I read a blog post on
novelmatters.com recently that really grabbed my attention. It was called
“Storyteller Vs. Status Seeker.” The premise of the post was that real and true
storytellers can’t wait to get back in and start writing again, no matter how “important”
publicity may be. They want words, and they will get their words one way or
another. Status seekers are storytellers who get caught up in pumping out the
next novel for the sake of noveling. They want as many books as possible to be
recognized as “that author.” Unfortunately, it happens a lot.
Mega-unfortunately, it’s happened to
one of my favorite authors of all time.
Erin Hunter had an amazing first
series of Warriors books that
captured my imagination and took me to the forest I have never left in my mind
as I followed Fireheart and Graystripe on their perilous journey to stay alive
amidst so much war and devastation among the cat Clans. I will never forget the
amazingness of that first series. However, as the years go by, the team of five
have fallen from storytellers to status seekers. I witnessed this over their
last warrior cat arc, Warriors: Omen of
the Stars. Quality fell dramatically. All but two of the characters fell
into the “blah” and “gray” categories. It was like a mass merging of
personalities into one entity that somehow split itself into multiple creatures
with slightly altering factors. Needless to say, I was severely annoyed. This
quality downturn took a sharp hook into their bear series, Seekers.
Now, the first series I can’t review
because I read it a while ago and can’t remember everything about the books.
But I can say that the last one in the first series disappointed. Hunter built
up the plot to where the bears—Toklo, Lusa, Ujurak, and Kallik—were going to do
something amazing, but what they ended up doing was destroying an oil tower to
“save the wild.” (insert disappointed stoic face) Wow, really? This trend
continues in the second series, Seekers:
Return to the Wild.
The first book pretty much was about
this: travel and getting lost. The teaser offered us that Toklo, Lusa, Kallik,
and now Yakone were going to get lost in a set of dark tunnels and be stuck
there amidst peril and adventure as they tried to find their way out. Did it
happen? No. They were lost for approximately two chapters, three at most.
This—aggravated—me. To no end did it aggravate me. And the little bear they
ended up encountering? Yeah, Nanulak was more a pestilence and annoyance than
anything. I hated him so much I cannot begin to convey the frustration I
harbored towards this bear. Oh, and yes, hunting and stuff is essential, but
when the book is comprised of 80% hunting and travel with random, meaningless
appearances from other bears (Tekani, the polar bear Toklo met up with
briefly), then I fail to understand how the book made it onto the New York Times bestseller list. It
failed in delivering what it promised. Miserably.
Seekers:
Return to the Wild: Island of Shadows gets Three flipped pages out of Ten.
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