Thursday, January 26, 2017

New Erin Hunter Series: Bravelands! Book #1: Broken Pride - Preview and Speculation

To many people's surprise, a new Erin Hunter series is arriving this summer, and it takes place in the African plains!

Bravelands Book #1: Broken Pride

This new series is told from the points of view of its three main characters:
  • Fearless, a male lion cub. 
  • Thorn, a young male baboon.
  • Sky, a young female elephant.
Here is the blurb for Bravelands Book #1: Broken Pride, which is being released June 6, 2017:
Above the plains of Bravelands, the birds can taste change on the air…

Fearless, a lion cub, is thrust into a new life when a challenger kills his father and takes control of the pride. Forced to flee, Fearless is snatched up by an eagle and discovered in its nest by a troop of baboons. They name him Cub of the Stars: some see his arrival as a good omen, whereas others believe it shows the world will be turned on its head.

Thorn, a young baboon eager to move up the troop’s hierarch, is hungry for adventure, but he also needs to reach a higher status so his beloved Berry can be his mate. Thorn isn’t the only baboon with ambition, however. The troop is horrified when their leader is murdered, and Thorn thinks he knows who did it…

Sky, a young elephant migrating towards Bravelands with her herd, only she understands the dangers facing all the animals. She has a horrifying vision of the watering hole her herd is heading towards, the water red with blood, and beside it a lion roaring in pain as a baboon howls triumphantly on its back…

A lion, a baboon and an elephant - as the omens converge, a great change comes to Bravelands, and life for the animals who live there will never be the same…
Broken Pride is 352 pages long and is sure to be action-packed! Here are some of my predictions for the book:

  • Visions and omens are mentioned quite often in the blurb, so the Bravelands series will most likely have some spiritual aspects, similar to StarClan in the Warriors series.
  • The blurb comments refers to a "great change" that is yet to occur. In the book overview on the HarperCollins website, there is a statement about how the balance among predators and prey could possibly be altered due to a betrayal. Perhaps these statements are related, and the change is that predators and prey turn against each other.
  • Also, it's worth noting that there has always been a rule on the African plains that animals must "only kill to survive". Most likely there is going to be some conflict revolving around this rule being broken, especially considering the blurb already reveals two deaths, that of Fearless's father and that of the baboon leader.
These are just some of my thoughts regarding how the story could go based on the information that's been released so far. I am really looking forward to reading Bravelands #1: Broken Pride when it arrives on this summer! New Erin Hunter series don't come out very often, so be sure to stay tuned for any more information regarding Broken Pride!