''Warrior’s Refuge'' is the second in an

original English-language manga An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses al ...

trilogy based on the best-selling book series ''Warriors'' by

Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several children's fantasy novel series which focus o ...

. The manga was published by the distributor

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

, and was released on 26 December 2007 along with ''Dark River'', the second book in ''Warriors: Power of Three''. It follows Graystripe and Millie as they journey to find ThunderClan. It is drawn by

James L. Barry James L. Barry is an American comics artist, comic artist best known for his work on the ''Warriors (novel series), Warriors'' manga series through Tokyopop. He has also done online comics, such as ''The Lost Horn'', ''Lost Marbles'', ''The Last P ...

Plot summary

The book opens with a short summary of the past events of the previous book, '' The Lost Warrior''. Coming to the current time, Graystripe and his traveling companion, Millie, can see Highstones in the distance. As they are traveling through a corn field, a combine pursues them. Graystripe and Millie are separated as they flee from the monster. Graystripe manages to get to a nearby barn, and asks for help from the cats inhabiting the barn. The barn cats agree to help Graystripe find Millie. They find Millie and learn the hard corn leaves cut and damaged Millie's eyes. Graystripe and Millie are allowed to stay until she recovers. Husker, one of the barn cats explains to the two cats that they used to live in the nearby Twoleg nest (human house). Unfortunately, the Twolegs (humans) died, and a new family moved in. The new residents disliked the cats, so they were chased out. They had lived in the barn ever since and had to deal with the Twoleg's dogs. Graystripe and Millie face the pet dogs of the family after they wander into the barn. Millie can speak dog and is able to send the dogs away. The barn cats are amazed by Millie's ability and she teaches them how to speak dog. A few days later, Millie and Graystripe see a Twoleg kit in pursuit of a frog. She approaches dangerously close to the edge of a pond, almost falling into it. Graystripe manages to catch the child's attention and lead her away. The Twoleg's parents are very grateful to the cats. Over time, the Twolegs accept the barn cats as well and even adopt them as their kittypets through a plan of Graystripe's. The two travelers continue their route towards home. However, when they arrive at the forest, they find the territory is destroyed and ThunderClan is gone.

Pre-release history

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

and

had agreed to publish a trilogy of Graystripe manga volumes, announced in February 2007. It was written by Erin Hunter and Dan Jolley, and illustrated by James L. Barry.

Publication history

''Warrior's Refuge'' was published on 26 December 2007. It was released on the same day as ''Dark River'', the second book in the ''Warriors: Power of Three'' series. ''Warrior's Refuge'' has only been published as a paperback.

Critical reception

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'' gave the book a mixed review praising "Millie's bravery", but also criticizing how scratchy text used when humans talk seems very odd when used with the toddlers. The review also criticized how the "artwork is merely competent and the story (which was not written by Hunter) is slight".

References

{{Warriors (Erin Hunter) 2006 American novels American fantasy novels Tokyopop titles W 2006 children's books Novels about cats Novels about dogs Comics about anthropomorphic cats Comics about talking animals Original English-language manga