Podróż Jastrzębiego Skrzydła

Warriors Super Edition #9

by Erin Hunter, Justyna Sarna (Translator)

Zdrada skrywa się za maską przyjaźni.

Jastrzębie Skrzydło to jeden z najmłodszych wojowników odbudowanego Klanu Nieba. Jego porywcza natura i skłonność do sporów komplikują relację z ojcem, który pełni funkcję zastępcy przywódczyni. Gdy Rozbrzmiewająca Pieśń otrzymuje znak od Klanu Gwiazdy, informujący o tragicznych losach Klanu Pioruna i niepewnej przyszłości Klanu Nieba, Jastrzębie Skrzydło jest zdeterminowany, aby odkryć prawdziwe znaczenie przepowiedni. W swoich desperackich poszukiwaniach natyka się na pozornie niegroźnego włóczęgę, który może być odpowiedzią na zagadkę niebiańskich przodków. Młody wojownik jeszcze nie wie, że ta przyjaźń na zawsze zmieni Klan Nieba i poprowadzi wojowników ścieżką, z której nie ma już powrotu.

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Middle Grade, Fiction, Cats, Young Adult, Childrens

480 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2016

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

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like most about a book is to be surprised about it. Which didn't happen with this one because I have read the first two of the "visions of shadows" series which obviously pick up after this one. So yeah, I kinda spoilered myself.
On another note, I wasn't very sympathetic to Hawkwing, either. To be honest he was one of thise cats towards which I was indiferent. Pebbleshine, on the other hand... I hope "visions of shadows" end up telling us what happened to her.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can barely keep up with the constant releases in this series. I had no idea this book was even happening until I saw it in my bookstore. I was skeptical, seeing as the last Skyclan centered super edition wasn’t my favorite, but I did enjoy this one for the most part.

The story follows Skyclan and shows how they got to the point they were in during The Apprentice's Quest. Our main character is Hawkwing, who is filled with rage after his brother is killed during a fire and he was unable to save him.

The super editions are always some of the best Warriors novels for me. They often deal with dramatic story lines and focus in on one particular character.

This isn’t my favorite super edition, mainly because of the main character. Hawkwing is not very likable. Not only is he an idiot, he is a major jerk to everyone around him. He develops a lot throughout the story, but he’s still not even close to my favorite lead.

There are a large number of major character deaths in this one. I’ve always admired this series for killing off major characters, but I can’t help but feel some of these deaths felt rushed or unnecessary. We spent so much time with Billystorm, and to have him killed off quickly and his death brushed over feels like an injustice to his character. The same with Sharpclaw. Killing off those characters is a bold move that I support, but the execution could have been so much better.

I definitely enjoyed seeing how Skyclan came to be in that position, even if the story was a bit long and unresolved. If you’re a hardcore fan of this series I’m sure you will love this one as well!

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no words to describe how crazy this book was. So much happened all at once,and some of th r characters from the seventh book (Firestars Quest) died. I loved Hawkwings character. I liked that his personality was different from the other Skyclan cats. I also liked how we learned a little bit more about Darktail. What scared me the most is that Hawkwing and Pebbleshine are the parents of Twigpaw and Violetpaw. WOWO AMAZEBALLS!!!! So this brings up a lot of possibilities for the upcoming books in 2017. Thank you Erin Hunter team!! And yes I recommend this book!!

[Willemijn jufwillemijnopallstars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit was weer een klassieke Warrior Cats: kittens in nood, onnodige slachtoffers, vechten met zwerfkatten, moeilijke broer/zus relaties. En uiteindelijk kwam het toch grotendeels goed.

Te lezen als je halverwege serie 5 bent, of gewoon na serie 5.

[Liza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was fun.

So, just going to jump right in cause of course, I need to get my feelings out for a book that I really was not happy about reading.



Okay?

Okay.

Let's go.

First off, I originally thought this was another super edition back in the DoTC era. Much to my surprise, it was about current gen kitties. SkyClan kitties. It pretty much fills in the, "WHAT HAPPENED TO SKYCLAN!?" question from The Apprentice Quest.

Truth of the matter is, I went in not caring.

I only care about three cats in SkyClan. Leafstar, Sharpclaw and Echosong. I might care about more but I really don't remember Leafstar's book.

I never connected with Hawkwing as a character. He was very brash, which isn't a bad thing but I felt like it was handled poorly. He also is "super special" cause protag. So much stuff happens to him that it is so obvious he must suffer and get what he wants just like a protag should.

There were a lot of scenes that felt as pointless as the ones from Vision in the Shadows. There were two "trips" that happens early on where the cats are trying to find ThunderClan but come back in failure. I had flashbacks to the ones from Visions. It felt so pointless and unneeded and just to pad the book to make it longer.

