Code of the Clans

"As you've heard, we are not always perfect, but we have a great deal of faith in our warrior ancestors. The code lives in our heartbeat, the blood pulsing beneath our fur. When we die, the code carries on in our kits, and their kits, for all the moons to come. StarClan willing, the code of the Clans will live forever, until the forest and the lake have turned to dust and our hunting grounds are no more."

— Leafpool concluding the reader's time with her in Code of the Clans, page 156

Code of the Clans
General
Author:	Victoria Holmes
Cover artist:	Wayne McLoughlin
Jacket designer:	Hilary Zarycky
Details
Publish date:	9 June 2009
Identification:	ISBN 9780061660092
Editions:	Hardcover, e-Book
Summary
The warrior Clans have embraced the warrior code for as long as any living cat can remember. Now, for the first time, discover the secrets behind the code: What was the origin of the code? Which cats decreed the legendary laws? Which laws failed to become part of the code? All this and more will be revealed in Code of the Clans!
Resources
Chapter subpages

Code of the Clans is the third book in the Field Guides and is about the warrior code.

Dedication

For Mr. Pugh, with love

Special Thanks to Victoria Holmes

Bookjacket

The front flap

The secrets behind the warrior code will finally be revealed....

• An ominous sign from StarClan that signaled the need to patrol borders.
• The unexpected help from a warrior ancestor that cemented the importance of elders.
• A secret coup that led to a deputy's new role.
• A medicine cat's pleas that stopped a spree of interClan bloodshed.

- And many more never-before-told stories!

Back cover

LIVE BY THE WARRIOR CODE...

The warrior Clans have embraced the warrior code for as long as any living cat can remember. Now, for the first time, discover the secrets behind the code: What was the origin of the code? Which cats decreed the legendary laws? Which laws failed to become part of the code? All this and more will be revealed in CODE OF THE CLANS!

Detailed plot description

Though it has no real plot, Code of the Clans contains a lot of information that is not revealed in the main arc books. It starts with the story of the dawn of the Clans, and goes on to explain how in the beginning, the cats divided themselves up based on their prey preferences. During the early times of the Clans, there were no borders. Each of the Clans respective hunting grounds contained suitable prey that would satisfy their tastes. They rarely ever meet, only if they happened to be tracking the same piece of prey.

Leafpool narrates the story which includes explanations of how all the laws of the Warrior Code were created, why they were created, laws that were not accepted as part of the code, examples of cats breaking the warrior code or following it, and short stories from different cats who narrate on what they think of the different Codes.

There are also short stories from other cats who talk on subjects close to them such as Sandstorm confessing her love for Firestar, Tallstar explaining his choosing of Onewhisker for leader of WindClan, Cloudstar and the exiled SkyClan, and Whitestorm teaching a group of young apprentices about guarding the ThunderClan border. There is also a story explaining how to act during a warrior vigil, narrated by Squirrelflight.

For a comprehensive list of events from each story, see the cliffnotes.

Trivia

Mistakes

• Squirrelflight's Words of Wisdom has Squirrelflight telling of when she had her warrior vigil. However, this cannot be true, because Squirrelflight never had a vigil, due to her being given her warrior name while all four Clans were gathered up on the hill during Starlight.
• In A Dark Path Chosen, Longtail is referred to as Longstripe.
• In Who Goes There? Whitestorm Teaches Border Tactics, Graypaw is mistakenly called Graystripe. This would have taken place before Graystripe was given his warrior name, as Ravenpaw is still in ThunderClan, and Sandstorm, Firestar, and Dustpelt are all referred to as apprentices, with Firestar receiving his warrior name at the same time as Graystripe and Sandstorm and Dustpelt not receiving them until after Graystripe had.
• Although The Vanishing Moon states that Finchstar created the tenth code, where there must be a truce at the full moon Gathering, there is a full-moon truce at the Gathering in Moth Flight's Vision, which took place before Finchstar's time.

Publication History

• Code of the Clans (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 9 June 2009
• Code of the Clans (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 9 June 2009
• Das Gesetz der Krieger (DE), Beltz & Gelberg (hardcover), 30 July 2011, translated by Friederike Levin
• Das Gesetz der Krieger (DE), Beltz & Gelberg (audio-book), 26 July 2011, translated by Friederike Levin and read by Marlen Diekhoff
• Закон племён (RU), OLMA Media Group (hardcover), 2013, translator unknown
• Das Gesetz der Krieger (DE), Beltz & Gelberg (paperback), 1 December 2016, translated by Friederike Levin and read by Marlen Diekhoff
• Das Gesetz der Krieger (DE), Beltz & Gelberg (abridge audio-book), 21 February 2017, translated by Friederike Levin and read by Marlen Diekhoff
• Klaanien laki (FI), Art House (hardcover), 25 July 2019, translated by Nana Sironen

Gallery

English Language Edition
Released in North America & United Kingdom

Traditional Chinese Language Edition
Released in Taiwan

Simplified Chinese Language Edition
Released in China

German Language Edition
Released in Germany and Austria

German Audio Book
Released in Germany and Austria

Russian Language Edition
Released in Russia

Norwegian Language Edition
Released in Norway

Finnish Language Edition
Released in Finland

Finnish Audio Book
Released in Finland