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Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains #3
Realm of Lost Spirits
Bravelands faces its final test.
As water dwindles and food becomes scarce, Whisper the water buffalo must embrace a strength she never knew. Stride the cheetah embarks on a dangerous journey—a final attempt to bring rain to Bravelands. But the quest will lead him into the underworld of spirits, where his most fearsome enemy awaits.
And Breathstealer the hyena faces a choice. The Great Devourer pours poison in her ear, promising strength and survival for her and her entire clan. But his plans would send her down a dark path of no return.
Can Bravelands come together to vanquish this great evil? Or will their home be torn apart?
As water dwindles and food becomes scarce, Whisper the water buffalo must embrace a strength she never knew. Stride the cheetah embarks on a dangerous journey—a final attempt to bring rain to Bravelands. But the quest will lead him into the underworld of spirits, where his most fearsome enemy awaits.
And Breathstealer the hyena faces a choice. The Great Devourer pours poison in her ear, promising strength and survival for her and her entire clan. But his plans would send her down a dark path of no return.
Can Bravelands come together to vanquish this great evil? Or will their home be torn apart?
272 pages, Hardcover
Published October 8, 2024
12 people are currently reading
2681 people want to read
About the author
Erin Hunter
277 books10.7k followersErin 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 29, 2024
Actual rating 3.5/5
Bullet review:
+ Great character interactions, particularly between Breathstealer and her sister and Cub.
+ An intense and emotional climax.
+ Overalll a pretty solid conclusion to the series.
+ Breathstealer's character development is lovely.
+ Stride might not be the most interesting character, but he still has an adequate role to play in this story even if his arc isn't the deepest.
- Whisper once again feels too passive and like she should've been a side character rather than a main character. I still think that Echo would've been a more interesting protagonist than her. Also
- The stuff with the buffalo (the Way and why exactly the Bravelands need them to migrate in order for the rains to come) is all kept pretty vague and I feel that it could've been a bit more concrete, since the plot hinges so heavily on these two things.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
Bullet review:
+ Great character interactions, particularly between Breathstealer and her sister and Cub.
+ An intense and emotional climax.
+ Overalll a pretty solid conclusion to the series.
+ Breathstealer's character development is lovely.
+ Stride might not be the most interesting character, but he still has an adequate role to play in this story even if his arc isn't the deepest.
- Whisper once again feels too passive and like she should've been a side character rather than a main character. I still think that Echo would've been a more interesting protagonist than her. Also
- The stuff with the buffalo (the Way and why exactly the Bravelands need them to migrate in order for the rains to come) is all kept pretty vague and I feel that it could've been a bit more concrete, since the plot hinges so heavily on these two things.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
July 26, 2025
I would have liked to give this 4 stars, but the lack of quality in the editing department was nearly unbearable, especially in the back half. Whisper's name is sometimes written as Willow, Skullcracker appears alive to say a few lines of dialogue before being dead again, and characters spontaneously appear where they shouldn't be .
The story is about what I expected for the finale. Surprisingly, though, the POV characters only all come together in the LAST chapter. They otherwise resolve their own plotlines completely independent of one another. I'm not big on Breathstealer losing agency at the end. It would have been stronger had she been aware and willing to do evil, and then had to work to redeem herself. But the series needed wrapped up... plus this is Erin Hunter and no protagonist is actually capable of evil in Erin Hunter books.
I really hope the lion cub is the main character in the next arc.
The story is about what I expected for the finale. Surprisingly, though, the POV characters only all come together in the LAST chapter. They otherwise resolve their own plotlines completely independent of one another. I'm not big on Breathstealer losing agency at the end. It would have been stronger had she been aware and willing to do evil, and then had to work to redeem herself. But the series needed wrapped up... plus this is Erin Hunter and no protagonist is actually capable of evil in Erin Hunter books.
I really hope the lion cub is the main character in the next arc.
July 12, 2025
Solid three stars. An alright conclusion to a mediocre arc with untapped potential.
*sigh*
Here we go again.
Ok. Likely because the ghost writers for Bravelands are a different team than the Warriors Erins, this book doesn’t suffer from the strange, brushed-over writing style that Warriors is stuck with nowadays. The writing is typical Erin stuff, so nothing amazing, but certainly not bad. I didn’t even notice any typos in this one, which is nice.
The plot of this book is. . . Uninspired. While this one is thankfully more than 195 pages, parts of it still feel underutilized, if not outright rushed. The entire Stride plot has little depth to it, and Breathstealer’s character development doesn’t have nearly enough time to sit. Conversely, Whisper’s plot dragged until its climax, which was quite underwhelming.
There are also some things from the last book that this one just completely forgot about. What ever happened to Graypelt? He was kind of important last book, and if he had also had an impact on Breathstealer as well as Cub, it might have felt more earned when she had her whole arc in this one.
The biggest issue with this book was definitely the pacing. There aren’t really any bad plot points, but none of the ones we did get felt fully fleshed out or lived up to their potential.
