What do you think?
Rate this book
Bamboo Kingdom #5
Bamboo Kingdom #5: The Lightning Path
Bamboo Kingdom #5: The Lightning Path has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2024
17 people are currently reading
2522 people want to read
About the author
Erin Hunter
278 books10.5k followersErin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 17, 2024
Infinitely better than #4. I forgive you for the dramatic pandas.
The twists won't surprise anyone, but there is one that I found extremely funny.
The twists won't surprise anyone, but there is one that I found extremely funny.
Want to read
May 11, 2024I wasn’t a fan of the last three books. Let’s hope 5 is just as good as one, if not better.
September 3, 2024
Not bad! Maybe because I spent more time in individual reading sessions, but I actually enjoyed this one a little more than some of the rest. Pretty suspenseful, if predictable. Took a bit to get into it at all, but I enjoyed it once I did.
Read
August 4, 2025nice I loved this book BUT
I screamed at Rain sm since it’s obv that Lychee was evil
gives major splashtail vibes 🙄
I screamed at Rain sm since it’s obv that Lychee was evil
gives major splashtail vibes 🙄
June 27, 2024
This book is the fifth in a series of Bamboo Kingdom, written for an 8 to 12 age group. Erin Hunter, the author, has published a number of other series which I know that my grandchildren have read. Not having read the first four Bamboo Kingdom books, however, I still was able to follow and enjoy this one.
There are a limited number of main characters, and there is a fairly well-defined plot. The characters are all animals and have their own special personalities, good and bad. The story starts with a murder and a missing character. The action mostly centers around who committed the murderous deed and where is the missing animal. Along the way, there is intrigue, and also some mistakes...wrong guesses as to the culprits. The mystery is not solved until the end.
I liked that some of the words in the book were probably above the age level of a twelve-year old, which would be intellectually challenging reading, or at least mentally stimulating for a young reader.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
There are a limited number of main characters, and there is a fairly well-defined plot. The characters are all animals and have their own special personalities, good and bad. The story starts with a murder and a missing character. The action mostly centers around who committed the murderous deed and where is the missing animal. Along the way, there is intrigue, and also some mistakes...wrong guesses as to the culprits. The mystery is not solved until the end.
I liked that some of the words in the book were probably above the age level of a twelve-year old, which would be intellectually challenging reading, or at least mentally stimulating for a young reader.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
July 12, 2025
High three stars. I enjoyed reading this book, but it wasn’t amazing.
Overall, the book flowed well and read in the typical Erin Hunter style, but there were a few scenes that I thought were described in a confusing manner. Specifically the beginning of the fire scene where animals are trapped on the other side of what I believe is a ravine. That scene was described in a very roundabout manner and the actual environment details were skimmed over, making it hard to visualize. Other than that, and maybe one or two similar issues in other scenes, the book was up to usual Erin standards (which is to say, good but not amazing).
As for the plot of this one, it was fine overall. It definitely felt like something I’d read before, maybe in other Erin Hunter series, but it wasn’t boring. My biggest issue is that to make the murder mystery side of the story make sense, Rain blaming Ghost for her friend’s murder had to be corrected quickly. This kind of happened at the end of the previous book, too, but it bothered me more here. Rain thinks that Ghost killed her friend, but she doesn’t ask him why he did it, then changes her mind after he leaves, about one chapter later. That’s a pretty poorly written way to start the book, and then this one doesn’t help and just has Rain solely think someone else is responsible. Yes, that makes sense. But then it makes the last few chapters of the previous book, and a few in the beginning of this one, pointless. That almost-retcon makes Rain and Ghost’s plots both feel contrived at the start.
On the other side of the plot, we get Dasher’s perspective for the first time. On the one hand, I liked it because it was something different, and it seemingly makes sense that he would be Leaf’s replacement POV for a book. On the other hand, he was gone for practically half of last book, so his POV here feels very out of place when reading this one right after the fourth book. His side of the story overall was fine. I don’t have many thoughts on it.
Lychee being the traitor was super obvious in this one. I didn’t guess it in the last book, but he was way too important in this book and only this book for him not to be the traitor. The idea of him giving Nimbletail away was a cool one, though, and let her be important in both plots. I’ll touch more on my thoughts about him in the villains section.
Character time!
Leaf is gone all book, which I didn’t really mind at first. What does bother me is that she just kind of wandered off last book, with this whole idea of exile, and then we never see her in this one until oh no she’s sick. How awful. It feels like the Erins just wanted to skip over any character development we could have had with her. Either way, it will probably make next book weaker. Leaf either did nothing and then pathetically got sick, or she did important things and we didn’t get to see them. Both are annoying, in my opinion.
