse Array (the 4th book). I am not sure I will read the prequel though: I just don't get much enjoyment from these books. Lyda Morehouse also writes under the name Tate Hallaway and I am interested to read some of those books to see how her writing style crosses between genre.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (4/5 stars)

I have always wanted to read this book and I am sad to say that I was spurred into reading it because I wanted to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and decided that to be fair to the humorous version of this book I should read the original.

This was a very enjoyable book. It starts out a bit slow as Austen has to set up all the family relations. It takes a bit to keep all of the names thrown at you sorted out; it also takes a bit to get used to the manner of speaking used. There are many times when a characters is trying to say "no" but they take a whole paragraph of finely crafted language to do so.

Despite the above; the language is clever and the story (after page 80 or so) is very engaging. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The plot has a lot of surprises and mis-direction and much attention is paid to characterization.

It is not a quick read, you really have to pay attention to what you read. But for those who like victorian stories, this story should hit the mark. In fact this story seems to be what all the more recently written victorian fictions I have read are striving to be. Definitely a good read if these kind of humorous victorian romances are your thing; this is the original.

Although I don't think I will be reading a ton more Jane Austen; I did find this to be an enteraining book. I am also looking forward to reading the spoof on it "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."

City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher (4/5 stars)

This is the second installment in the Tripods trilogy. It is my favorite book of the trilogy and is still as much fun 20 years from when I first read it.

Will, Beanpole, and Henry are training for the games in hopes that one of them will make it into a city of the Tripods and be able to escape to provide vital intelligence to the human resistance.

The description of what happens in the Tripods city is amazing and interesting. I remember reading this when I was younger and finding it absolutely fascinating. The end of the book leaves you hanging and wondering what will happen. It is a fast-paced book with amazing detail as to the Tripod race

This is a wonderful creative series; that still inspires curiosity of the unknown. It is a trilogy that seems to withstand time. I can't wait to read the last book in the series.

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (4/5 stars)

I have never read anything by Octavia Butler, and as she is a prominent writer in the Sci-Fi genre, I though it would be interesting to read one of her books. This is also the last book she wrote before she died. Overall it was an interesting take on vampire communities; and discussed issue of racism, sexual freedom, and immortality. I listened to this on audio and the audio production was of excellent quality; my only complaint would be that the narrator's voice is very dispassionate which lends a coldness to Shori's character.

Shori wakes up in immense pain, not knowing where she is or who she is. As time passes she heals; later she is picked up on the side of the road by Wright. Shori herself seems to be an 11 year old girl; but Wright is strangely drawn to her in very inappropriate ways. Shori realizes she needs his blood and after she takes blood from him the two of them cannot be separated. As time progresses Shori finds that she needs more than just Wright to satisfy her; she needs the blood of many. Eventually Shori finds that she is actual a 53 year old Ina; a very long lived (possibly alien) race that have a symbiotic relationship with humans. They need human blood andcompanionship to survive. For some reason someone wants Shori dead; it may be because of her dark skin and the fact that Shori is a genetic experiment to make Ina able to withstand the sun.

I didn't find any of the characters in this book to be particularly engaging, and the plot plodded along at times making it difficult to pay attention. This book is very outstanding though in the complexity of the Ina community and the mythos behind that community. This book and the race of the Ina are intricately detailed and very well thought out. This book also touches on issues concerning societal beliefs. Shori, as the only dark-skinned Ina, deals with a sort of racism. Shori appears to be 10 years old (but is really 53) and her sexual relationship with Wright may be disturbing to some readers. Shori and her Symbiants (humans that feed her) also have a very complex relationship; and Shori loves them emotionally and physically without any thought as to their gender or age.

All in all I enjoyed this book. It is an interesting take, actually a unique take, on vampire-type society. It make you think a lot about societal issues and introduces you to a whole new complex world and race. It is definitely more of a thinking book and the slow deliberate pace may put off some readers; I think that the creativity andthoughtfulness of the plot more than offset this pace though.

