I know I'm looking for an INFINITESIMALLY small demographic here but did anyone else read The Last Herald Mage books (by Mercedes Lackey, you should totally read them if you haven't yet) and then later read specifically Owlsight by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon and get fucking FLASHBACKS to Vanyel's books? [spoilers for both books ahead] Like they say "Yeah Darian's really traumatized so his Mindspeech gift could totally go from normal to wide open super fast" and I'm sitting there as images of Vanyel's attempted suicides and Jaysen sitting at his bedside and Y'fandes curled around him protectively in a cave flash through my head. Like when I said that book gave me PTSD I was supposed to be JOKING. What the fuck. Anyway this happen to anybody else?
“I am not bright like my brother Ripple, nor am I shrewd like Clear Sky or pure of heart like Dewdrop. I often drive my teacher to fury, but for whatever gods out there that blessed me with my claws and my spirit, I shan’t disappoint them and let them go to waste.”
—Brawn, the Daybreak section of the Epic of the First Clan
Son of the Storm, Chief of the Wood, and founder of what would become ThunderClan, Brawn could’ve been considered something of a leader to the cats within the Forest, albeit more like a benevolent boss to a band of strays than a true StarClan-blessed leader. Orphaned at a young age, having lost his littermates to a tyrannical seer-like cat, he carved a name for himself with his blood-siblings Ember and Dart and established something resembling order amidst the chaos of those early days before the Crone.
The fact that he agreed to come under her tutelage apparently surprised many; the fact that he remained her faithful disciple and managed to come out of it a great leader shocked all. Upon carving out his territory in the Woodlands, he named his blood-sister Ember his deputy, citing her cunning and cool nature as the best counterbalance to his turbulent demeanor.
His appearance, though forgotten and disputed, was said to fit his epithet “Son of the Storm”, but he was described to be quite handsome and set the bar for ThunderClan beauty standards. In most retellings, he’s said to be dark like the angry storms or red like the sky before then, but regardless of the color of his pelt, he was massive, large-pawed, and had the face of a great cat.
Sadly to the cats of modern ThunderClan, his resting ground is forgotten. Most hope he was laid to rest with his blood-siblings in Hero’s Grove, though most cynical elders bet his body was fed to the buzzards.
-
EMBER
“Hear yourself, Brawn! You mewl like a newborn kit complaining of her mother’s absence! You’re stronger than that and you know it! Now cease your lamenting, for you have myself and Dart by your sides, and we will not see you fail. Gods know I shan’t allow it.”
—Ember, the Dawn section of the Epic of the First Clan
Noteworthy not just because of her position as the first deputy of ThunderClan—or the Woodlanders, as modern Clan cats call it—Ember’s name became legendary for her ingenuity and empathy. In the aftermath of a pointless battle that ended the lives of many young cats, it was she who heard the grieving queens’ cries and she who established the laws so no queen would have to suffer as they did.
Some say she became a mother herself and that her blood runs in ThunderClan to this day, others say she was too dedicated to her tasks to make time for a litter, and yet others—mostly RiverClan—say she had no interest in rearing kittens of her own, that her empathy for her fellow mollies was what drove her actions. Regardless, she holds up to this day as the greatest deputy the Clans have seen.
Rumors have it she was born as the bastard kitten of a kittypet, but her blood-brothers’ efforts to dispel that rumor leave some to believe it was a sore truth they wished to hide or a noble stand against slander of their blood-sister. Even her appearance is disputed, either as a dark tortoiseshell paired with Brawn’s ginger or a dark gray tortoiseshell to fit her epithet “Storm-Sister”. Her cause of death, sadly, is forgotten.
-
DART
“It was fate that brought us together, my dear blood-siblings, and nothing shall drive us apart. I swear by the stars and the storms that I will do my best to make this forest our home.”
