Warrior Cats Books in Order: All 9 Arcs and 52 Novels

The Warrior Cats series currently runs to nine story arcs and 52 main-series novels, according to the publisher's own books index. Eight arcs have six books each; the ninth, Changing Skies, has four titles listed so far. Everything else on the official site - the Super Editions, novellas, manga and field guides - sits around that spine as side stories, prequels and companion volumes. This guide lists the arcs in order, names every main-series book, and explains where the extras fit without turning the list into a 100-item wall.

• 9 arcs, 52 main-series novels on warriorcats.com
• Start with The Prophecies Begin, not with the prequel arc
• Dawn of the Clans is a prequel set generations before the first book
• 19 Super Editions stand alone and can be read between arcs
• Changing Skies is the newest arc with four books listed

Official source: arc names, book counts and individual titles come from the publisher's books index. Character and setting background is on warriorcats.com, and the game adaptation is listed on Steam.

The Nine Arcs at a Glance

Publication spans are approximate and based on the original English editions. If you are buying, check the edition in front of you rather than trusting a list, because reissues and box sets shuffle the dates.

The Books in Order, Arc by Arc

1. The Prophecies Begin

1. Into the Wild
2. Fire and Ice
3. Forest of Secrets
4. Rising Storm
5. A Dangerous Path
6. The Darkest Hour

This is the arc the series is remembered for, and the one to hand a new reader. It introduces the four Clans, the warrior code and a house cat who joins ThunderClan.

2. The New Prophecy

1. Midnight
2. Moonrise
3. Dawn
4. Starlight
5. Twilight
6. Sunset

The middle arc of the first era, and the one that permanently rearranges where the Clans live.

3. Power of Three

1. The Sight
2. Dark River
3. Outcast
4. Eclipse
5. Long Shadows
6. Sunrise

A generation shift: the protagonists are now the kits of the first arc's heroes.

4. Omen of the Stars

1. The Fourth Apprentice
2. Fading Echoes
3. Night Whispers
4. Sign of the Moon
5. The Forgotten Warrior
6. The Last Hope

The fourth arc closes the story that began in Into the Wild, which is why reading the first four arcs in order matters more than reading any other four.

5. Dawn of the Clans

1. The Sun Trail
2. Thunder Rising
3. The First Battle
4. The Blazing Star
5. A Forest Divided
6. Path of Stars

A prequel set long before the Clans existed in their current form. It is published fifth and set first, and that is exactly why new readers should not start here.

6. A Vision of Shadows

1. The Apprentice's Quest
2. Thunder and Shadow
3. Shattered Sky
4. Darkest Night
5. River of Fire
6. The Raging Storm

The start of the second era, with a new set of young cats and a plot that assumes you know the earlier arcs.

7. The Broken Code

1. Lost Stars
2. The Silent Thaw
3. Veil of Shadows
4. Darkness Within
5. The Place of No Stars
6. A Light in the Mist

A leadership and belief crisis that pays off threads from several earlier arcs.

8. A Starless Clan

1. River
2. Sky
3. Shadow
4. Thunder
5. Wind
6. Star

Three protagonists, one per Clan perspective, and a storyline about changing the code itself.

9. Changing Skies

1. The Elders' Quest
2. Hidden Moon
3. Chasing Shadows
4. Guiding Light

The newest arc, with four books on the official index at the time of writing. If a fifth appears later, the count of 52 will change, which is worth remembering before quoting this list in a video. The fifth book is now dated — see the new Warrior Cats books calendar for False Dawn and the 2027 schedule.

Where the Super Editions Fit

Super Editions are longer standalone novels, and there are 19 of them: Firestar's Quest, Bluestar's Prophecy, SkyClan's Destiny, Crookedstar's Promise, Yellowfang's Secret, Tallstar's Revenge, Bramblestar's Storm, Moth Flight's Vision, Hawkwing's Journey, Tigerheart's Shadow, Crowfeather's Trial, Squirrelflight's Hope, Graystripe's Vow, Leopardstar's Honor, Onestar's Confession, Riverstar's Home, Ivypool's Heart, StormClan's Folly, and Darktail's Judgment.

They are not numbered, and the publisher does not present them as a sequence. The practical reading order is to finish the arc a Super Edition comments on, then read it. Bluestar's Prophecy, for example, means much more after The Prophecies Begin than before it, even though most of it is set earlier in time.

Novellas, Manga and Field Guides

The novellas are short digital-first stories, usually collected in three-in-one print volumes, and there are 16 of them. The manga runs to 21 volumes across several sub-series, and the graphic novel line has four books so far, including three volumes of The Prophecies Begin adaptation and a New Prophecy volume.

Field guides are the non-fiction side of the series: they describe the Clans, the code, the herbs and the territories rather than telling a story. They are useful reference material and a bad place to start reading, because they assume you already care about the cats they describe.

The Reading Order That Actually Works

Publication order is the safest order, and it is the order in the table above. Start with The Prophecies Begin, read the first four arcs before Dawn of the Clans, then continue in publication order. That keeps every reveal in the sequence the authors intended.

Chronological order is the tempting alternative and it is a trap for a first read. Dawn of the Clans comes first in the timeline and fifth in publication, with good reason: it explains how the Clans formed, which only matters once you have seen what they became.

If you are reading with a child, the first arc is the right entry point. If you are returning to the series after years away, the arc summaries above will tell you where you stopped faster than a full series list will.

Which Books the Game Uses

Clans of the Forest is not an adaptation of one novel. It is an action RPG with a created cat and a Clan campaign, and its Steam feature list advertises nine cats drawn from the books rather than a retelling of an arc. Our characters and book cats guide names the ones that appear and explains why the roster is smaller than the cast of 52 novels. Our game overview covers what the game does with the setting.

If you want to understand the rules the books keep referring to, the warrior code list collects all 15 numbered rules, and the guide to herbs covers what medicine cats actually do with them.

FAQ

How many Warrior Cats books are there? The main series has 52 novels across nine arcs on the publisher's books index. Add 19 Super Editions, 16 novellas, 21 manga volumes and four graphic novels, and the total passes 100.

What is the first Warrior Cats book? Into the Wild, the first book of The Prophecies Begin, published in 2003.

Should I read Dawn of the Clans first? No. It is a prequel set generations earlier, but it is published fifth and assumes you already know the Clans it is explaining.

Is Changing Skies finished? The official index lists four books in the arc at the time of writing. Treat the arc as ongoing until the publisher says otherwise.

For how the game's original story relates to the novels, see Warrior Cats game vs books.