I am not sure if I will read more of Butler's works or not. Her writing was good but it was a bit too political for me at parts; she also seems to write book to inspire thought and as such they aren't great entertainment as much as food for thought. I would have to be in a particularly thoughtful mood to enjoy her works.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike (4/5 stars)

I love books about fairies in the modern day world; so I was eager to read this book. I really enjoyed it; I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and the idea of fairies being plants was fascinating. This is supposed to be the first of four books about Laurel; at least that is what I read according to the author at this time.

This book is full of mystery and danger. Initially Laurel is just in shock when a blossom blooms out of her back. But after going over the evidence with her geeky biology friend they figure out that maybe she really is a plant instead of an animal; she can only eat fruits and veggies, she doesn't bleed, and she always need to have her skin exposed to air. When things start going bad for her family after a mysterious man tries to buy some land from Laurel's mom; land that has been in her family for generations, Laurel finds out that she is more than just a plant and that her mother's land is more than just land.

This book was a very creative take on fairies. I enjoyed the interesting prospective of fairies being plants. I also enjoyed how biology was applied to prove out the theories of Laurel's true nature. It was interesting that there is hinting at more types of mythical races being included in this series (trolls, etc.). The story itself was a fairly complete story; you aren't left in a huge amount of suspense at the end of the book. It was a well-written novel and was easy to read. I enjoyed the book immensley.

The only thing that I think detracted from the book was that some of the characterization was a bit weak. I think sometimes Laurel came across as whiny, helpless, and indecisive; there were times when this got annoying. David sometimes came across as needy and obessed which was also bothersome. Even though I found some of the characters to be a bit sterotypical and slightly annoying; it didn't detract from the story that much and the creativity of the story really outshown any of the faults.

Overall I find myself really looking forward to the next book in the series. This series should be interesting and shows a lot of promise.

The White Mountains by John Christopher (4/5 stars)

This is the first book in the Tripods series. This book describes the journey of three young boys who are eager to escape the Capping ceremony of the Tripods and go on a journey to the White Mountains where there is a rumor free-men still live.

I loved this book when I was younger and reading it twenty years later, I think it is still a great book. It is fast-paced, suspenceful, and intriguing. A great novel for kids, young adults, or a dults; and a great book to read as an entry to the science fiction genre. So far I am still loving this series.

When you consider how long ago this book was written that even makes the plot even more special; I mean these books were written over 40 years ago and they still resinate with the fears of alien take-over that people deal with today. It is an amazing feat to write a book that can span so many generations and still have the story remain relevant and fresh. I can't wait for my son to be old enough to read these books.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith (5/5 stars)

This sounded from the description like the type of fantasy book I would really like; and I did really enjoy it. Originally this was released as two books Crown Duel and Court Duel. I am glad it was finally released as one novel; for although there is a distinction between the two parts of the story it would've been hard to leave it after the first half of the book.

Meliara (Mel) and her brother are up in arms against the king of their country in an effort to protect the Hill Folk and the Covenant; if theysucceed they will be meeting the wishes of Mel's dead father. Their ignorance leads them into a fight larger than they expected and into an alliance with unexpected personages. In the end Mel must quell her headstrong attitude and lay down her sword to turn to a different sort of fighting; the fighting which takes place in the halls and courts of the king. She must also deal with her hatred of the one person who seems to fully understand her goals; Shevraeth.

This was an excellent book. It was well-written and had many classic elements that make a young adult fantasy like this a good one. You have a stubborn kick-butt woman who is full ofrighteousness and conviction for her people and as the Countess of very poor lands does her best to protect her people. You have a man who is full of surprises and is not what he at first seems; doing his best to ally and quell her over-eager attempts at revenge. You have an evil king, a great war and then of course a warrior maiden thrust into the dangers of court politics. I love these types of books and as such really enjoyed this one.

The main strength of this book is the excellent characterization. Although the fast pace, great action scenes, and sweet love story intertwined in the plot all group together to make a very enjoyable read.

