Guiding Light

Warriors: Changing Skies #4

by Erin Hunter

Moonpaw, Morningkit and Goldenpaw have made their choice, and there's no going back. But while Morningkit is happy to be free of the cats who judged her, Goldenpaw struggles with his decision. Racked with guilt, Moonpaw is torn between pleasing her mate and placating the sister who refuses to leave her side.

Meanwhile, Tawnypelt has finally convinced the Clans to agree to look for a new connection to StarClan. Leading a team of cats to SkyClan’s old gorge, she hopes that the Whispering Cave will offer guidance. But as the quest begins to wear on the cats, she worries that the gorge may not hold the answers they seek and that their connection with their ancestors may be gone forever.

Punished for speaking out at the last gathering, Starlingpaw fears that he is the only cat in SkyClan who understands what the prophecies mean for them. With the support of his mother and a few Clanmates, he seeks out a larger role in the Clan, hoping to influence Hawkwing and Leafstar. But will he be able to alter SkyClan's course before the cat from the prophecies appears?

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Animals, Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

Published October 6, 2026

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

[Luke]

Why are Moonpaw and Goldenpaw mates?? They're 8 moons old in book 2 whatttt

[Christine]

Guiding Light... where to begin?

This one goes in some very unexpected directions.

One cat finds themself far from home in a really unique place that you'd never imagine a Clan cat would end up in. One cat finds themself saying an emotional farewell. And one cat just can't stop themself from making all of the wrong choices.

A really high point in this book, for me, was the return of Monkeystar, as I am a big fan of Graystripe's Vow, and I loved her character in that book.. For those who may have skipped that book, Monkeystar will just be a fun character to meet.

I also continue to love the way that Tawnypelt is written -- she carries the heaviest storyline of the arc, and her sense of urgency, wisdom, and determination for the Clans juxtaposed with the immaturity and youth of Moonpaw and Starlingpaw really stands out, especially in this one. I love spending time with her, sharing her memories, and feeling nostalgic for a different time in the Warriors series.

I really want to talk about the Moonpaw of it all, and I definitely don't think I can without unleashing a lot of spoilage. What I think is safe to say is that I don't agree with how the Erins are setting her up at the moment -- but I also feel like I can trust them enough to see her story through in a way that will make it all make sense.

HOWEVER-- I will say one HOW DARE YOU to the Erins for ONE single sentence in this book... I won't spoil it, but you'll know it when you read it. And then we can all yell "HOW DARE YOU" together.

I think this arc is coming together nicely -- I *think* I can see the vision here leading into these last 2 books of the arc, and if I'm right, these are going to be very emotional.

Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for an audio arc of this book in exchange for this review.

[Anious]

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from the publisher for the purposes of this review.

Moonpaw has decided to leave the Clans. Travelling with Goldenpaw, the cat she cares for, and who cares for her, as well as her mischievous spirit sister, Morningkit, she tries to find a way to live peacefully outside of the Clans. And although she may have abandoned the way of the warrior, the values of the code are still inside her and guide her on the unknown journey. Meanwhile, Tawnypelt tries to rally all the Clans to find a solution to the new problem troubling them. Few things go her way, but she's relentless and will travel to the world's end if that's what it takes to rescue everyone she cares for. Starlingpaw, our only protagonist who remains in the Clans, tries to find the solution in his own way. And although one can't deny the nobility of his goal and his determination, his motives and methods become increasingly less pure. But perhaps, the ends justify the means?

There's a lot that can be said about Changing Skies arc. On the one hand, I enjoy the creation of the characters. Both Moonpaw and Starlingpaw are characters who are interesting, fresh and distinct. It's easy to retread the old tropes in such a long running series, so I'm glad the effort was put in to make something that hasn't been a part of the series so far.

I like that Moonpaw in this book gets to show the positive values of the Warrior code and the society she was born in, while still presenting outsiders as good cats, who have their own strengths and culture, but can still learn something from Warriors, without just adopting their ways wholesale. The interactions between Moonpaw, her sister and her mate are also pretty strong and I enjoyed seeing them develop. The new characters are a little less memorable, but add colour to Moonpaw's chapter and are a positive contribution.

