The Heart of a Warrior

Warriors Manga: Ravenpaw's Path #3

by Erin Hunter, James L. Barry, Dan Jolley

A graphic novel adventure from the world of Erin Hunter’s #1 nationally bestselling Warriors series!

In the third book of the Ravenpaw’s Path manga arc, find out what happened to Ravenpaw after he left ThunderClan in Warriors #1: Into the Wild.

Ravenpaw and Barley helped their friends in ThunderClan defeat the vicious BloodClan cats in Twolegplace. Now they're ready to fight to reclaim their home on the farm. Firestar has promised to send a warrior patrol to assist them, but Ravenpaw worries that it won't be enough to chase out the invaders. He knows that he must find his courage and fight like a warrior—or lose his home forever.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Animals, Cats, Middle Grade, Comics

93 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2010

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

[Conrad]

I'm sixty years old, read all the time, and I found this a surprisingly well constructed and illustrated book. We didn't have things this good when I was a kid; maybe they're all this good now; for our kids' sake, I hope so.

[Emma]

I was wanting a nice little short read because why not? And I always realize how much I miss meaningful characters from the past series and I just loved it so much.

[Ola Wicher]

Najlepsza część z trylogii o Kruczej Łapie

[Julia｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+]

IM CRYING I LOVE RAVENPAW AND BARLEY SM😭😭

[Hannibal]

Wszystko co jest związane z 1 serią jest strasznie nostalgiczne

[Miles]

Is there Scourge? No

It kinda felt like a lot of filler(like unnecessary interruptions and stuff)-- but man Ravenpaw loves Barley it's so cute-- just dudes being dudes

[Estella Elgeston]

Ngl IT was soo good!

[lena ⋆୨♡୧⋆]

THE MEMORIES ---

wojownicy byli seria mojego dzieciństwa i nawet nie pamiętam kiedy ostatni raz sięgnęłam po książkę z tej serii więc podczas czytania wspomnienia po prostu zatopiły moją głowę. ale sama książka była średnia. mogę się trochę przyczepić do tłumaczenia bo brzmiało okropnie i dziwnie infantylnie. tak samo jest to strasznie krótka pozycja co mnie bardzo zdziwiło bo spodziewałam się czegoś konkretniejszego.

2,75

[Jamie-Ashton Fabian]

This was a really strong finish to a really great story. I loved how this provided just a bit more insight into Ravenpaw and Barley’s lives and what happened to them after Bloodclan. This wrapped up everything really nicely and I quite enjoyed reading it!

[Marie the Librarian]

A good ending to a fun trilogy.

[Robbie]

It was fun to follow Ravenpaw and Barley's adventures.

[Maggie Sullivan]

"Manga".
People will say they were roomates...

[Steff Fox]

| Review on Reader Fox Blog |

It's hard to believe I'm here.

There's sort of an irony to the title of Erin Hunter's conclusion to Ravenpaw's Path. The Heart of a Warrior feels very unfitting, if I'm being honest. Sure, like many of the others, this manga involves a giant battle. But does that really make Ravenpaw a warrior? Not only was Hunter adamant about never giving Ravenpaw a warrior name, but the battle was literally to gain back the territory of a barn so he and Barley can laze about all day.

It just doesn't match, is all I'm saying.

Today, Barley and I are going home!

I've not generally been much of a fan of the Warriors mangas. Perhaps, were I much younger, I'd probably love them. I think the unfortunate piece is really that I missed these books when I was younger. I think the first arc had only just been published back then, so this is a testament to the fact that I just grew up before these books got published.

Ultimately, though, there's not much to Ravenpaw's Path and, subsequently, The Heart of a Warrior that really makes the story standout as worthwhile to me. There's a territory dispute and so a bunch of fighting ensues. And really, that's all there is to it with this story. There's a minor side plot about problematic family members who take advantage of hospitality. But...in the end, it all just feels pointless.

All brave cats...all trained well by ThunderClan

Ultimately, the only worth I've found so far to my experience with this story is the callback to beloved characters from the original series. There's Firestar, obviously, then Greystripe and Sandstorm. I've even grown rather attached to Dustpelt, ironically enough. And with the inclusion of Ravenpaw, we've literally got the group of apprentices together again.

I loved that about this tale, but in graphic novel format without much conversation between the lot, the nostalgic love for it is short-lived. It's a real shame. As much as I loved the original six books, the nostalgic callback really wasn't enough to sell this spinoff.

And I'll admit that it's not terrible. The Heart of a Warrior is still a mildly fun story in the end. I guess part of me just wishes that Ravenpaw had chosen to return at some point.

| Reader Fox Links |

[Emma Lane]

I'm really not sure why I keep writing these vague reviews but of course, cats good, fighting fun. The annoying brothers' unwelcome stay made me feel like the female authorship started to shine through in Ravenpaw's character- and that's great! We love a tom who understands the burden of unappreciated hospitality.