I will definitely be looking at more books written by Smith and picking them up to read. If you liked this book a lot you would also enjoy Maledicte, The Cast Series, and Hero and the Crown. All of these books have a similar premise of a strong-willed girl being thrust into situations that she is not prepared to deal with it. All of these books deal with a lot of intrigue, have lots of action, and a love storyintertwined throughout the plot.

Wrath of the Bloodeye by Joseph Delaney (5/5 stars)

This is the fifth book in the Spook's Apprentice series and it is just as fantastic as the previous books have been. I am impressed that these books have continued on with such great story telling over this series.

In this book Tom Ward leaves Gregory to serve 6 months under a different spook; the new spook is harsh in his methods but endeavors to teach Tom more fighting to toughen him up. During the stay though Tom finds himself again being hunted by the Fiend and his children. Most notably Morwena, The Bloodeye witch, who can paralyze any unsuspecting person with a single glance of her evil red eye.

Once again this is a great story. I wish that this series was higher on the bestsellers list. It has been a consistently wonderful series. As Tom Ward gets older and gains more knowledge the plot of the book widens in breadth. Tom finds himself more embroiled with the world at large, and as the Fiend hunts him he is forced to ask himself deeper and deeper questions about what it means to be of the dark or the light.

The writing is excellent, the black and white drawings add to the mood of the story, there is a ton of action, more dark creatures, and more danger than ever. I love these books. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

When the Tripods Came by John Christopher (3/5 stars)

The original tripods trilogy was one of my favorite reads as a young adult. This book is a prequel to that trilogy; I have owned it forever and have never read it. So when I found the trilogy (along with this prequel) sitting on my bookshelf I decided to give it another read.

This is a short book but I found it was not as engaging as I remember the trilogy to be. It is a book that basically tells how the tripods came to our world. Overall I agree with the other reviewers that say read the trilogy first and then come back to this prequel for filler if you want to.

It was well written but seemed to be more a quick telling of events leading to the invasion than a really gripping story. It is a quick read at 150 pages or so. It was interesting to find out the before but this book doesn't really fit in that well with the other books of the trilogy.

I am on to read the trilogy now to see if those books are as excellent as I remember them being. I hope they are!

Fade by Lisa McMann (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Wake series by Lisa McMann. The last information I was able to find said that the third book in the series "Gone" will be out next year some time. I couldn't find anymore plans for additional books in the series after that.

This book was a good addition to the series. It takes place shortly after Wake ended. The police have been getting occasional calls on their high school crime tip line that are worrisome; they point to the possibility of some serious sexual harassment happening in Janie's high school and the police think high school teachers might be involved. They want Janie and Cabel to keep an eye out and see if they find anything suspicious. Janie is making some progress in controlling her dreams but other things are happening that are disturbing to her. Her and Cabel continue to have to pretend they are not a couple in order to do their under cover spying at school which is putting stress on their relationship.

I found this book to be disturbing but well written. There is a lot of student/teacher sexual harassment going on. There is also a lot ofdiscussion of date rape drugs and their use; that actually might be good as to raise awareness as to the use of these drugs. It is a suspenseful read and moves quickly. The characters are easy to identify with and I felt like Janie is kind of getting a bum deal overall. Cabel is my favorite character by a long shot.

I really don't have any complaints about this book. People who find sexual crimes and drug use especially disturbing might want to stay clear. This book was more of a thriller, mystery than the last book. It is a good addition to the series and I am sure teen readers will be glued to the pages. It was again a quick read; it only took me 3 hours to finish the book. It is a testament to the book that I finished it in one sitting; the story really grabs you and pulls you right through. It is a complete story on its own but I think readers will want to read the first book in order to understand the background of all of the involved characters.

I look forward to reading "Gone" when it comes out.

Wake by Lisa McMann (4/5 stars)

I thought this book had an interesting premise and ended up being a pretty good book. It was very engaging and intriguing and a little bit spooky.