Character time.
Breathstealer needed two things: more time, and to actually die. Let me explain. I’ve already said her arc is very rushed, and I stand on that. ESPECIALLY last book, but also in this one, she feels like she jumps back and forth between personalities rather than gradually ‘turning to the dark side’ and being corrupted. More time would have made her descent feel more real while also making it more tragic. And that’s where her death comes in. The first arc of Bravelands remains the best example of a main character dying (in the Erins’ books, at least) by far. And they had the perfect opportunity to not only do it again, but to show that once more, peace can’t always be achieved without some sacrifice, and also make it good in a different way than Fearless’s death. Beathstealer’s death would have been a tragedy in the way Fearless’s wasn’t. What’s worse is that the Erins almost did it, but then went back on it. Breathstealer survives because of the magic of plot convenience, which is not only cheap, but huge missed potential.
Whisper really just needed more to do throughout this series. She was never bad, but her plot was never quite as interesting as the others’. I think for the Great Mother reveal to feel earned, she needed to do something this book unrelated to Echo or Quake, or another buffalo. She needed to stand a bit stronger on her own for her new role to feel deserved. But Whisper wasn’t bad, and I like that Quake and her aren’t immediately star-crossed lovers now that they’re on the same side.
Stride remains pretty boring in personality, but his story was interesting this time. I have the least notes on his plot, especially since we got the scenes of him and Pace to flesh out his character development more. His fight with Jinks felt quite underwhelming, but that was really my only major annoyance with him. Stonehide was a great side character, too.
And my other big issue with this book (and the whole arc), the villain. The Great Devourer is a stupid villain. I explained why in my ‘Breakers of the Code’ review, so go read that if you want the whole rant. Basically, sentient Death doesn’t fit in this world and is a rehash of the ideas from Warriors. It just feels unoriginal and less interesting than a less direct Death villain would have. It also felt super underwhelming in this book. I wasn’t too impressed.
And so ends Bravelands, now that the Erins finally realized the books aren’t making them much money. Not the worst conclusion, but it could have been better. And nothing will ever top the first series.
SERIES RATINGS:
The Shattered Horn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Breakers of the Code: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Realm of Lost Spirits: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
*sigh*
Here we go again.
Ok. Likely because the ghost writers for Bravelands are a different team than the Warriors Erins, this book doesn’t suffer from the strange, brushed-over writing style that Warriors is stuck with nowadays. The writing is typical Erin stuff, so nothing amazing, but certainly not bad. I didn’t even notice any typos in this one, which is nice.
The plot of this book is. . . Uninspired. While this one is thankfully more than 195 pages, parts of it still feel underutilized, if not outright rushed. The entire Stride plot has little depth to it, and Breathstealer’s character development doesn’t have nearly enough time to sit. Conversely, Whisper’s plot dragged until its climax, which was quite underwhelming.
There are also some things from the last book that this one just completely forgot about. What ever happened to Graypelt? He was kind of important last book, and if he had also had an impact on Breathstealer as well as Cub, it might have felt more earned when she had her whole arc in this one.
The biggest issue with this book was definitely the pacing. There aren’t really any bad plot points, but none of the ones we did get felt fully fleshed out or lived up to their potential.
Character time.
Breathstealer needed two things: more time, and to actually die. Let me explain. I’ve already said her arc is very rushed, and I stand on that. ESPECIALLY last book, but also in this one, she feels like she jumps back and forth between personalities rather than gradually ‘turning to the dark side’ and being corrupted. More time would have made her descent feel more real while also making it more tragic. And that’s where her death comes in. The first arc of Bravelands remains the best example of a main character dying (in the Erins’ books, at least) by far. And they had the perfect opportunity to not only do it again, but to show that once more, peace can’t always be achieved without some sacrifice, and also make it good in a different way than Fearless’s death. Beathstealer’s death would have been a tragedy in the way Fearless’s wasn’t. What’s worse is that the Erins almost did it, but then went back on it. Breathstealer survives because of the magic of plot convenience, which is not only cheap, but huge missed potential.
Whisper really just needed more to do throughout this series. She was never bad, but her plot was never quite as interesting as the others’. I think for the Great Mother reveal to feel earned, she needed to do something this book unrelated to Echo or Quake, or another buffalo. She needed to stand a bit stronger on her own for her new role to feel deserved. But Whisper wasn’t bad, and I like that Quake and her aren’t immediately star-crossed lovers now that they’re on the same side.
Stride remains pretty boring in personality, but his story was interesting this time. I have the least notes on his plot, especially since we got the scenes of him and Pace to flesh out his character development more. His fight with Jinks felt quite underwhelming, but that was really my only major annoyance with him. Stonehide was a great side character, too.
And my other big issue with this book (and the whole arc), the villain. The Great Devourer is a stupid villain. I explained why in my ‘Breakers of the Code’ review, so go read that if you want the whole rant. Basically, sentient Death doesn’t fit in this world and is a rehash of the ideas from Warriors. It just feels unoriginal and less interesting than a less direct Death villain would have. It also felt super underwhelming in this book. I wasn’t too impressed.