[Lara Vehar]

This one was just great too. Seeing Firestar and the rest of the Thunderclan help Barley and Ravenpaw take back their home was great and seeing Barley fight and then stand up to his brothers was great too.

[Hannah Simpson]

The finale in Ravenpaw's Path, and it gets very intense. You just gotta read it and find out what happens!

[Melody]

A satisfying end to this trilogy. Ravenpaw is one of my favourite characters, and it is sad that we don't get to see him too much in the main series.

[liv]

I loved the ending, It was a happy ending. And they got their home back, which made me happy.

[Brooklyn]

Love how Thunderclan worked with the barn cats to save their little home and I love how much Barly and Ravenpaw depend on each other, like brothers!

[Danielle]

Read September 9, 2021.

And done another one! Nothing like a good manga to refresh my love for the series. And I have to say, the Ravenpaw trilogy is one of my favourites so far out of the manga/graphic novels. The writing is very cute, without being overly kiddie. And the art is adorable! I may be biased because I've been reading the colour versions, but seriously, Ravenpaw is so cute. (I may also be biased toward black cats. Sorry not sorry.)

I liked that they didn't win right away, and had to sort of strategize! I love seeing Firestar and co in graphic novel format, it's fun to try picking out different Clan cats based on appearance.

Also, Barley, pls. That little declaration at the end was so cute. These two are so obviously in a relationship, I love it. Erins, please put more gay cats in your books. But like make them explicitly gay this time, I need wlw and mlm cats. HarperCollins don't be homophobic challenge.

Okay, anyway, I'm getting loopy so it's time to get ready for bed. This was a fun read though! Next up is SkyClan's Destiny, which I will probably start tomorrow!

[Devon]

This final book in the manga mostly wrapped things up pretty well. There were a few moments where I felt either Barley or Ravenpaw seemed way out of character that was kind of frustrating to me. Ravenpaw seems to do a complete 180 in terms of his actions from the first book in the manga while Barley also does a 180. Barley wasn't trusting now he suddenly trust his two brothers for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Ravenpaw meanwhile very quickly decides he doesn't like the two of them despite putting up with similar behavior in book one. Both Barley and Ravenpaw's arches feel very confused like the writing team wasn't sure what they wanted them to be doing. I also got to see Deadfoot briefly though.

[Reian]

I will agree that out of the three books in the trilogy, this was the best one. I liked that it didn't end easily, and even when I thought it was over Ravenpaw had even more challenges to face - or were they to fill the last few pages, who knows? Either way I've long since held the opinion that we didn't need to hear about Ravenpaw beyond what we got in the books, so reading these is really just something a hard-core Ravenpaw fan will do to be self-indulgent. As for myself I'm just low key mad that the perfect chance for same-sex relationship representation is completely glossed over. Ravenpaw friendzones himself like 40 times in this trilogy.

[Kurami Rocket]

A nice conclusion to Ravenpaw's Path.

I don't have much to say other than I loved the fact the dogs did realize and understand that Ravenpaw and Barely saved their lives and in the end helped them drive out the rouges and the remnants of Bloodclan. Definitely, a great moment and the best moment in the manga.

Overall, a short and fast read. This is about what I would expect from a Warriors book. Not bad at all. Entertaining.

[R J Royer]

The final and best book in this trilogy is one about learning that sometimes family is what you make not what you are born into. It also teaches you to be careful about letting your own blood get in the way when doing something that is right and good.

Just an amazing read and I am so glad that the series is out there for others.

[Aristide]

This is book 37 in my journey to read all of Warrior Cats! This was a fun little wrap on Barley & Ravenpaw’s trilogy. Nice little battle with Bloodclan, again 🙄! And the dogs understanding Barley?! But my favorite was Barley standing up for Ravenpaw and kicking Hoot and Jumper out. They’re the worst. Barley & Ravenpaw deserves each other, they’re so cute!

[Mione]

Even more incredible artwork in this book, I absolutely loved seeing Firestar and Ravenpaw’s friendship when they were saying goodbye as well as seeing Barley and Ravenpaws. Overall a really good manga series possibly my favourite so far.

[Alex T.]

The best one of the arc. A strong message of loyalty > blood relations and a few intense battles. Art is still good. I like Barley's development.

I am a bit confused about Deadfoot being here, though, wasn't he supposed to have died in the battle against BloodClan?

[Saaabiii]

"—La sangre no lo es todo, la lealtad lo es todo. Y Cuervo me ha sido más leal de lo que ustedes podrían ser en cien vidas más."
"—Somos tan fuertes como un clan, sólo nosotros dos. Y todo este territorio es nuestro. Sólo nuestro."

OMFG QUÉ ES ESTE BL

[Joanna]

Nice

[Teresa cox]

😍