Janie has a odd problem; she gets sucked into other peoples dreams. And not when she is sleeping. If someone falls asleep near her during school or at work she blacks out and is propelled into their dream. Needless to say it is making her life a mess and, with an alcoholic mother who doesn't even acknowledge Janie's existence as her only parent, Janie's life is screwed up enough. Enter Cabel the stoner at school, he always falls asleep in study hall and Janie knows what he dreams about sometimes...her. But maybe Janie has more control over other people's dreams than she knows, maybe she can help them and help others.

This book is written in an interesting style. It is broken down by date and time, starting when Janie is a little girl with large breaks in time. As the book continues and Janie enters high school the breaks in time are only hours or minutes apart.

Overall it is an interesting idea and the characters are very engaging. You feel for all these poor teens stuck in crappy home situations. You feel for Janie who is trying to work so that she can go to college. She works in a nursing home, where sometimes people fall asleep...making Janie collapse on the job. The characterization is really the strongest part of this book, that and the creative idea of Janie's problem.

The story is complete, and this could be a stand alone book. Except it isn't...there are supposed to be two more books about Janie and Caleb (Fade and Gone). The story does hint at the end that there could be more to Janie's dream problem and she could have powers she doesn't grasp yet.

While the story is suspenseful and griping and a page-turner...it is painfully short. Almost more of a novella; it took me just over an hour to read the book.

I am excited to read the next book and I love McMann's writing and characterization. I hope that the next book has a bit more elaborate storyline to it and that the book is a bit longer. Very creative overall and a writer to watch.

Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson (4/5 stars)

I got an ARC of this book through the Amazon Vine program and was really excited to read it. I mean how can you go wrong with Batman, Superman and Lex Luther all together in one book? Actually this book could have gone very wrong, I suppose...but it doesn't it was a great book. It stays true to the characters and the type of storyline you would expect to find in a comic.

Bruce Wayne realizes that his board of directors has gone bad and he suspects Lex Luther is at the heart of it all. Superman is curious about the spaceships being spotted around Area 51; could there be other aliens besides him on earth? Lois Lane is determined to uncover all of the dirt on Lex Luther; but the dirt goes deeper than she could ever imagine. The Cold War is on and the Russians are threatening to attack in full force...can Batman, Superman, and Lois Lane figure out what Lex is up to before things go beyond the point of no return?

This book was very well done. Anderson stays true to the characters original voices and blends the events in perfectly with most of the previous incarnations of Batman/Superman that I am aware of (I haven't read a ton of the original comics, so there may be some inaccuracies I am not aware of). The book is done in a very comic-book like style. The chapters are headed with the location the chapter takes place in and are, in general, very short. As I read through the book I easily imagined each chapter being a weekly comic installment. The tone is also in very keeping with the characters. Batman is all dark mystery and Superman in all innocent solid belief in the law. I loved the interactions between Superman and Batman and enjoyed how they worked together to stop crime!

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that the super-short chapters made the book come off a bit choppy and at times I found my attention wandering. After thinking about it I am not sure how you could stick to a comic-book type format for a novel and not run into this problem. I also wish we had gotten to see Batman in more action scenes...he is one of my favorite super heroes.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and hope there are more installments of these. According to an interview I read with Anderson it looks like he wants to do more of these types of book and I for one am all for it!

Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (4/5 stars)

I will start by iterating that I love Gaiman. So I am a little biased toward expecting this to be a good book; and it was a good book. The concepts were amazing, the plot packed full and fast-paced. The writing was not as amazing as it could have been though. I expect some level of elegance in a Gaiman book and this elegance was intermittent in this book.

Joey is wandering town for a school project when he ends up somewhere else. He knows the people but they don't recognize him and somehow all of the people are a bit different from how they should be. Then a man in a silver mask shows up to rescue Joey from this other place, that is until Joey is taken captive by an evil Sorceress. Soon Joey finds out he a Walker and can Walk between different versions of Earth. He finds himself in the organization of Interworld; and organization dedicated to keeping balance between the Hex (magic world) and the Binary (science world).

