Even with how short a period The Anxious Tom had in the original series, he became a fan-favorite character, and it will be very interesting to see how his story continued in The Barn with Barley, long after he had left the worries of Tigerclaw behind. This manga isn't as commonly talked about in the modern fandom as most of the others, but it does still have potential, at this juncture, to dive into and deepen a fan-favorite character in a way we wouldn't get otherwise.

We'll just have to see how the execution pans out, and overall, if the books are still worth your time today. Oh, and before I forget, this is the manga page I'll be redrawing, chosen, as usual, by my patrons. Shattered Peace was released on November 24th of 2009, the same day as The Fourth Apprentice, roughly four months after Blue Star's Prophecy, and about five and a half months after the last manga. Return to the Clans from the Tigerstar and Sasha series. I also feel it's worth saying, at this juncture, because I have seen some confusion, I always cover the books in order of their release for the Trip Through Time series, not choosing whatever book I would like to cover in the moment. A large part of the reason for this is because I want to examine how lore, writing trends, and character portrayals began and evolved over time. It's easy, in our modern fandom, to look back at all of the books as if they are a unit, and to assume that books near each other in the in-universe chronology were written near each other, or work with the same writing trends. I go through them in release order to pick apart areas where that isn't true, and try to assess each book with only the knowledge

I would have as someone who reads these books as they came out, on the days they were released.

Now, back to Shattered Peace. Like the first trilogy of mangas, it was written by Dan Jolie and illustrated by James L. Berry, and like all of the mangas thus far, it begins with an anonymous

Aaron Hunter note. This one discusses just how popular Ravenpaw was in the fandom, and how disappointed readers were to see him leave after Into the Wild. This Aaron had been asked countless times about what Ravenpaw's warrior name would be, and their answer was always that he wouldn't have one, as he needed time to grow strong, confident, and independent apart from the rules and expectations of clan life. Of course, his life away from the clans wouldn't be completely free of worry, doubt, or danger, and he'll never completely leave his roots in Thunderclone behind, which is where the story for this manga series will come from. Shattered Peace has a total speaking cast of 17 cats, which is the highest in a James L. Berry manga to date, but roughly average in comparison to all of the mangas thus far. The top five of those cats also get 92% of the lines, with Ravenpaw and Barley being the only two cats who have over 30 lines. This is on the high end even for mangas, but given most of this story and conflict will be based around these two cats living their life on the farm, it makes perfect sense. And from there, I'll leave the lines behind, because I am more than ready to jump into that life and see how Ravenpaw and Barley are doing. We begin with Ravenpaw and his, ahem, best friend safely spending their routine days on the farm, sleeping, hunting, eating, relaxing, even marginally getting along with the two legs and their dogs, since they both leave each other alone, save for when the woman throws them some food. Ravenpaw reviews what his life in Thunderclan was like, much more draining, demanding, and dangerous than what he has now.

He could have gone back once Tigerstar was defeated, but he likes his life here, and of course, he wants to stay for Barley's sake too. They spend their days walking together, sharing banter and stories, and teaching each other skills they have learned. One leaf bear, though, when the farm is blanketed in snow and the gutter water is cold enough to freeze Ravenpaw's tongue to it, a group of cats visits and asks for shelter. There's Willy, his pregnant mate Minty, and three other cats, Snapper, Pounce, and Tess, who travel with them. Ravenpaw and Barley accept the men and give them food and shelter without a second thought, something they have apparently become famous in the area for doing, and Minty quickly has her kits, Snowflake, Icicle, Cloudy, and Sniff.

Ravenpaw is taken with all of them, especially the new kits, and quickly takes to playing with them, bringing them back toys and prey to keep them healthy and entertained, and hunting for the other visitors at their requests. Barley, however, seems worried, and when the two go out alone, he shares this worry with Ravenpaw. He can't articulate why, but something seems off about them.