I also didn't care about the cats dying off and whatnot. Well, except for one death...

That issue though, stems from the characters that were just names and nothing else. Oh, X character died? Uh, okay. Should I feel sad? I knew nothing about them.

Obviously this is a book that will end up tying into Visions at some point. Well...let's hope the next super edition is more enjoyable.

[Juli · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am sorely DISAPPOINTED. I expected this to be a coming-of-age journey about Hawkwing's life, technically it was but it was so fast paced.

but im pretty sure this book was mostly centered around the theme of:
✨death✨
✨tragic loss of loved ones✨
✨more death✨
✨and all the pain Hawkwing went through✨

whilst reading this, like every chapter a cat died. and there are 35 chapters. and i found myself saying "what the flippty freakity heck" every chapter because everyone DIES. what the flippty freakity heck.

THE POOR MC. like i know the erins can be brutal, but hEcK they just were like, "oh yeah lets kill that one off" "oH wAiT hOw aBoUt eVeRy fReAkiNg cAt tHis mC cArEs aBoUt"

i give it two stars because it was informing about the journey to the other clans.

also i dont ship hawk x pebble, there was no chemistry.

well now i have a burning hatred for this book.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really, really, good. But it was also incredibly sad. Probably one of the most tragic Warriors books I've ever read. It still ended on a high note though, and I am happy to conclude my 2024 readings with this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

March 2023 Honestly this is one of the best Warriors super editions (not the best, but one of the best). There's just something about this one; it hits the right notes.

December 2016 I love this book SO MUCH. That's hardly news, with my love for Warriors, but I have always hoped that SkyClan would return; and now my hopes are coming true! Call me a fangirl if you like; I will embrace the title happily. I look forward to reading the next book!

[Fathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually one of the best warriors books period.

Not a single moment of this book was wasted which is honestly impressive for Warriors. There is just so much that happened throughout this book, so many threads it set up for the next series, it was so fun.

I love Hawkwing. I love that he genuinely grows and matures throughout the series, starting off as being young and hot-headed and growing into a cat worthy of being deputy. The way he not only owns up to and apologizes for his mistakes is so refreshing. I love that they made him extremely empathetic and overall emotional. I feel like that’s not done very often in this series, and if it is it’s always with a she-cat and they’re like borderline hysterical. But Hawkwing, a male character, struggles with his emotions throughout the book. I think you could say at the beginning he’s ruled by his intense emotions but by the end he’s learned that those emotions are what make him a good leader, a good adopted father, and just a good person period. He is the only SkyClan cat that Darktail seems genuinely sad to turn on and even offers him a place at his side. I think that says a lot about Hawkwing’s empathy and how it empowers him.

I also know I like to talk my crap about Leafstar and how she’s so passive. I’ve thought that like “well sure she’s not like the other clan leaders because SkyClan is so unique, it’s unusual circumstances call for a different kind of leader. I think she is written somewhat inconsistently overall but I liked her a lot more in this book. In Leafstar’s own Super Edition she dealt with the struggles of trying to get more warriors for her Clan while dealing with the dangers around their territory, and one of the biggest issues she had was the daylight warriors—cats that were technically pets and lived with humans but were let out to do whatever during the day, so they’d spend their days with the clan. This had a lot of issues, the main one being that the daylight warriors were just never there when they were needed or were lazy and didn’t understand how difficult it was to live in the wild full time. Then in Leafstar’s manga series, she meets Sol, a loner who says he’s heard about the Clans before and wants to join. Sol makes multiple appearances throughout Warriors and is a snake pretty much. He can’t be trusted and he kidnaps Leafstar’s kittens.. or I guess kit-naps... I need to read other books.

Either way, after Sol is driven out, Leafstar becomes very wary of strangers in the novella Ravenpaw’s Farewell. She refuses to let Riley and Bella join at first until they prove themselves, but she then says she’s learned to be wary of strangers showing out of nowhere wanting to join the Clan. So amazing.

All that is forgotten when Darktail shows up. Leafstar isn’t even alarmed that there’s a stranger almost inside their camp, she’s just curious and then immediately lets him in once he tells them he knows about clan cats… VERY SIMILAR to another cat with bad intentions. But I digress.

