Bamboo Kingdom #4: The Dark Sun

Bamboo Kingdom #4

by Erin Hunter

Explore the secrets of the Bamboo Kingdom in the fourth installment of this thrilling new series from bestselling Warriors author Erin Hunter, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and Endling. The Bamboo Kingdom is once again safely led by guidance of a real Dragon Speaker—three Dragon Speakers, in fact! But a troubling vision from the Great Dragon warns of a “Dark Sun” coming soon. And while Rain, Leaf, and Ghost argue amongst themselves about what it means, the monkeys are hatching a plan to use this moment of uncertainty to their best advantage… Unless the pandas learn to trust each other, their biggest challenges may still lurk on the horizon...

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, Ebooks

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2023

About the author

Erin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.

Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.

Reviews

[Mothlight · Rating 3 out of 5]

So dramatic, these teenage pandas.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really care for this one that much, I feel the story was mostly filler and not that much important stuff happened. I now important stuff did happen, but most of the book was taken up by filler. Here's a few pet peeves:
1. I feel the pandas don't really do anything in the book. Mostly trying to fit into their roles and prove themselves (mostly Rain and Ghost) even though they have done more than enough to prove themselves.
2. The book automatically making any of the 'mean' and 'bully' characters straight up evil instead of just being doubters or nuisances. All the recent Erin Hunter series (Bravelands, recent Warrior Cats books, etc.) have done that. I find it annoying and making the characters very black and white.
3. Deus ex machina (or deus ex tiger) ending where Ghost is saved by the niece of the previous tiger guardians, Shadowhunter at the last minute. Where was she before to help him or anyone else during the whole time?!
4. I find it hard to believe Rain wouldn't trust Ghost or think he murdered the panda, Pebble (or was it Pepper?) after all they've been through.
5. I find it hard to believe a panda can't take on two snow leopards. Snow Leopards are not very strong cats in comparison to their big cat cousins. They rely on stealth and very rarely engage in combat, let alone with their own kind. If there were a fight between a panda and a snow leopard, the panda would win hands down. Wild pandas may look cute and cuddly on the outside, but a panda is still a bear. A male panda can weigh over 350 lbs, over half the weight a large snow leopard would weigh. I found the fight hard to believe between Ghost and the other two bully snow leopards who just became outright evil villains because...?
6. I'm getting tired of the cliffhanger endings. The book is plodding along just like an ambling panda and I finished it in less than 80 minutes. The important key takeaways of the book is:
1. The monkey character went through a bunch of useless trials to allow her minor character sister win. Which wouldn't have changed the plot of if she won or not.
2.The monkeys abduct pangolins and split the Great Dragon Spirit at the end of the book. For the entire book we don't know the monkeys plan and it was this dumb half baked plan that failed anyway so the next book can continue.
3. Stupid panda squabbles that lead to nothing except just frustrating the main characters and distancing themselves from each other. Doesn't matter because they want to come back together again in the end. Also Ghost engaging in mountain animal issues that separate him from the others.
4. The monkeys causing chaos for other animals, especially for the red pandas
5. The murder of one of the pandas that puts Ghost on the spot. Doesn't really matter since Ghost is vindicated by Rain and Leaf later because, "Oh gee, he wasn't lying when it was obvious he had no motive to kill the little panda in the first place. While the murderers clearly do and the bully pandas (shocker) are revealed to have lied when they have obviously been shown to lie in the past about things.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The monkeys are up to something. They are kidnapping pangolins, sowing distrust and doubt among the Dragon Speakers, and throwing the kingdom into chaos once again.

This book feels like walking into a room you just cleaned up to find it trashed again. We just got the panda siblings finally all united and in their special roles as Dragon Speakers and this book has them all doubting their special roles and splitting up and making a mess of the kingdom again. It wasn't enjoyable, but it was believable knowing the tendency for greed and avarice to sneak in and muddy things up. And Erin Hunter needs some kind of issue to keep the series going for 3 more books at least. There's an eclipse that happens (thus the dark sun) which the animals don't understand and further frightens them. There are sparks of hope by the end of this story, but it wasn't necessarily an enjoyable read. I'm tempted to give it a 2, but I'll go for 2.5 since it is so popular with students and gets them reading. Also, I love that pangolins have such a prominent place in the story. That's super rare. I also have so many students who can't get enough of this series.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: There are several battles between animals and some attacks. Several animals sustain injuries with some blood described, and one animal is killed. Some animals are tortured for information (mostly off page).
Ethnic diversity: All the animals are Asian.
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: Nefarious plotting based on greed. The monkeys are kidnapping and torturing animals for information.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like John Flanagan, Erin Hunter is another of my most stalwart, steadfast authors whom I did not read a single book by in 2024. But I'm definitely making up for that in 2025. This year, I will read at least 4 Erin Hunter books, because that's how many books by her that I got for Christmas. In addition to Bamboo Kingdom, Book 4: The Dark Sun, I also go Bamboo Kingdom, Book 5: The Lightning Path, Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 2: Breakers of the Code and Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 3: Realm of Lost Spirits.

