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Into the Wild (novel)

Into the Wild AuthorErin HunterCover artistWayne McLoughlinCountryUnited KingdomSeriesWarriorsGenreFantasy novelPublisherAvon, HarperCollins21 January 2003Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)Pages272 (depending on edition)ISBN978-0-06-000002-8LC ClassPZ7.H916625 In 2003Followed byFire and Ice
Into the Wild is a fantasy novel written by Erin Hunter. The novel was published by HarperCollins in Canada and the United States in January 2003, and in the United Kingdom in February 2003. It is the first novel in the Warriors series. The book has been published in paperback, and e-book formats in twenty different languages. The story is about a young domestic cat named Rusty who leaves his human owners to join a group of forest-dwelling feral cats called ThunderClan, adopting a new name: Firepaw. He is trained to defend and hunt for the Clan, becomes embroiled in a murder and betrayal within the Clan, and, at the end of the book, receives his warrior name, Fireheart, after a battle with another Clan. He must face the evil Tigerclaw. The novel is written from the perspective of Fireheart (previously known as Rusty for a short time, then, for most of the book, Firepaw).

The series began in 2003 when HarperCollins requested Holmes to write a book on feral cats. After creating one storyline Holmes brought in Kate Cary to finish writing the book as Holmes went behind the scenes to edit and supervise the details. Holmes has compared the style of the book to a different language as the books are written by three separate authors. She feels that Erin Hunter must have a consistent voice the entire series. The story uses a lexicon with words such as "Twoleg" substituted for "human" or "new-leaf" for "spring". The style has been compared to the Harry Potter series, J.R.R. Tolkien and Brian Jacques. Themes include family, loyalty, death, courage, and survival. Into the Wild was critically well received. Booklist believed the book would appeal to followers of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. Among other awards, it claimed third place in the 2006 Young Reader's Choice Award.

Plot
The fictional forest of the novel was originally inspired by New Forest (above) and other locales in England and Scotland.
Into the Wild follows the integration of a house cat named Rusty into a group of feral cats living in a fictional forest inspired by the real world locales of New Forest, the woods about Loch Lomond, the Forest of Dean, and the Scottish Highlands. The group of cats are called ThunderClan, and share the fictional forest with three other groups of feral cats called RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan.

The novel opens with a battle between ThunderClan and RiverClan over a territorial dispute. ThunderClan is outnumbered and forced to retreat. In the aftermath, ThunderClan's medicine cat Spottedleaf receives a prophecy from StarClan, the spirits of the cats' deceased ancestors, telling her that "fire will save our Clan", which she shares with ThunderClan's leader Bluestar.

When he ventures into the forest near his home, Rusty, a flame-coloured housecat, encounters Bluestar, ThunderClan apprentice Graypaw, and ThunderClan warrior Lionheart. They invite Rusty to join ThunderClan. However, due to Rusty's domesticated past, some members of the Clan are hostile towards Rusty upon his arrival in ThunderClan's camp. The hostility culminates in Rusty fighting one of ThunderClan's warriors, Longtail, losing his collar in the process. Bluestar then halts the fight and announces that Rusty has earned his apprentice name, Firepaw. Shortly after, ThunderClan's deputy Redtail is revealed to have died, and Bluestar names Lionheart the new deputy of ThunderClan.

Firepaw forms a strong friendship with Graypaw, and Ravenpaw, who is the apprentice of Tigerclaw, an ambitious ThunderClan warrior who wishes to become Clan leader. When Bluestar, Tigerclaw, Ravenpaw, Firepaw, and Graypaw travel to the Moonstone, a sacred site to the Clan cats, ShadowClan cats attack ThunderClan's camp, killing Lionheart. A few days later, Spottedleaf is murdered, and several ThunderClan kits are abducted by ShadowClan. With the exception of Firepaw and Graypaw, all of ThunderClan suspects the perpetrator of these events to be Yellowfang, a former and exiled ShadowClan medicine cat whom Firepaw had taken prisoner for ThunderClan earlier.

Firepaw learns from Ravenpaw that Tigerclaw is a traitor to the Clan, having murdered Redtail in hopes of becoming deputy. Firepaw and Graypaw lead Ravenpaw to a new home in a barn away from ThunderClan territory in order to protect him from being killed by Tigerclaw for knowing too much incriminating information. Firepaw then successfully leads a rescue party with Yellowfang to rescue the abducted kits from ShadowClan, leading to the exile of Brokenstar and his followers from ShadowClan. For their heroism in rescuing the kits, Firepaw and Graypaw are promoted to warriors by Bluestar, who gives them their warrior names, Fireheart and Graystripe. Having proven that she is not helping ShadowClan, Yellowfang is accepted as ThunderClan's medicine cat, replacing the murdered Spottedleaf.

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