After this stupid mistake Leafstar is a lot better in the rest of the book. I still think she is very passive and that harms her Clan more often than not. I think that the loss of the cats by the red herring lake is entirely her fault for not listening to her medicine cat and instead letting the opinions of her clan influence her decision. Yes, as a leader it’s important to listen to those you’re leading and take that into consideration but they were in extreme circumstances for almost the entirety of this book. The best leaders in this series (Firestar, Bluestar, Tallstar) they all made decisions often that their clans disagreed with, but made them anyway because they knew it was for the best in the long run, even if no one else could see it. I feel like Leafstar lacks that foresight, something Hawkwing has. I will say, when bad things happen she does usually handle it well. She is almost always able to push aside her emotions to make important decisions or reassure her Clan. I honestly admired her faith in the second half of the book, after Echosong leaves. I really don’t know if SkyClan would have survived that time with another leader, so she does have her moments.

But I want to talk about my favorite part of this book: the adults acting like adults. And can we give the Erins a hand please for finally writing healthy grieving? There was this unfortunate trend in the older books I’ve noticed where when a character is really grieving, to the point where they take it out on others, they are met with really harsh feedback. Of course it is never ok to lash out at others just because you are hurting. However, a lot of the characters that do this are very young and don’t know how to grieve or manage their emotions. I’m thinking of young Bluestar for example. There’s a way to talk to a child about this that’s healthy and then there’s how they do it in Warriors which is telling them to move on with their lives already.

I was so ready for the same thing to happen with Hawkwing. He watches his brother die right in front him after trying desperately to save him. He grieves for so long and lashes out at Pebblepaw repeatedly, using that an outlet for his anger. I was ready for someone to tell him to grow up and stop acting like he’s the only one who’s ever someone but instead, his brothers mentor comes and talks to him and says he misses him too. Instead of berating or making him feel guilty for his feelings, Waspwhisker just shares stories about his brother with him and they both mourn together. After that, Hawkwing is able to move on a little bit, just knowing he wasn’t alone. It didn’t take all the pain away but some of the anger. I just loved that an adult saw the equivalent of a teen really struggling and chose to show him love instead of reproach. It was so refreshing.

Another thing I loved so so much was Hawkwing and Plumwillow. Warriors with all their characters has such an opportunity to showcase different family dynamics and different types of people in general and I always felt they really didn’t make much of an effort for representation. But in this book they not only did it but it well!! Plumwillow’s mate is lost when SkyClan is driven out of their home and she, pregnant, faces single motherhood in a clan with an uncertain futures Shortly afterwards, Hawkwing’s pregnant mate is captured by humans and taken away. Both of these characters, grieving for their mates, find comfort in each other. Not in any romantic way, but they both are empathetic towards each other and, each missing their significant other, fills that role in the others life. Hawkwing is there when Plumwillow gives birth and helps her raise her kits. The two of them develop a really close friendship and create a strange but happy family. Hawkwing even thinks he might be happy if it were just him, Plumwillow and the kits with no clan at all. Then out of the blue, Plumwillow’s mate shows up, having traveled for months and months to find them. Of course Plumwillow is overjoyed to see him and they rekindle their bond instantly. Hawkwing feels a strange jealousy but knows it not his place to act on it. He behaves maturely, trying to imagine himself in Sandynose’s (the mate) shoes. He even steps away from being a father figure to the kits to give them a chance to bond with their real father.

And THEN the kits come to Hawkwing in the middle of the night and ask him to get rid of their father. They say they don’t like him and want Hawkwing to be their father in a really touching scene. He gently explains to them that he’ll always love and be there for them but to give their father a chance because he loves them too. And it was such a sweet scene that I kind of wish I could have read as a kid. As someone who did have a set of adopted parents and a set of real parents. It was handled so tactfully which I also feel like is rare for these books, I’m just so impressed lol. They stepped up their game and I’m so happy.


I just love that this book did things we don’t usually see in this series but also did them well. I love seeing different family dynamics represented on the page and handled gracefully. One of the best Warriors books in a while imo.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this super edition was made to fit exactly between the series Omen of the stars and A vision of shadows. It prepares you for the next adventures up ahead from A vision of shadows and makes you understand more neatly SkyClan's suddenly appearance. In this book, more of some of the mysteries left incomplete from A vision of shadows are discovered, even if it should be read before A vision of shadows... Like this, you can understand some facts, and get more of Hawkwing and his life.
I absolutely appreciated it!

[Applepelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one so much! read it all first day. literally could not put it down. 🤩📚

[Angelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about a cat alone. His name was Hawkwing and he is a warrior of Skyclan and he was a great and skillful warrior. When he was still a young cat, he could fight a cat much bigger than him by himself. He has also been in a fire to help some of his friends and he survived it and he also helped get some cat’s out of the fire. His clan got chased out and then they had to go to find a new home for his clan as a leader’s Deputy and it wasn’t easy to figure it out. For some reason they didn’t find his clan’s new place to live by a big lake.