Bamboo Kingdom, Book 4: The Dark Sun was originally released in 2023. I've had it on my To-Read Shelf for about that long. I'm glad I finally got to read it. It was an excellent book. But I'm only rating it 4 stars, because it has been a few years since I last read a Bamboo Kingdom book. And because of that, there were a few plot points and characters that I forgot about, which I had to reacquaint myself with. But now that I have caught up with the story thus far, hopefully, I 'll be able to give the 5th book, Bamboo Kingdom, Book 5: The Lightning Path, a 5-star rating.

[Akarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very boring as it went along. All the problems that were fixed just led to more problems. For ex: Ghost wanting to leave for the mountain made The Cubs Born Of Icebound want to kill pandas.

Ghost

The problem with Ghost is he is so nearsighted so he never can see the obvious things and he doesn't think before he speaks. Words are such a tricky subject for him when it's not that hard but compared to the other characters. He is OK.

Rain

Rain used to be my favorite character. She was impulsive, not gullible, and smart but then she did some not smart things. ShE ACcuCEd GhOSt OF KiLliNg AnOthEr pANdA!! She saw the Great Dragon make him a Drogon Speaker for Pete's sake!!!!

Leaf

Leaf is so short tempered. She is such a whiner. Just so annoying!

[Hahho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book after around two weeks of impatient waiting for it to arrive. I really hoped there’d be lots of Ghost and River in this book. I was also hoping that it would be very long. When I got it I was surprised and a bit disappointed that it’s shorter than the third book, but even though it wa shorter, it was almost just as good. I really liked this book, but I did have one problem, which is that Rain was basically gone in the story. There was barely anything about her. I really liked that Nimbletail became an important character since I liked her from the beginning.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special thanks to HarperChildrens and Goodreads for the copy of The Dark Sun, the 4th in the Bamboo Kingdom series. It is a great fantasy about a group of pandas who have survived a horrible flood. There is a group of monkeys who cause trouble and they listen to a Dragon Speaker who listens to the great dragon. I had to go back to the beginning of book 1 to be able to fully understand the story line. I am anxious now to read book 5 and find out how the Dragon Speakers and the animals they take care of are going to defeat the monkeys. (Science and biology needs will love the stories.)

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took us months to get through this, but my son still loves these books! I’m bored myself with the plot (it’s book #4 and we’re just barely getting a taste of what those dastardly monkeys are plotting 😂). He loves all the panda, red panda, pangolin, and snow leopard characters though. Erin Hunter is pretty good at bringing the animals to life, I’d say. So creative!

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely not the strongest in the series. liked nimbletail’s pov but not having rain’s pov was a detriment to the story. pacing was all over the place. this needed to be longer. i would say it needed to be split into two books but idk what the rest of the series is going to look like, so.

[Tayler · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's solidly fine

unfortunately it is fun and I will read the next one. but oh they're all so dramatic & underdeveloped and a little too awful to each other

the book keeps forgetting who is who between brisk & sleet, however shiver is the best so I'll forgive (if not quite overlook) it

[Danny Mcalister · Rating 5 out of 5]

erin hunter is getting better as an authour can't wait to sew what she has in store for 2024

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just another Bamboo Kingdom book. I imagine I'll probably read the next one.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me really long to finish as I was busy with other books! This book was pretty good although I think Journey to the Dragon Mountain was better

[Worm of the Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the take on the eclipse especially since we just had one.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a trope to have the characters fight at the 11th hour, but the author wrote it in a way that was very believable.

[Alex T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly the weakest installment in this arc so far. It's mostly just semi-related character interactions and interpersonal drama, but very little of it connects to the overall climax, which does not have a lot of buildup aside from Nimbletail's POV chapters. The character drama there is also isn't massively interesting, and for whatever reason this book really seems to sideline Rain as she barely does anything all book and has very few POV chapters this time around.

The climax is admittedly pretty intense, but it did not have the proper buildup to warrant such an earth-shattering revelation, and the rest of the book was rather dull. This is by no means an awful book, but it is subpar when compared to book one through three.

Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid three stars. This book was the definition of fine. It was okay.

I appreciated getting a new POV; especially as it was a character we’ve been given the chance to be curious about. Nimbletail’s story is interesting, for sure, though I am quite disappointed, but not surprised, that her character is as bland as everyone else’s.

