Reviews for Midnight / 1
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
This first-in-series animal adventure with a fine plot but recurring preciousness will satisfy a particular readership. Four cat Clans live in bordering countryside territories in tentative peace. They meet only at ritualized times. Each Clan has warriors, apprentices, a medicine cat and a leader. Days are spent hunting and patrolling until a few select cats receive cryptic dreams from their mutual gods about a prophecy of doom. One chosen cat from each clan and two others who refuse to stay behind sneak away together and embark on a journey they don't understand, away from the forest and into dangerous Twoleg territory. A few cats are well characterized, though the sheer number named and the names themselves (Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw) make them blend. Use of "meowed" and "mewed" instead of "said" is contrived (and unintentionally funny); the word "kittypet" (for those who live with humans) is distractingly cloying. Structurally solid; this will please Redwall-genre fans and cat devotees. (name chart, maps) (Fantasy. 8-11) Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
In this first book spawned from the Warriors series, a new generation receives its own set of prophecies. A cat from each clan, including Firestar's own daughter, Squirrelpaw, must leave the forest to follow the path set out by StarClan. The novel skillfully weaves plot and the growth of the characters into the complex layers of the cat clans themselves. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
