Bravelands: Broken Pride

Hunter, Erin. Bravelands: Broken Pride
June 6th 2017 by HarperCollins
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Right after Swiftcub earns his new name of Fearless, his father, Gallant, is attacked by Titan and two of his lion goons. Gallant is killed and Fearless is in danger of being killed as well, but an eagle saves him and drops him into a baboon colony. Some of the baboons want to eat him, but the Bright Forest troop sages decide he is a good omen. There are very decided social divisions within the troop, and two of the young baboons, Mud and Thorn, are trying to move up from Deeproots to Brightleaf. Thorn is motivated by the fact that Berry, whom he loves, is a higher caste than he is, so he will not be able to court her unless he successfully completes the challenges, such as stealing a bird egg or crossing the crocodile river. Nut, his nemesis, tries unsuccessfully to stop him. We also see the elephant tribe, headed by the Great Mother, who channels the Great Spirit that rules all of the animals of the Bravelands except for the lions. One of the elephants, Sky, thinks that the watering hole is dangerous, because she can read animal bones and know what happened to the animals. Fearless is welcome in the troop for a while, because he saved baboons from a hyena attack, but after Grub is murdered, the new leader has him leave. He is lucky enough to find Loyal, who was a friend of his father's, but he ignores the older lion's advice and tries to get a look at his mother (who is now blind and in danger of being left behind) in the Titanpride. Titan is distracted by Fearless' presence, and the hyenas run off with his son, Ruthless. Titan and Fearless make a pact-- if Fearless can retrieve Titan's son, his mother can continue to stay in the safety of the pride. Will Fearless be able to use the skills he learned from the baboons, as well as their help, to save Ruthless? What will become of the animals in the Bravelands once Sky's prophecy seems to be coming true?
Strengths: I was able to remember everything with minimal notes! Oh, wait. Strengths of the book. It does help that the characters are easier to follow than the Warrior Cats; they don't change their names quite as often. It's interesting to read about the groups of different types of animals, and the baboons end up having a rather dark social order.
Weaknesses: Titan is rather stereotypical. The beginning reads sort of like The Lion King.
What I really think: It doesn't matter what I think. My students love these, and I'll have to buy the series. It might be a cat lover thing, these books, because the Seekers (bear series) and the Empty City (dog series) don't get nearly the circulation. Although Sutherland's Wings of Fire series does well. I'll buy the first one and see if there is interest in the next.