—Dart, the Dusk section of the Epic of the First Clan
While not having many achievements to his name, Dart’s importance among the founders of ThunderClan cannot be disputed. To leave him out for not holding a position of power would be like to neglect Rokhar for not having one of his eyes in the heavens. Unfortunately, due to his obscurity, his life is swathed in the most mystery of his blood-siblings.
His bond with Brawn is often emphasized in the stories recited in his name, and they’re looked back upon as the greatest friendship the Clans have ever known. With Brawn as the Thunderer, Dart was the Bolt, and his appearance is either dark stormy gray to contrast with Brawn’s bright ginger pelt or white like lightning with his gloamy gray siblings.
For a cat seeped in obscurity, his death is the most well-known of his siblings’. In the Moonrise segment of the Epic of Thunder Forest, it recounts the events of Dart’s death at the teeth of hounds in protecting Brawn’s expecting lover, Brawn and Ember’s great grieving for him, and his burial at the roots of the Great Sycamore.
-
OWLSIGHT
“Hark! Leaders of all Clans! The Forest is no place for barbarous murderers and lying lowlives! We’ve grown past that, and justice should be served for the death of Brawn’s eldest kitten. If you happen upon the tom called Splinter, show him no mercy and bring me his teeth.”
—Owlsight, the Midday section of the Epic of Thunder Forest
No one expected such a scrawny little cat to become the successor of Brawn of all leaders, but she proved to have made an excellent choice. Before her day, ThunderClan’s battle tactics only benefited those like Brawn and ThunderClan’s typical stock—massive, well-muscled, and undauntable—while smaller, more lithe cats like herself struggled after their peers. She took the teachings of her mentor, Dart, and developed them into hunting and fighting styles more well-suited for the smaller cats of the Clan.
She certainly fit her name, the epics say, taking in the world and scrutinizing it with her large eyes. She was far more calculating than Brawn, more often condemning cats to death, yet she’s remembered as a fair and just leader, even as the first noteworthy ThunderClan cat to recognize and give prayers to Horoa.
Even cats so unlike ThunderClan can do things that are just so ThunderClan.
Summary: Darian is apprenticed to a venerable wizard when his hunter and trapper parents disappear into the forest never to be seen again. But a sudden twist of fate will change his life forever, when the ransacking of his village forces him to flee into the great mystical forest. It is here in the dark forest that he meets his destiny, as the terrifying and mysterious Hawkbrothers lead him on the path to maturity.
Review: The second book was the best of the whole trilogy. I wanted more from the first book (probably because I went into it expecting it to be more like the previous trilogy) and the third book had a weird timeline, but the second book and the beginning of the third book were less rushed and better.
Pros:
-Keisha and Shandi and their relationship. They're sisters and best friends who are very unlike each other. Shandi is the "girly-girl"-she has a lot of friends, loves embroidery, is ready to do what's expected of her and settle down with a husband. Keisha is the "not like other girls"-she doesn't have any friends, she is prickly, doesn't really plant to get married, has a profession. And neither of them are put down by the author or each other!
-Also neither of them fits the stereotype exactly. They both have things (Keisha much more) that are "girly-girl" or "tomboy" stuff.
-I really liked the thing with the dyheli and their morals.
Cons:
-A lot of people got POVs that honestly didn't need them. I felt like because of this we didn't really get a feel for Darian's character (weirdly enough, I think we did get Keisha, especially in the second book).
-Steelmind's and Shandi's ship is super weird. They didn't talk to each other at all before the third book and hardly in the third book but suddenly they like each other.
Second book in the series and it was a very fun listen.... for the most part (hint: I find weddings very tedious to listen to or read).
We meet Keisha, the resident healer of Errold's Grove. And I enjoyed Keisha growing into her healer role and herself very much and I enjoyed the set up of the new vale near Errold's Grove and the meeting of the cultures and the return of the prodigal son Darian. But I noticed that the plot of the "illness brought down by the northerners" felt a little forced and the conclusion was rushed and anti-climatic in my opinion. We kinda just skipped along and weren't left any anticipation over what was going to happen next.
