The Darkest Hour (novel)

Firestar is now the leader of ThunderClan, following the death of Bluestar and he receives his nine lives at the Moonstone. During the ceremony StarClan tells him the prophecy "Four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest". He chooses as his deputy Whitestorm, an experienced warrior who is old, but well-respected in the Clan. At the next Gathering, Tigerstar attempts to unify all four Clans claiming that it would help the Clans survive. While Leopardstar agrees, Tallstar and Firestar both refuse to join this alliance, which Tigerstar has called "TigerClan". Accompanied by Ravenpaw, who is on a visit to ThunderClan, Graystripe and Firestar go to RiverClan and find that Graystripe's kits, Stormpaw and Featherpaw, and Bluestar's kits, Mistyfoot and Stonefur, are being held prisoner because of their half-Clan heritage. Since they are all half-ThunderClan and half-RiverClan, Tigerstar accuses them of being traitors and abominations because of their mixed Clan heritage. Firestar, Graystripe, and Ravenpaw manage to rescue Mistyfoot, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw, but Stonefur is killed by Darkstripe and Blackfoot when he refuses to kill Stormpaw and Featherpaw.

In an attempt to convince Tallstar and Firestar to join his alliance, Tigerstar tells them about his alliance with BloodClan, a dangerous group of rogue cats that lives in the alleys of the nearby human town. When both leaders still refuse, Tigerstar orders BloodClan to fight for him, but they do not do so, as they only listen to the commands of their leader, Scourge. Firestar publicly reveals Tigerstar's bloodthirsty history and asserts that he cannot be trusted to share power, leading Scourge to announce that there will be no battle. Enraged by Scourge's refusal to cooperate, Tigerstar attacks him, but Scourge slays Tigerstar easily by cutting him open from chin to tail with his claws, which are reinforced with dead dogs' teeth. This significant wound causes Tigerstar to lose all nine of his lives at once. Scourge then gives all of the forest Clans three days to leave; otherwise, they will have to fight BloodClan for the forest. To face this threat, the four Clans unite, forming an alliance known as LionClan. During the battle, Whitestorm is killed by Bone, BloodClan's deputy, but Bone is killed soon afterwards by a group of Clan apprentices. The battle is won when Firestar kills Scourge, though he loses one of his own nine lives in the process. Without its leader, BloodClan scatters. With the threat of BloodClan past, the four Clans dissolve their alliance become independent from one another once more.

The book was first released in the US on October 5, 2004, as a hardcover.[2] It was later leased as a paperback on October 4, 2005,[3] and later as an e-book on September 4, 2007.[4] The book has also been published in German,[5] Chinese,[6] Japanese, French, Russian, and Korean.[7]

Bookloons notes that the book "stresses the importance of caring and community". This is shown to be true as the Clans need to work together in order to defeat BloodClan. Normally, the Clans are enemies with one another, and occasionally form alliances with one other Clan, however, all four forest Clans had to cooperate to protect their home from BloodClan.[8]

The Darkest Hour received critical acclaim. Hilary Williamson wrote: "The Darkest Hour is the best yet in this thrilling series of feline adventure, that also stresses the importance of caring and community".[8] A reviewer for Booklist called The Darkest Hour "tension-filled".[9]