And so ends Bravelands, now that the Erins finally realized the books aren’t making them much money. Not the worst conclusion, but it could have been better. And nothing will ever top the first series.
SERIES RATINGS:
The Shattered Horn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Breakers of the Code: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Realm of Lost Spirits: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2024
Farewell, Bravelands; it's been an enjoyable experience. Concluding this series is bittersweet.
October 10, 2024
A good book. But it could have been so much more.
Thankfully it wasn't as short as the previous, book, Breakers of the Code. At ~260 pages, it's still on the short side for an Erin Hunter book, but I felt it was enough.
I will reiterate that the first book, The Shattered Horn was a truly great opening book, setting up endless amazing possibilities, great characters and many good hooks to be used later. So it's unfortunate that none of them lived up to their true potential. But despite this, I feel like what we've got was mostly executed well, so I won't complain too much.
Thankfully it wasn't as short as the previous, book, Breakers of the Code. At ~260 pages, it's still on the short side for an Erin Hunter book, but I felt it was enough.
I will reiterate that the first book, The Shattered Horn was a truly great opening book, setting up endless amazing possibilities, great characters and many good hooks to be used later. So it's unfortunate that none of them lived up to their true potential. But despite this, I feel like what we've got was mostly executed well, so I won't complain too much.
March 2, 2025
The flagship series in the Bravelands universe followed the standard formula for an Erin Hunter series, in that it was comprised of 6 books. (Bravelands, Book 1: Broken Pride; Bravelands, Book 2: Code of Honor; Bravelands, Book 3: Blood and Bone; Bravelands, Book 4: Shifting Shadows; Bravelands, Book 5: The Spirit-Eaters and Bravelands, Book 6: Oathkeeper.)
The next Bravelands series was called Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue. It was a departure for Erin Hunter, because it was a trilogy. (Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 1: Shadows on the Mountain; Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 2: The Venom Spreads and Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 3: Blood on the Plains.)
That brings us to this series, Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, another trilogy. The 1st book in it was called Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 1: The Shattered Horn. The 2nd book was called Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 2: Breakers of the Code. And now we finally have the 3rd, concluding book, this one, Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 3: Realm of Lost Spirits. I'll never fully know or understand why Bravelands was structured like this. But I'll say that it is perhaps my favorite of Erin Hunter's works. This book was an amazing conclusion!
The next Bravelands series was called Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue. It was a departure for Erin Hunter, because it was a trilogy. (Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 1: Shadows on the Mountain; Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 2: The Venom Spreads and Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 3: Blood on the Plains.)
That brings us to this series, Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, another trilogy. The 1st book in it was called Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 1: The Shattered Horn. The 2nd book was called Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 2: Breakers of the Code. And now we finally have the 3rd, concluding book, this one, Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, Book 3: Realm of Lost Spirits. I'll never fully know or understand why Bravelands was structured like this. But I'll say that it is perhaps my favorite of Erin Hunter's works. This book was an amazing conclusion!
April 14, 2025
2 stars only because this should have been multiple books. So much happened in this it actually hindered my experience. It was all good and the payout was good I just felt rushed.
Cheetah sad over wife, gets boyfriends, leaves them, gets swallowed by vore tunnel. Buffalo is afraid for days, does nothing about it, invents feminism, is promoted to God as a result. Hyena becomes Satan, dies, is resurrected, runs away.
Cheetah sad over wife, gets boyfriends, leaves them, gets swallowed by vore tunnel. Buffalo is afraid for days, does nothing about it, invents feminism, is promoted to God as a result. Hyena becomes Satan, dies, is resurrected, runs away.
November 3, 2024
This was a good one and I like how it ended. Something I noticed and I noticed this early on with all her books and all she likes killing off or she’s always killing off main characters especially siblings and mates and important characters, but maybe that’s just her style.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2024
Honestly, this book was pretty good. Overall Bravelands has a much more unique vibe than the other Erin Hunter books tend to, which I appreciate. I thought Breathstealer's whole deal was very interesting. Very Dark Urge lol.
April 2, 2025
4.65
I absolutely loved this book!!!!
I was so scared at the end when Breathstealer tried to drown herself to get the destroyer out, luckily she survived, I would not have been able to live if Cub and Breathstealer did not get a happy ending
I absolutely loved this book!!!!
I was so scared at the end when Breathstealer tried to drown herself to get the destroyer out, luckily she survived, I would not have been able to live if Cub and Breathstealer did not get a happy ending
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
April 23, 2025SM
August 2, 2025
I love Stride, Whisper, Echo, Strong hide and Breath Stealer so much ☺️🩵
August 10, 2025
Great conclusion to the arc! So happy that Breathstealer lived too. I noticed that each arc of Bravelands one of the trio of main perspective characters dies so I’m happy that she survived!
Read
August 4, 2025loved the end but kinda short tbh
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews