Sep 27, 2005, 9:34 GMT
This second entry in a cat adventure series has solid plotting and enhanced complexity but is marred by the same preciousness of its predecessor.
Six cats are far from home, on a quest for information that may save their forest from destructive Twolegs (humans). Though the cats come from different Clans, they`ve bonded on the trip, so when they meet an unknown cat Tribe and new dangers, they work together.
The strange Tribe has had a vision in which one of the Clan cats is their savior; does this give him a moral obligation to fulfill their prophecy? Meanwhile, back at home, cats desperately watch their forest bulldozed and their prey disappear. Hunter`s writing is mundane, the cats` names blend (Leafpaw, Squirrelpaw, Brambleclaw), and the replacement of the verb 'said' with 'meowed' and 'mewed' is repeatedly cloying.
However, a small plot twist is refreshing and suspense builds steadily towards the final installment, the plot of which is nicely unpredictable. (name chart, maps) (Fantasy. 8-11)
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