[Tula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the detail put into the plot. Good read, would recommend. Slow at first, but once you start you become hooked!

[Chantal Kloth · Rating 5 out of 5]

my heart aches for hawkwing, and all of skyclan. they really have been through SO much heartache and disasters, it’s a miracle they have the strength to keep going

[Historyprincess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premise: SkyClan has been living peacefully in the gorge ever since Firestar of ThunderClan helped them to rebuild. But the long-lost fifth warrior Clan is about to face a period of trials and tribulations more challenging than any before it, and their only hope is to find Firestar's kin. At the center of it all is a newly-appointed warrior named Hawkwing. Though he is young and quite rash, when SkyClan stands on the brink of destruction, the gray tom must find the strength and courage needed to lead his Clanmates on a journey…or be destroyed along with them.

Story/Writing: Geez…how do these authors keep managing to write hit after hit after hit with these super editions? This is the tenth super edition I've read in this super edition, and I gotta say, I was blown away. The intensity I felt and the emotions I was bombarded with throughout this book makes it, in my mind, arguably one of the best titles in the entire series. Like the four warrior Clans before them, SkyClan must journey to the lake when their home in the gorge is stolen from them by a new and terrifying villain. But not only does their exodus end up being far longer than the one the other Clans went on, it's also far more challenging, far more dangerous, and far more heartbreaking. I felt pretty much every single emotion of every single trial that SkyClan and the titular character go through. You really get the feeling that this Clan just has the absolute worst luck out of all the others. First they were driven out of their original home, then they were restored by Firestar, only to be violently driven out of that home as well only a few years later and lose roughly two-thirds of their members along the way to all sorts of things! You just feel so sorry for them; and what really makes it impressive to me is that the despair and anger and loss of faith they all feel is completely understandable. It's hard enough for humans to have to travel for over a year. But for a group of cats who face all the dangers we would and more…it's kind of miraculous that they do stay together and endure everything all the way to the end of the book. And even in the end they still haven't arrived at the lake! That's not necessarily a bad thing though because we've now seen that they can survive just about anything the writers throw at them, things that really tug at your heartstrings and may even be some of the most disturbing moments in the series. That said, I know they can't be too far off. And I cannot wait for them to claim their inheritance and take their rightful place alongside the other Clans at the lake.

Characters: Never before in this series has the importance of well-written and well-developed characters proven more crucial in a story like this. I felt like I was experiencing the drama, the despair, and the heart-pounding action and suspense with them from pretty much the opening page. The authors have proven time and time again that they can write great characters as well as great stories, and this is one more time to add to that list! It was also great to come back to SkyClan once again and read about what might be remembered as the darkest time in their history.

Hawkwing – Man, talk about a hero's journey. Before I read this book, the only other time I'd read about Hawkwing was when he made a brief appearance as an apprentice in "Ravenpaw's Farewell." So I didn't have the advantage of previous emotional attachment like I do with some characters. That said, wow did this brash yet brave tom win me over! This book is not just about SkyClan's journey to the lake but also Hawkwing's own personal journey of as a character. He not only grows from being a passionate and temperamental apprentice to a devoted and wise warrior, he does it believably. Reading about this character's transformation has been such a treat! What particularly sold me was that he never felt like he was angry just for the sake of it. Even when he deals with it the wrong way, all the times he does get angry feel not necessarily justified but understandable. Even if he unfairly lashes out at Pebbleshine in the beginning, you can tell he's angrier with himself and feels guilty for not being able to save his brother from the fire along with her. Not to mention, he's not afraid to speak his mind even if his Clan leader and his own father don't like it. I mean, yes, he doesn't always do it in the right way, but still. And let's not forget the loved ones he loses! The book has barely started when he loses his brother, then he's forced to watch the cat he thought was his friend murder the former's father, then he has to let go of his mother and his sister, then he loses his mate who's pregnant with their kits, and then he loses his apprentice! By the time he becomes Clan deputy, it really feels as though he's earned it. He's gone through so much hardship and has to try even harder not to give into despair for the sake of his Clanmates when he does become deputy. In the end, Hawkwing has a solid characterization establishing him as a bold and devoted warrior of SkyClan. And I can't wait to read more of his adventures in the future!