Ravenpaw brushes him off, though, insisting that they are friendly visitors and going straight back to helping them again. Ravenpaw especially likes Willy, who always seems curious about the ways the farm works, including Ravenpaw's warning that they not ever go into or hunt in the chicken coop, considering how much it would anger the two legs. Barley becomes more distant, and we see him witness Snapper teaching the kits a fighting move to instantly kill another cat. He immediately tells Ravenpaw about it, but his friend can't believe him, assuming he must have misunderstood what he had seen. He's not willing to give up on the kits, no matter what. However, Barley then sees Snapper talking about how they need their own territory, but Willy puts him in his place, promising it will come in time. A week later, the visitors announce they're moving on now that the kits are strong enough to travel, and Ravenpaw has a heartfelt goodbye with the kits. Barley politely wishes them well, but is happy to have them gone and their barn empty again save for him and Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw doesn't like how he's speaking about the visitors, how he ever spoke about the visitors, which prompts Barley to say that he's way too trusting, and clearly, his behavior with them and the kits means he still wants to be in a clan, and maybe he doesn't belong on the farm.

Ravenpaw is upset, of course, but can't deny he misses the kits. That night, a fire overtakes the barn, and Barley wakes up and gets him out just in time, saving his life. Ravenpaw also immediately jumps in to save the dogs, who were otherwise tied up and unable to free themselves. Barley followed and helped him, even while thinking he was crazy. They do end up having to run from the dogs afterwards, but they aren't hurt, and the dogs remain alive. However, it's definitely not perfect.

Their barn burnt too far to use as a home, all of the mice have fled, the dogs aren't grateful to them, and they end up hungry. Worse yet, when they get back from an attempted hunt, the old visitors are back, invading the chicken coop and hunting them as they were explicitly warned against.

Ravenpaw is horrified to see how Barley was right all along, and the visitors even attack them to keep them at bay while they hunt their baby chicks for prey. The two likes come in at the wrong moment and, believing Ravenpaw and Barley to be the attackers, scream at them and drive them away, even from their own barn. They have lost everything. To rub salt in the wounds, the visitors greet them on the way out, aware that they are in trouble and arrogantly letting them know that they will be taking over the barn now that Ravenpaw and Barley aren't welcome. This is when they reveal that they were ex-Bloodclan cats, and that, after Scourge's death, the two-like place has been in chaos. They wanted their own land away from it, and so they took it. This is also why Barley felt uncomfortable about them from the beginning, faintly recognizing them from his own childhood in Bloodclan. To their credit, Ravenpaw and Barley try to fight for their land rather than giving up, but they're both out of practice, out of strength, and outnumbered. Minty steps in to stop them from being killed, thanks to Ravenpaw's kindness, but they are definitely defeated and driven off.

Ravenpaw and Barley each apologize to each other for their disagreements and ponder, in sorrow, what to do from here. They end up heading to the Moonstone for lack of other options on their way to find a new farm, and Ravenpaw gets a dream with Thunderclan ancestors in Starclan.

They greet him kindly and let him know that he has a home in the clans too, when he needs it.

Not because it's where he belongs, but because he has friendships there, and those don't go away based on where he lives. As they wake up, Ravenpaw finally dons a smile and declares that they need to go to Thunderclan. They can actually help.

And that is the end for this first entry. I'll be honest, even having just read through it,

I actually have a hard time determining how I feel about this book. Ravenpaw and Barley were both pretty undefined characters before this point. We know Ravenpaw used to be anxious and distant from a lot of Thunderclan due to his relationship with Tigerclaw, and we know Barley used to live in fear of scourge and left behind a lot of family who fell with or against him to live alone. But now, in the present day, all we really know about either of them was that they were pretty kind to clan cats passing by and lived a peaceful life. Because of that, I wouldn't be able to say that either of them are out of character or base my judgments in these books on past portrayals of them at this point in their lives. That said, parts of their conflict in this book feel off regardless. The first time we meet the visitors, both Barley and Ravenpaw easily welcome them to stay and give them food and shelter, as we have seen them do for clan cats before. However, immediately after that, and without any definitive warnings, Barley begins acting suspicious of them. We know he recognizes them subconsciously as being from BloodClan, but if that's the case, why was he so friendly when they first met? Why does his suspicion subsequently start before he has seen them do anything other than be courteous guests and have kittens? Certainly the behavior he witnessed from them later about teaching their kittens to kill and planning to take their own territory could be suspicious, but Barley began treating them as intruders long before he had seen any of that. And more than any of this, why would he be so insistent that Ravenpaw must want to return to the clans just because he is interested in kittens and company? He apologizes later, and Ravenpaw's instant denial of his suspicion certainly could have struck a nerve, but I have a hard time believing Barley wouldn't understand Ravenpaw's desire to live with him now that he decided to leave the clans again after Tigerstar and BloodClan's defeat. He could certainly be more touchy because the BloodClan cats are reminding him of his more tense past, but within the text, he doesn't even consciously recognize these cats as being from