This book is a very creative concept. I loved the idea of Science Fiction and Fantasy lying on opposite ends of the spectrum and the idea of a multitude of Earth's being at different points of the spectrum. There were a lot of great ideas in here and great characters. Unfortunately the novel is very short, and while an amazing amount of plot is efficiently covered in this small space, not enough time was given to some of Joey's more interesting counterparts.

I agree with other reviewers that this book was not in the typical Gaiman style of writing. There is a lot of techno-babble thrown in the book, and while some of the quantum theory explanations are interesting, mostly they seem contrived and they take away from the elegance of the story. Gaiman is a top-notch story teller and while his creativity was present in this book, his polish was not.

Still I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more about these characters and about Joey's adventures Walking between alternate realities.

Sunset (Warriors: The New Prophecy Book 6) by Erin Hunter (3/5 stars)

This is the last (6th) book in the Warriors: The New Prophecy series by Erin Hunter. While this book tied up the series fairly well; I was a bit frustrated with how anti-climatic it was.

This book follows where the last book left off. The Thunder Clan, having driving out the badgers, are trying to rebuild their camp. A number of questions are answered as things progress. Will Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight forgive each other and get back together? Will Leafpool's prophecy about "blood killing blood and the lake running with blood" come to pass? Will Brambleclaw's secret dream meetings with his brother Hawkfrost and father Tigerstar lead to anything? Will Brambleclaw succumb to the call of power or will he remain loyal to his clan? Will Hawkfrost manipulate the clans into war? What about Mothwing and her inability to communicate with Starclan?

The majority of this book deals with Brambleclaw's story as well as Leafpool's prophecy. Overall it is an engaging book and a page turner. There is again less action in this book, although it ties up the majority of the major plot points well. I was very frustrated with the anti-climatic way the book ended, I mean they spent 3-4 books foreshadowing the horrors to come with Leafpool's horrible prophecy, and I found the ending to be a bit of a let down. That's all I will say about that in an effort to avoid spoilers.

The book is left somewhat open ended with regards to Tigerstar and the general plans of Thunder Clan. Obviously these story-lines are picked up in the next Warriors series called The Power of Three.

I will not be reading anymore of these series, as I did not find them to be all that interesting and found the laborious way the plot dragged on to be frustrating. I really think that all six of these books could have easily been made into 1-3 books with a more interesting and condensed plotline. Lovers of cats may like the series anyway; although as mentioned in my last review on book 5 of this series, I thought many of the cats' actions were very uncatlike. A much better book about adventuring cats is Tad Williams Tailchaser's Song. Tailchasher's Song takes you on an epic adventure with a cat who faces the ultimate in kitty evil; and it is a great story with a fast-paced plot in one book.

Twilight (Warriors the New Prophecy, book 5) by Erin Hunter 3/5 stars

This is the 5th book in the second series about the 4 Clans of Cats; Warriors the New Prophecy. Once again it was okay. I am finding myself just wanting to be done with these books so I can move onto something better. I think this book can aptly be described as a teenage soap opera where all of the teenagers are cats.

This book deals with the cats settling into their new territories and trying to find a Moonstone so that the medicine cats can communicate with the Star Clan. All the medicine cats are still dreaming of something horrible that will happen to the clan. Most of this story revolves around Leafpaw. Although Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, and Crowfeather also take center stage at times. As with the last couple books the whole book is spent setting up a major action scene that takes place in the last few chapters of the book; once again a very specific formula is followed in writing this book.

If cats could star in a teenage soap opera you would get this book. It's all about who loves who, who is mad at who, who is apprenticed to who, etc. etc The cats are entering their teenage years (I guess) and all of the sudden all of the great characters from the beginning of the series are getting very unreasonable and temperamental. I honestly did not like any of the main characters in this book; they all needed to be scruffed and shook a bit to help them reason better. I am hoping that this degradation of characters in all of the cats is leading to something interesting...but whatever it is leading to it's not happening in this book. Soooo...hopefully something will happen in the 6th (and final) book.