Pebbleshine – While she does disappear about halfway through the story, I want to devote some time to this character, 'cause she also won me over. Like Hawkwing, she makes a brief appearance as an apprentice in "Ravenpaw's Farewell." That story and this one early on tell us that she and Hawkwing can't stand each other at first. I do wish we got a little bit more of that to better highlight the way their characters change, but that's more of a nitpick. The way their relationship changed did feel organic and believable. Early on, Hawkwing resents Pebbleshine's survival of the fire that killed his brother, but then when her mentor Billystorm is killed and she starts blaming herself for it, Hawkwing finds out how much they really have in common. And it's not just their shared grief that helps them grow. Another factor is that both discover admirable things about each other that they didn't notice before. Even though Hawkwing becomes a warrior before she does, Pebbleshine works just as hard so that by the time she does get her warrior name, she really deserves it. She fights just as bravely as Hawkwing does and is the first to defend the nursery when Darktail's rogues attack. She can be bold in her opinions like Hawkwing, at least when she's sharing them with just him. Plus to her credit she does better at controlling her temper than he does, even from the start. When he lashes out at her about how he should've saved his brother instead of her, she doesn't get overly dramatic. She just doesn't say another word to him and stalks off. That said, as stated before, their relationship changes and grows believably, to the point where you feel just as awful as Hawkwing when Pebbleshine gets taken away in the truck. I know the new novella collection coming out in April has one dedicated to her journey following that, and I can't wait to read it! She was a great mate for Hawkwing and a great character in her own right!

Leafstar – It was fantastic to read about Leafstar once again. And I must say…this is probably the best she's ever been written in the books I've read thus far. She goes through so many losses and has to carry so many burdens; she gets so weary and tired in every way; and yet not once does she give in to despair or stop trying to encourage her Clan, even though she needs encouragement just as much as they do. Not to mention she's not as young as she was the last time I read about her. She's not only one of my favorite SkyClan cats but one of the best characters in the entire series. When SkyClan was restored, she was made their first leader in years. Now she has to lead her Clan through the most harrowing time in their history, and she arguably surpasses Cloudstar in how she does it. While she does know how to put her paw down, such as when she calls Hawkwing out for his bad attitude, she also acknowledges when she's wrong or has made a mistake, such as when she admits that she was wrong about letting her Clan settle by the first lake. With every bad thing that happens to her Clan and to her personally, you can tell how increasingly desperate she feels, despite the calm and strong demeanor she usually presents when addressing SkyClan. My heart broke for her when she lost her mate and then both of her daughters. You can tell how much she loved them, and so she loves her Clan all the more fiercely. I was rooting for her the entire time, almost as much as I rooted for Hawkwing, and I'm so happy that her faith finally feels like it's being rewarded! May she continue to be a noble, wise, and strong leader for SkyClan to her last life!

Darktail – And may this low-life and sorry excuse for a cat rot in the Dark Forest! I knew Darktail was the main villain in the "Vision of Shadows" arc, and I like that this was an origin story of sorts for him. I admit I was also a little skeptical about what he was gonna be like, since the authors already crafted plenty of interesting and distinct villains. But what he does in this book alone earns him a place in my top ten "Warriors" villains. He's clearly intelligent, given how he seemed to plan his mission to take the gorge down to the most minute detail. He's charismatic and a very good actor, given how he manages to convince even the initially doubtful Hawkwing that they're on the same side, and how likable and genuine he can appear to be; I admit he almost had me convinced for awhile. And in addition to all that, he's sadistic and ruthless, given how he forces Hawkwing to watch as he violently murders Hawkwing's father, Sharpclaw. I would've liked a bit more focus on his motives; but as it stands, his calculating, crafty, and cruel nature – along with the fact that he successfully drives SkyClan out of the gorge – have really made him stand out as a villain. Plus I found myself wanting to remind the characters that his name is Darktail! Maybe he's the darkness that must be dispelled!