BloodClan. All in all, there are definitely ways to explain Barley's behavior, but the text alone doesn't give me enough of a reason for it to feel entirely natural. Meanwhile, on Ravenpaw's side, I am perfectly fine believing that he got attached to the idea of teaching, taking care of, and playing with kittens. This isn't a side he ever displayed when he was an apprentice in ThunderClan, but since he has grown up and lost a lot of the constant terror he had to deal with when he was young, it makes sense for him to take on some new interests or to find young cats to be a very sweet novelty. I especially love how clear the transition from apprentice Ravenpaw is in the first few pages, as Ravenpaw describes his peaceful and pleasant life with Barley, the two of them sharing a lot of camaraderie as they go through their quiet daily routines. It's apparent early on just how much Ravenpaw prefers the life he has now, and him appreciating extra company doesn't really change that fact. What doesn't make sense is how unwilling he is to trust Barley. The first time Barley is uncomfortable around the visitors with no specific basis, it makes sense that

Ravenpaw would try to reassure him that there's nothing to worry about. But when Barley, his most trusted best friend, comes and tells him specific things he has seen them do, like teach their kittens to kill or plot a takeover of a territory, it is odd that Ravenpaw still brushes him off and doesn't believe him. Because the only thing we know about these two is how close they are,

I have a hard time grasping a conflict based around these two not believing each other, misunderstanding each other's intentions, or trusting gut instincts in strangers over their best friend. This is a conflict that definitely could work, but I think more could be done in the text to convince me of it. At the moment, conversations between Ravenpaw and Barley regarding the strangers often cause me to lose immersion in the story. That said, I have talked for quite long enough about the parts of the story I don't think worked. This book is definitely not all bad, and I can still say that, overall, I enjoyed reading it. I think Minty and the kittens developing genuine affection towards Ravenpaw because of how kind he was to them was a lovely element, and it made the moment where Minty stepped in to stop her own group from killing them powerful. Barley was correct to be suspicious, but Ravenpaw's continued generosity towards the visitors had an impact anyway. As ever, I also love the drama between cats and the twolegs they live around in these mangas. Barley and Ravenpaw's relationship with the twolegs and their dogs is a treasured one, one of understanding and respect, even if they don't purposefully interact much.

And because of that, when they lost that trust and the male twoleg chased them away furiously, it really hurt. I like how Willy probing Ravenpaw for information can be taken either as curiosity or ill will, and it makes that side of Ravenpaw's beliefs convincing. And of course, I absolutely love the serene and extremely close connection that Ravenpaw and Barley are shown to have developed in the opening, and how it returns when the barn is on fire. Whenever lackluster conflict is driving them apart, they clearly love each other and will stick by each other no matter what when they're put in danger. Honestly, the whole book is, like many of the mangas, filled with beautiful little moments of joy, sorrow, anger, and grief that pulls you along with the characters and makes the book a very pleasant read. Even if the bloodcling cats can sometimes be shallow, our main characters are not, and when we see what they're going through, in the good times and bad, we feel for them. Because the book both tells and shows us how much this life means to them, and how much we should care about it too. Regardless of anything else, this is only the first book in a series of three, and from here on out, it seems that Ravenpaw and Barley will be on the same foot- uh, er, paw. Whatever qualms I had with this book, it's gone by the end, and what's left is all of the compelling drama and potential that the book has at its heights.

This book is not awful by any means, and it shines a light towards greatness in the future.

We'll just have to see what the next two entries do with this potential when we return to Ravenpaw's manga series in a future episode of our trip through time.