Let’s Read Good Books

My Thoughts:

May contain spoilers

I am really enjoying Bamboo Kingdom, and after listening to the latest installment, the only disappointment I have is the wait for Book 6. Reader Lillie Ricciardi, is excellent. The Lightning Path just flew by, and I finished it up driving back and forth to my brother’s house during the July 4th weekend (which was extra long this year since I had Friday off).

After all of the strife in Book 4, we return with even more in Book 5! The triplets have been separated, and each is utterly miserable alone. Ghost, framed for a murder he didn’t commit, has returned to the mountains, but rival snow cats have it out for him. Leaf has abandoned her stone and the Bamboo Kingdom after a predator attack on the red pandas, and Rain has finally come to her senses and realizes that she was wrong to accuse Ghost of killing her friend.

The young Dragon Speakers all struggle with themselves and their expectations of being the Dragon Speakers. As the pressures of their new positions mount, they all fall back on what they know and feel most comfortable with. For Ghost, devastated by how quickly the pandas turned on him after another panda is found brutally murdered, it means heading back to Winter’s den in the White Spine Mountains. It also means being ambushed by childhood rivals. I was a little disappointed with this story thread – there was no concrete reason for Brisk and Sleet to hate him so much. I feel that the animosity between them would have meant a lot more if there was a better reason for it other than Ghost being different from the snow leopards.

Leaf, after leading the red pandas to disaster, also caused by Brisk and Sleet, is so heartbroken she abandons both her Speaker Stone and her position as Dragon Speaker. She wanders off, thinking that she isn’t fit to lead the other animals. This was hard for me, both because Leaf is obviously the wisest of the three, and because she’s my favorite character. Off she went, out of the Bamboo Kingdom and out of the most of the book.

Rain, who I think is the least well suited to lead by example, is fretting about her accusations against Ghost, and the sudden violent attacks on some of the pandas. When her eyes are finally opened, and she realized that her actions have many unforeseen consequences, it seemed that she was finally going to grow up. Rain has always been the least reliable of the triplets, with a fondness for play over her duties as Dragon Speaker.

One of my favorite characters is Dasher. He went through so much in The Lightning Path. Worried for Leaf, he decides to go after her and instead finds a big heap of trouble. Captured by the monkeys, he uses every bit of cunning to keep the Dragon Stone safe from Brawnshanks. I was so worried something awful would happen to him. Crookedclaw and Brawnshanks are creatures of nightmares. I also kept wondering what was in it for Crookedclaw and how long she was willing to play second banana (pun intended) to her evil leader.

This volume of Bamboo Kingdom had it all – predator attacks, betrayal, a raging fire, and nonstop peril. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it’s going to be a long wait until the final book released in March 2025.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

From the back of the book:

Explore the secrets of the Bamboo Kingdom in the fifth installment of this thrilling new series from bestselling Warriors author Erin Hunter, perfect for fans of the Wings of Fire and Endling series.

The three Dragon Speakers must face their own troubles before they can help the Bamboo Kingdom regain peace.

After being forced out of Rain’s camp for a murder he did not commit, Ghost is still determined to prove his innocence. And though Rain isn’t convinced Ghost is guilty, she knows that if it wasn’t him, that means the killer is still at large—and still targeting her loved ones.

As Ghost sets out to reunite both of his families, Leaf is nowhere to be found, and the monkeys are watching their every move. With only piecemeal guidance from a Great Dragon that’s been split in three, how can they hope to stop what Brawnshanks is planning?