Various Other Characters – Along with Leafstar, I have to give some serious credit to Echosong for helping her Clan to sustain their faith. She's a medicine cat and communicates with StarClan on a mostly regular basis. But she knows the collective faith of her Clanmates isn't as strong as hers; and at one point, she even has a clash with Leafstar when Echosong insists that the first lake is not the one StarClan has in mind for them. Plus, one of my favorite scenes in the book is when she returns at the exact moment her Clan is reaching their breaking point! Echosong is one of my favorite medicine cats, and it was so sad to read in the bonus chapter that she died from an infection. I felt so sorry for the Clan as a whole at all the gut-wrenching hardships and losses they endured. Probably the cat I felt most awful for was Sagenose, given he lost his entire family! Speaking of which, I liked Plumwillow's relationship with Hawkwing and how he helped her raise her kits, given that they both lost their mates. I especially liked how they didn't get together, and not just because Sandynose came back. We need more male-female friendships in books. Anyway, I also really liked Hawkwing's relationship with Plumwillow's kits. I particularly liked the scene where he tells them that even though he's not their father, he very much cares for them, and then encourages them to get to know Sandynose. It felt like a very real, true-to-life conversation. I also loved Hawkwing's relationship with his apprentice Curlypaw, and how he didn't talk down to her and respected her decision to leave, however much he disliked it. I also very much understood her decision to join Parsleyseed and become a kittypet – the reason being that she just couldn't take all the hardship anymore – but I felt just as sad as Hawkwing when she left. Hawkwing's relationships with his mother and sisters also felt very loving and genuine. I felt just as wretched as him when Sharpclaw was murdered, and just when they were starting to mend their relationship! I was also kinda surprised to see Stick and his cats again. And I was even more surprise at how much more of a villain Dodge proved himself to be, given he not only kidnapped Curlypaw and held her hostage but also showed Darktail and his rogues the way to SkyClan. That really was one of the best scenes though, when Hawkwing challenges Dodge to a one-on-one and the former wins! It was also great to see Barley again, even if it might be the last time I see him. And speaking of whom, the role that his niece and nephew – Bellaleaf and Rileypool – play in starting SkyClan off on their journey I thought was amazing, 'cause it gave that much more weight to "Ravenpaw's Farewell" other than being a goodbye story. Since they took the trip from Barley's farm to the gorge pretty recently, they're the ones who guide SkyClan in the right direction in the right direction when they leave! Plus of course it just makes it all the sadder when Rileypool dies toward the end! Speaking of that, even though Toad was in the book for only a short time, the scene where he gets torn apart by the dogs was probably one of the most disturbing scenes I've read in the series in awhile. It was also shocking when Waspwhisker and Fidgetpaw got captured and taken away by those creepy humans, given how they were important they were to the Clan and how likable they both were! And last but not least, it was fantastic to see Skystar (a.k.a. Clear Sky) again after so long, despite how brief his appearance was!

Overall: This was a fantastic story filled with themes of endurance, hope, and faith even in the darkest of times. It's also a great story about a character (and even his Clan) going through a transformation. The intensity and urgency and even the more graphic scenes really do serve the story, even if they're uncomfortable to read at times. But it's a good kind of uncomfortable. Sometimes stories that evoke those feelings are needed. This book definitely did its job with that!

[Cami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that Hawkwing is a good character choice for a special edition, because he plays an important role in the main series, but we don't get to see too much of him. He wasn't a POV character, but he was closely connected to two (Twigpaw and Violetpaw), and learning about his childhood fills in some interesting gaps in the timeline.

However, anyone familiar with the main series will know the basic plot points, which can make this super edition a somewhat frustrating and tedious read. We know that Darktail is a bad person, so it can be hard to read the first half of this novel, where the cats of SkyClan have yet to make up their mind how they feel about it. It often leads to contrived scenarios, where the authors must explain why anyone trusted him in the first place. The question is not, "What would these characters do in this situation?" but "How can we get the characters to behave in the way our story demands?" This is a valid approach to story-writing, but from personal experience, I know that it can be difficult on writers and maybe not the best choice for crafting a believable narrative or relatable characters.

The pacing and overall narrative arc of this super edition leaves me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, I didn't feel like any scenes or time periods dragged on for too long, and I liked how Pebbleshine and Hawkwing started off as rivals (although I didn't fully understand their progression to mates). However, the ending was anti-climactic, since we know that SkyClan doesn't find a home until Twigpaw recovers them. I was curious to see if this book would end with her appearance, but as it did not, there was just an awkward, "Oh, well. Echosong is back, and we still have hope. SkyClan will never give up," which I didn't find very satisfying as a reader.

Still, as far as super editions go, this one wasn't half-bad. I read it in between the fourth and fifth books of the sixth series, which I thought worked very well, because it gave me additional context for a storyline I had already finished and helped me appreciate the new SkyClan characters. I would recommend other fans to read this super edition anytime after the third book of the sixth series, maybe even a little earlier than I did, because it would add a personal investment to Violetpaw's journey to the gorge with her father.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hawkwing's Journey is the ninth Super Edition in the warrior cat series. The book starts out with the death of Duskpaw. We know nothing about this character or Hawkwing, so it is hard to feel for either of them. The book after that continues to kill off several characters, including one of my favorites, Sharpclaw. The book felt too fast paced. Hawkwing did not seem to earn his deputyship, either. His romance with Pebbleshine came out of nowhere, and she seemed to be expecting kits way too quickly. Hawkwing caring for Plumwillow's kits were cute, and the struggle he faces when their father returns was interesting. However, Hawkwing deciding he likes Plumwillow seems out of character. Several characters seem a bit out of character. Overall, not the best book I've read.