Same deal as the last book...the chapters propel you through the novel, there is a little suspense, it is a fast read. Unfortunately I am getting to the point where I just want to be finished with this series. If I didn't already own the last book I would probably just skip it, but alas I own it so I mine as well read it.

Starlight (Warriors the New Prophecy, book 4) by Erin Hunter 3/5 stars

This is the 4th book in the second series about the 4 Clans of Cats; Warriors the New Prophecy. It was an okay book but moved really slow, without much of significance happening.

This book is definitely a transition book, leading to a main event and not an adventure story itself. The book basically details how the cats deal with setting up the territories in their new home. All of the medicine cats are having dreams about the lake filling with blood. There is a lot of political maneuvering between and within the Clans of cats. I really thought that not much happened in this book. A lot of the book dealt with day to day details on how the cats make their new territories homey and how they deal with the evils of their new territories (manly other predators). There is one part that really bugged me where some cats fell off a cliff and broke their necks; I mean come on, if you are going to write about cats do some research. Cats tend to land on their feet, having a longer drop makes it more likely they will be able to finish the full body rotation and land on their feet. So falling from a higher spot is actually better for a cat, at worst if the impact is too great they could break their legs...but they are not going to break their necks. I mean maybe a little research should go into feline behavior if you are going write about it; for some reason this drove me absolutely crazy.

Despite the fact that the story doesn't move forward all that much, it is still an engaging story and the characters are engrossing. I did find myself holding my breath hoping that a cat would be okay and hoping they escaped from different situations. The book again alternates between different cats and the tale is told from multiple points of view. Every chapter leaves you hanging so you end up being propelled through the book. These books seem to have a very specific formula to them. They leave you hanging at the end of a chapter and all of the action happens over the last couple chapters; the beginning and middle of the book are usually filled with a lot of set-up and tons of foreshadowing that is repeated over and over so many times there is no way you could ever forget what is going to happen.

If you have read all of the books up to this point you will probably finish the series (as I will) but I won't pick up anymore of these books to read.

Dawn (Warriors the new Prophecy, book 3) by Erin Hunter 4/5 stars

The third book in the Warriors: The New Prophecy by Erin Hunter. This was a pretty good book. It takes up right where the last book left off with Brambleclaw and company returning from their quest to the sun-down place.

When Brambleclaw and others return they find the Thunder Clan camp abandoned. It seems the Two-legs have gotten more aggressive and are destroying the entire forest. Will the Clans be able to stop the Two-legs destruction? Will Midnight's prophecy come true and the Clans forced to leave their forest? All this and more is answered in this book.

I like this book better than the previous one. More progress was made on the storyline and the main story wrapped up pretty nicely. It is a pretty depressing read as more and more cats are captured, killed, or starved to death. Sometimes I really wished the book would just let up a little and let something good happen.

I have a couple minor complaints about the book. The first is that so much time was spent deciding whether or not to leave the forest despite the prophecy that Brambleclaw and crew brought back. It would have been nicer to have the Clans spend more time journeying. My second complaint is that with all the cats from all 4 Clans involved in the story the amount of names thrown at you is immense. I got to the point where I recognized the important names and just ignored all the other billion cat names that are bandied about. I still don't understand the necessity of naming all of these individual clan members when they don't have a part to play in the story.

On a positive note the plot makes progress and not all is lost. It was fun to return to the mysterious Tribe of cats in the mountains. There are a number of interesting characters in this book and you really feel for the Clans. The book propels you forward and is hard to put down. All in all a good book. So far I haven't been absolutely in love with this series but I enjoy it. The books are quick read and I like reading about the struggles of the Clans. From how this book ends it looks like another major story arc is going to start in the next book.

I will definitely read the rest of the books in this series; although I don't think I will go back to read the original Warriors series. These books are good but I don't look forward to reading them as much as I would like to.