The writing of Erin Hunter (who is actually four different authors writing together) is sublime. A final battle with Tigerstar turns out very unexpectedly, and a new menace makes itself known in the forest. It sees our main protagonist, Fireheart, facing everything he has feared, as well as dreamed, all at once, in a serious shitstorm that he has to navigate not only for himself, but for all of Thunderclan as well. The Darkest Hour is the final chapter in the first story arch of the Warriors.

Fireheart (as he is come to be known) does train to become a Warrior, however, and by the end of the 5th volume, he is Bluestar’s deputy and chief consultant. It takes a long time for the clan to accept him as a true warrior (and some never do), and the term “kittypet” is thrown around like the harshest of all slurs. The first arch begins when a kittypet (house cat) is recruited into Thunderclan by their leader, Bluestar, after getting himself in a predicament due to his curiosity leading him out of his home and into the untamed woods.

If you aren’t familiar, the Warriors books follow four clans of what we would call feral cats that battle each other, and sometimes work together towards common enemies (two-legs, dogs, rogue cats, etc.).

Until I’m old and gray, I will always champion the Warriors series as one of my all-time favorites, despite the fact that the first book wasn’t published until I was 23 and they are supposedly written for 8-year-olds.

The darkest hour by erin hunter