[Isabella McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was actually really good, there wasn't a lot of times when the story was slow, but I am a bit disappointed that we didn't actually see when Echosong died, it was just said in the manga, and I was also hoping that the Skyclan cats had made it all the way there, I feel like that would have been much more interesting. This book skipped around a lot, and I didn't realize how long Skyclan had been looking, in The apprentices quest, it felt like it took 3 days or something, but Skyclan took like a year to get there. overall a good book, a lot of deaths and disappearances, but I still liked it.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars. After a slow start, this book finally picked up about a third of the way in. A lot happened to SkyClan, little of it good. I felt for them on every step of their journey and am only sorry that they didn't find the rest of the Clans at the end of the book. I liked Hawkwing, I thought he was a good protagonist and can only hope that Pebbleshine returns so they can be together again. I'm looking forward to seeing SkyClan again in the Visions of Shadows series.

[GuineaPigFalconer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had pretty low expectations for this Warriors book, since some of the more recent additions have been a bit lackluster. But this one was a pretty pleasant surprise! The beginning was a little slow and repetitive, but I found myself propelled along on Skyclan’s quest, and found Hawkwing to be a compelling narrator to follow. Overall, not too shabby.

[Hailey Vieira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have no words for this book... it’s been about a day since I finished it and let me tell you I’m not okay... the events that happen in this book is just insane! I don’t want to say too because spoilers but make sure you have tissues near you, while reading this book... you’ll need them.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was good?5

[H Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because it explain what was happening in skyclan during the last hope.it was also cool to learn that darktail attacked right after the events of the last hope.I liked the tie ins with pebbleshines kits and the vision of shadows.

[Krys · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

skyclan is going through it the pacing is wack why is a cat dying every ten pages

[ida (semi-ia) ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i remember i read this when i was sick in a hotel and it seemed like a fever dream

[LM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to the surprise Moth Flight's Vision was, Hawkwing’s Journey was a big disappointment. It was mostly a filler and had barely an interesting plot to tell. I still gave two stars because I like SkyClan and it had some epic moments.

The story had many of the elements that I don’t like about Warriors: many deaths that serve no other purpose than to shock the reader and fulfil the a cat dies after arguing with another cat before the other cat could apologize-cliché, arbitrary animals attacking the Clans (racoons???, dogs, birds), no one telling anyone anything which creates unnecessary conflicts, an unrealistic love story between Pebbleshine and Hawkwing after they talked to each other two times, and a travel. The travel sequences were one of the most boring and filler ones in the whole series and the cats never find what they searched for; they go looking for ThunderClan three times.

Besides those elements, there was simply nothing new to the plot; all those story elements can be found in previous Warriors books. For example, Darktail feeding the racoons so that they will raid SkyClan’s camp is literally the same thing that Tigerstar did. Also, the main villain from SkyClan’s Destiny is recycled as well, just as the above-mentioned animal attacks.

The only interesting story parts were those where the cats are not travelling, like the attack of the rogue which was so dramatic and a true massacre. There was also some interesting conflict potential between Hawkwing and Sharpclaw, but this one conflict was repeated over and over and became exhausting quickly.

One of the problems that I had with this book are a bit my own fault because I read the whole A Vision of Shadows arc beforehand. Because of this, I already knew many turns of the story, for example the fact that Darktail’s a traitor. But even if I hadn’t read AVoS before, I would have guessed it since it’s really obvious that something’s not right with him. He’s blatant manipulative and no one notices this. I also knew that something bad would happen to Pebbleshine. But on the other side, I also had the feeling that some pieces of information were missing because I haven’t read every single Warriors book released before this. A good example is Ravenpaw’s Farewell (that just got published in Germany this year lol) because I didn’t understand anything around Ravenpaw and Barley that was mentioned in the book: Do they live at another farm now than before because they’re suddenly so close to SkyClan? And I wish Ravenpaw was still alive, man. Normally, Warriors tells the events that happened in the past, but not this time; I think Sol wasn’t even mentioned one time.

The characters were as well not interesting to me. Many characters that had something going for them died, like Billystorm or Sharpclaw. I once was a fan of Leafstar but after reading arc 6, I don’t like her anymore. The protagonist Hawkwing was just very generic, and he annoyed me. Not one of the other characters stood out for me and they were quite stereotypical (e.g., the serious leader, the naïve and curious apprentice, the stupid kittypet).

Besides for fans that want to read every Warriors books once (like me lmao), Hawkwing’s Journey has not much to offer. It does give an explanation for events happening in A Vision of Shadows but those events are told in this arc just fine.