Starlingpaw's parts I loved the most and he seems to be the strongest part of the arc. Overly enthusiastic and perhaps too well-intentioned, he develops into a delightful persona who creates a lot of memorable moments, interesting conflict and grabs the readers' attention. Willing to do anything to save his Clan, he's willing to go against the structure of his society, which earns him many allies, but also strong enemies, while being fascinating to read.

I'm not satisfied with Tawnypelt's parts. She continues her travelling sequences and tries to seek the resolution to what's nominally the arc's main conflict, but she goes from one dead end to another and the small steps she makes to progress it are definitely too slow. The tiny progress isn't even fully made before the very end of the book. Her personal relationships, likewise, seem to spin their wheels, barely moving forward. Her storyline has a good direction, but without enough velocity.

This seems to mirror the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the arc. The book has many strong emotional moments, good character writing and absolutely glacial pacing. Considering this is the fourth book of the arc, one would expect to see the story cover more ground and set up the stage for the finale which isn't all that far right now.

On the other hand, I do have to praise the theming of the arc. Covering both elderly and young cats in the same series is a fascinating development and not one often appearing in the middle grade novels. They both have something to contribute and learn, and lived experiences of both vary, but complement each other. There are valuable lessons to be taught here. This book in particular seems like a thematic culmination, showing both the twilight and dawn of life and I enjoyed that very much.

As this is a review of an audiobook, a few words on narration. The narrator, Katie Anvil Rich, remains the same as in the previous books of this arc. Her performance is growing on me, I can see more heart being put into the character voices. Particularly her acting as Starlingpaw in certain sections was very lively and well done and I hope we get to see more of that in the future. Overall, she never drops below competent performance and has occasional flashes of brilliance.

An emotional, character-driven continuation that takes things too slowly.

[Brenna]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Warriors Changing Skies #4: Guiding Light had some things I enjoyed, particularly the themes of courage, loyalty, and finding your way through difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, I struggled to fully connect with this installment.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was probably my biggest challenge. With so many characters sharing one narrator and not much distinction between their voices, I sometimes had trouble keeping track of who was speaking, which made the story harder to follow.

I think readers who are already invested in the series will probably connect with this one more than I did. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for me, but I’m glad I gave it a try!

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for gifting me a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Critter]

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC.

This was an exciting entry into the series. There is a lot being set up for the upcoming books. The narrator was excellent and definitely had me gripped in the story. The book takes place over some time and there are a few major events, including one pretty emotional one that took place. I was expecting it to happen, but it still got me a bit. I'm excited for how the mystery on how they will contact StarClan is going to continue from here. I'm especially interested in how Starlingpaw's story is going to continue from here. His POV is as interesting as it is frustrating at times. He is overall an interesting character to me. I'm also intrigued on how Moonpaw's and Brightkit's relationship is going to change as well in the upcoming books. I think Brightkit is an interesting character and I'm interested in how her character arc is going to continue. I'm looking forward to the next books.

[Zero XD]

i honestly cannot even comprehend what the plot of this arc is. The names given in this one were so bad, what were they thinking??? shinepool??? moonglow???? brightmorning??????? starlingflight?????? jesus christ. And why is moonglow pregnant?? Are we Genuinely serious . i don’t even have it in me to talk about how awful this arc is so far. Brightmorning is no longer relevant to the plot and the only interesting things that happen are from starlingflight’s pov. Tawnybore has done nothing except for larp as a yearner and think about when tigerheartstar was a kit. goldenheart is just a bum and i wish moonglow would turn on him or something. literally nothing in this book makes sense. Where is the plot

[Alex T.]

A solid enough installment. I still don't feel that a lot of progress was made story-wise but at least we got a shard of Moonstone and a Starlingflight villain arc now. I do like all three of these POV's, so that's a plus. I think my favorite character is still Tawnypelt, though.

[Loang]

most entertained that i've been in MONTHS

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