Once again the Erins fell into their pitfall of giving characters interesting, varied situations, and sometimes even slightly different personality traits (which are all but gone this book, as per usual), but giving the characters no true story. Taking Nimbletail, for example, she is a new species for a POV in this series. She is in a unique situation (well, unless you’ve read Bravelands. . . Whatever. I’ll forgive it; different series, moving on), and she has a family that motivates her while our previous three leads have no living parents and didn’t know each other until last book. But unfortunately, because we don’t know anything about this character before her life in this story, she falls flat. She feels exactly the same as Rain, and Leaf, and Ghost, and I think that would be the case even if she did have a unique personality (which she doesn’t. Pity). I feel like this book (and all the Erins’ books) could benefit from flashbacks, but frankly I doubt we’ll see much of that.

Ok. Biggest rant finished. Now, with another POV we have four characters taking leading roles in this book, which is fine, but I feel like it was done exceptionally poorly, even for the Erins. Nothing happens with ANYONE except Nimbletail. Rain gets maybe three chapters this whole book, Ghost has the same existential crisis he’s had the last three, and Leaf walks in circles and complains. At least she had realistic frustrations with her siblings doing nothing, but that interesting tidbit is immediately glossed over to make room for the typical hero “I’m a failure” mentality that not just the Erins, but EVERY AUTHOR EVER overuses!

Here for the regularly scheduled break to say I do actually like reading these books because they’re nostalgic, I love making fun of them, and the writing style is one of my favorites ever.

Back to the rant. The whole monkey plot about the dragon felt very forced, more so than the rest of this series’. . . Magic system? has felt. Is magic system even the correct term for this? Maybe mythology? Either way, it felt quite underwhelming that the big issue in this was that the dragon had to split itself because it couldn’t just. . . Go to one group of pangolins, and then the other? It’s magic, is it not? That’s what we’ve been led to believe. But it was a cool concept, and I liked that it split in three. I’m curious if which sibling is tied to which third will have any significance. On the topic of the dragon, I do wish the series had refrained from ever showing us concretely that it exists. I think it was much cooler, and kept its wow factor more, when it was a “probably” rather than a “definitely”. But that’s more personal preference than a story error, I think.

So yeah. This was my least favorite Bamboo Kingdom book, but then again, with Warriors, at least, the fourth book is usually my least favorite/the worst one, so maybe we’ll come back stronger for five and six. We’ll see.

SERIES RATINGS:
Creatures of the Flood: —
River of Secrets: —
Journey to the Dragon Mountain: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dark Sun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lightning Path: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fire and Ash: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Wolfburrito95 · Rating 2 out of 5]

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR A (Sort of?) MAJOR DEATH. PROCEED IF YOU DON'T CARE.

The series peaked on its first book and failed to get good after that. For reference, in order, the books would be 4 star, 2 star, 3 star, and now 1 star. That gives me hope that the next book will be at least a two star, which is not saying much.

The biggest problem with this book are the characters. Aside from the fact that we never have any stand-out pandas aside from the main ones, and no, a single trait doesn't count, our main three seem to have panda bi-polar disorder, specifically Rain and Leaf. Or at least I think Leaf was involved, she is highly forgettable.

Rain accused Ghost of murdering Pebble, despite it being pretty obvious he has no motive to do so. Now, if this was a misinterpreted sign, that would be cool! And then Rain could think she isn't fit, but no, Erin Hunter lost their creativity at Survivors: The Gathering Darkness and never regained it. Instead, Ghost thinks HE isn't a good speaker, and we all know he will be forgiven and they will unite.

By the way, this book is boring. Entire chapters are dedicated to this monkey trial that I skipped over and missed nothing of. I could follow along just fine. What was the point of Dusk/Evil Sunset if he dies in book three and gets entirely replaced? A bunch of monkeys don't seem as intimidating.

Over all, poor plot and characters bog the potential of this series. If you don't mind me, I'm going to stick to reading Survivors: The Original Series, and so should y'all. It's more competent than this series, anyways.

[Chiara Lombardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so I have to admit..a lot of Erin hunter’s books do have a lot of typos and confusing parts (the confusing parts being confusing because—well you’ll see what I mean when I mention Whisper). Like for example: In this book, there is a baby monkey called Duskback— at first. Then later he’s mentioned again as Dustback. 🤦‍♀️ so which is it? Duskback or Dustback? I know he’s not a main character but still this bothers me; and Crookedclaw the golden monkey was called Crookedtail once! Another example would be that in the last book of the last arc of Bravelands (Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains), Whisper the buffalo was apparently in the cave of the “underworld” with Stride and Stonehide but was actually not. She was up above with her herd or something I think. And another example is that in one of the Warriors books, Mousewhisker was mentioned as Cherryfall’s brother but he’s not; her brother is Molewhisker (you’d understand all of that if you read all of the series mentioned) So..ya. But this book was great, as most of her books are (I love all of her books but I can’t stand the Survivors series for some reason!) Can’t wait to read the next one! (Starting it now!)

[Bernadette Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Can't wait for #5

[lion ♡]

6 book arc? pls don’t be bad