Warriors - Super Editions
➳ Firestar's Quest: ★★★★
➳ Bluestar's Prophecy: ★★★
➳ SkyClan's Destiny: ★★★.5
➳ Crookedstar's Promise: ★★★★★
➳ Yellowfang's Secret: ★★★.5
➳ Tallstar's Revenge: ★★★★★
➳ Bramblestar's Storm: ★★★.5
➳ Moth Flight's Vision: ★★★★.5
➳ Hawkwing's Journey: ★★
➳ Tigerheart's Shadow: ★★
➳ Crowfeather's Trail: ★★★
➳ Squirrelflight's Hope: ★★★
➳ Graystripe's Vow: ★★★★
➳ Leopardstar’s Honor: ★★★.5
➳ Onestar's Confession: ★★★
➳ Riverstar's Home: tbr
➳ Ivypool's Heart: tbr
➳ StormClan's Folly: tbr

[lizzie ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hawkwing is one of the most expressive warriors. He also suffers more than most.💔

[Hannah Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

5.29 on CAWPILE

Meh. I think it's handy to know what happened when Skyclan was kicked out of the gorge but at the same time, this felt unnecessary.

I did get really sad with those kits who wanted Hawkwing to be their father over the other dude.

[Cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I gave out half stars in my ratings, this book would definitely be a 3.5 out of 5 stars, but my personal philosophy is that I don't round up unless I think a book really deserves that extra star rating. That being said, I really enjoyed this book, and there were times when I couldn't put it down even though I was tired. The only reason this didn't get a four star rating is because I'm super picky and there were just a few things holding it back. Despite these few things that I picked out, this was one of my favorite super editions besides Mothwing's Vision. I didn't have any strong opinions about SkyClan or it's cats before reading this book, but now I just want to see them get a happy ending. With my initial thoughts out of the way, I will now be getting into the specifics of what I liked and disliked about this book.

I didn't necessarily take stars off for this, but one thing that bothered me was how much the book tried to be descriptive, but just ended up sounding odd. I guess maybe the Erins are trying to describe the characters' emotions in a new way, but the whole way through the book I couldn't help but wonder whether Hawkwing had a stomach problem or not because every time he felt some strong emotion he mentioned his stomach clenching or churning. If they had mixed in this new expression of emotion with the old forms then it probably would have worked better, but as it is now Hawkwing is just mentioning his stomach every few paragraphs. One thing that did contribute to a star being taken off was the way that time changed. This is a part where the authors could work on showing rather than telling. I understand that there have to be time shifts in order to skip to the interesting parts of the Clan's travels, but instead of saying "x amount of moons passed since y happened" I think they could have included subtle hints about the passage of time. This wouldn't have bothered me if it happened once or twice, but once SkyClan really got moving it happened so frequently it became annoying. Those were really the major reasons that I gave this book three stars instead of four. One other thing that is just me being picky is that I wish I had gone into this book not knowing that Darktail is a villain. I know that this isn't any fault of the authors since this is how the story had to be released to make the most sense, but I could easily see Darktail's motives for seemingly innocent things that he did, and I wasn't nearly as surprised at Hawkwing when he finally turned on the Clan. Again, this isn't the fault of the authors, but it's just something I wish could have worked out differently, so I didn't let this contribute to my rating in any way. I can't go into everything I liked about this book, but I will mention some things. I liked having more development for SkyClan characters that I'd seen before, but not in any great depth. I got more connected to the newer members and found myself loving the senior warriors even more. I thought all of the losses were well spaced out and were heartbreaking. It hurt to see so many cats that I loved die or go missing, especially when some felt unnecessary or forced, but I also know that SkyClan's struggle was part of their destiny as a Clan. I also thought it was interesting to see the depth of the relationships between SkyClan cats, and the raw power of their grief compared to the other Clan cats who are used to losing their loved ones in battle. I will say though that the main romance between Hawkwing and Pebbleshine felt entirely superficial and forced (after all they switched from hating each other to loving each other super quickly with not much reason besides Hawkwing saving Pebbleshine and Hawkwing thinking that Pebbleshine is pretty) and I was honestly rooting more for a Hawkwing and Plumwillow romance near the end of the book. The rest of the relationships were endearing though, especially Leafstar and Billystorm and my favorite, Cherrytail and Sharpclaw. I also wasn't very fond of Hawkwing in the beginning. His attitude was so unwarranted and his actions were just plain foolish most of the time. I see he gets his temper from his father, but even Sharpclaw got annoyed by it in the beginning. By the end of the book I grew to like him a bit more, especially as he took on the role of adoptive father and deputy, but he still isn't a favorite of mine. I feel even worse for Hawkwing seeing all the fans who think Violetpaw and Twigpaw are his kits because that means Pebbleshine most likely didn't make it. That being said, I really hope SkyClan gets a happy ending.