Warriors: Then and Now by Mudpaw

Mudpaw compares the early books to the more recent ones. Minor spoilers for the entire series!

Warriors has changed a lot since the first book. But has it changed for the better?
Here, we’re going to go over how the Warriors series has changed.
*Spoiler Warning*

We’ll start with Into the Wild. If you go back and read, one thing that always stood out to me is how the authors wrote sounds into the story. During Firepaw’s fight with Yellowfang, when Firepaw bites Yellowfang’s leg, she yowls.
‘“Reow-ow-wow!” Yellowfang screamed in agony…’
The authors write Yellowfang’s scream into the story. Every book after this one, we don’t see that. I thought it was a nice little detail.
Next, everything in Into the Wild was organized and structured. Cats like Whitestorm, Tigerclaw, Lionheart, and Goldenflower were respected as senior warriors. No one dared to talk back to them. They were looked up to. It was rare for other cats to be consulted upon by Bluestar. In the newer books, however, it doesn’t matter how long a cat’s been a warrior. Dustpelt was talked back to all the time, and everybody acts so carefree.
Into the Wild was so well paced. It had filler material when it needed to, such as patrolling or hunting. It takes the time to completely flesh out the characters and give them proper personalities and flaws. Tigerclaw was ambitious and short-tempered, but he was a magnificent warrior and served Bluestar well (until he tried to kill her, that is). Whitestorm was shown as a wise, experienced warrior who preferred to talk rather than fight, but he could be a little too hesitant at times.
Into the Wild posed a smaller threat that would be overcome by the end of the book. Each book had a small challenge that Firepaw overcame until Tigerclaw’s big betrayal. This gave the series time to hint at Tigerclaw’s true nature while still keeping the reader entertained.

Let’s move to Midnight. Midnight toggled between Leafpaw’s perspective and Brambleclaw’s perspective. Leafpaw’s POV gave us reason for Firestar’s insistence on separating Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw. It lets us keep track of what’s happening among the clans while the chosen cats are away. However, Leafpaw doesn’t really ever do anything for herself. While Cinderpelt tells Firestar about the Fire and Tiger prophecy, Leafpaw just stands to the side and listens. She just stands to the side the whole book. She’s a camera.
Brambleclaw’s POV shows us what the chosen cats are doing. It gives us insight to what kinds of cats we’re dealing with. Brambleclaw is the unofficial leader. He makes the final decisions for the group. He’s headstrong and confident, but he doubts that he’s fit to be leader.
Squirrelpaw is the snarky, frisky teenager. She talks back to everyone and stands up for herself, and even if she really does need help, she won’t admit it.
Crowpaw is the angsty teen who argues with everyone just for the sake of it. He’s prickly and snarky, but he does have good ideas, if he’s not too aggressive when he suggests them.
Tawnypelt is confident and strong, and doesn’t have time to waste. She wants to keep moving, and she’s really headstrong. She won’t take any lip.
Feathertail is the softer, more sympathetic of the group. Most of the other cats are prickly and irritated most of the book, so Feathertail is a breath of fresh air. She looks for the best in everyone, although she doesn’t do such a good job defending herself.
Stormfur is the buff bodyguard. He wants to protec Feathertail at all costs and cares for nothing more than her (except maybe Squirrelpaw, but only for a little bit).
Midnight is mostly just walking and cats wondering about the world, and it’s not very exciting compared to Into the Wild.

Power of Three is still very different. Our three main characters are quite bland. Lionblaze is so plain, Hollyleaf seems on edge all the time, and Jayfeather thinks he’s responsible for the fate of ThunderClan. None of the Three ever rely on anyone else to help, not even Firestar. They should have just told Firestar as soon as possible. This series also just gets worse at fleshing out characters.

I don’t even want to talk about Omen of the Stars. Omen of the Stars was so horribly paced, the characters are like pieces of paper, and its plot points are so stupid.

Dawn of the Clans was much better. There weren’t really any standards laid down by a series before it that this series should follow. It’s free to make it’s own rules and do whatever it wants. The plot points weren’t so bad, and though it doesn’t do too well of a job of giving the characters personalities. It’s better than Power of Three and Omen of the Stars, at least.

A Vision of Shadows is probably the worst. It exposes ShadowClan as this weak, barely held together group of cats who have no respect for anyone and come and go as they please. They’re not even a clan, as far as I’m concerned, even in the beginning of The Apprentice’s Quest. It also feels like they just threw in a bunch of different cats without explaining who their parents were or even giving them personalities. Even reading the books between aVoS and OotS, it feels like there’s something missing.
But I have to give this series some credit, though. Alderheart is a character unlike any we’ve ever seen. He’s hesitant, and doubts himself, while most other characters just do things with confidence. Alderheart failed his quest to find SkyClan, too. This is the first time we’ve really ever had a main character fail at something really big and important.

All in all, I think the series has drastically changed over the years, and I believe it’s for the worse. Leave your comments below and tell me what you think!