I already said my greatest gripe with Rain. Aside from the annoying murder mystery misunderstanding, I did like her a lot this book. She’s fun to root for as she works to unravel who the killer is. I did think her almost being drowned AGAIN and magically surviving AGAIN (but this time with less believability) was cheap. So once again I think she ended on a low note. But overall I liked her more this book, I think.
Ghost was pretty average in this one. His character development was as expected, and his arc was predictable yet satisfying. I did like how he reunited with his littermates, and that they got to play a role in the story this time. Overall, he wasn’t a standout, but very solid.
Nimbletail as a character was sadly forgotten this book. While I do think having three POVs max is probably a good idea, I am disappointed that she got practically nothing character-wise. She did do some things for the story, though, and serve as a connector for the two plots. So at least she had some purpose, even if it was only as a plot device.
Like with Rain, I already mentioned why I was a little put-off with Dasher’s inclusion in this one. He’s also not the most interesting character. Like Nimbletail last book, I feel like the Erins keep coming up with interesting ideas for characters, but not making them unique enough to feel well-rounded. I do appreciate that his friendship with Leaf was highlighted, though, as friendships are often forgotten in the Erins’ books. I just hope we get to actually see some of that friendship in the next one.
And finally, villains. While I was a bit bored of Lychee at first (once I figured out he was the twist villain), I am very intrigued by the ending. I’d love to see an anti-villain in these books, where a bad guy works against the villain and the heroes. But I doubt that’ll happen, and if it does it’ll be next book. So overall, he’s fine.
Brawnshanks is very stereotypical, and I honestly don’t even remember what his goal is anymore. (I know he wants to control or destroy the Dragons, I just don’t remember why.) So, he’s pretty mid as a villain for me.
Overall, not as good of a comeback from The Dark Sun as I was hoping. It wasn’t terrible, though, so here’s hoping the final book in this arc picks up the slack a bit.
SERIES RATINGS:
Creatures of the Flood: —
River of Secrets: —
Journey to the Dragon Mountain: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dark Sun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lightning Path: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fire and Ash: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall, the book flowed well and read in the typical Erin Hunter style, but there were a few scenes that I thought were described in a confusing manner. Specifically the beginning of the fire scene where animals are trapped on the other side of what I believe is a ravine. That scene was described in a very roundabout manner and the actual environment details were skimmed over, making it hard to visualize. Other than that, and maybe one or two similar issues in other scenes, the book was up to usual Erin standards (which is to say, good but not amazing).
As for the plot of this one, it was fine overall. It definitely felt like something I’d read before, maybe in other Erin Hunter series, but it wasn’t boring. My biggest issue is that to make the murder mystery side of the story make sense, Rain blaming Ghost for her friend’s murder had to be corrected quickly. This kind of happened at the end of the previous book, too, but it bothered me more here. Rain thinks that Ghost killed her friend, but she doesn’t ask him why he did it, then changes her mind after he leaves, about one chapter later. That’s a pretty poorly written way to start the book, and then this one doesn’t help and just has Rain solely think someone else is responsible. Yes, that makes sense. But then it makes the last few chapters of the previous book, and a few in the beginning of this one, pointless. That almost-retcon makes Rain and Ghost’s plots both feel contrived at the start.
On the other side of the plot, we get Dasher’s perspective for the first time. On the one hand, I liked it because it was something different, and it seemingly makes sense that he would be Leaf’s replacement POV for a book. On the other hand, he was gone for practically half of last book, so his POV here feels very out of place when reading this one right after the fourth book. His side of the story overall was fine. I don’t have many thoughts on it.
Lychee being the traitor was super obvious in this one. I didn’t guess it in the last book, but he was way too important in this book and only this book for him not to be the traitor. The idea of him giving Nimbletail away was a cool one, though, and let her be important in both plots. I’ll touch more on my thoughts about him in the villains section.
Character time!
Leaf is gone all book, which I didn’t really mind at first. What does bother me is that she just kind of wandered off last book, with this whole idea of exile, and then we never see her in this one until oh no she’s sick. How awful. It feels like the Erins just wanted to skip over any character development we could have had with her. Either way, it will probably make next book weaker. Leaf either did nothing and then pathetically got sick, or she did important things and we didn’t get to see them. Both are annoying, in my opinion.
I already said my greatest gripe with Rain. Aside from the annoying murder mystery misunderstanding, I did like her a lot this book. She’s fun to root for as she works to unravel who the killer is. I did think her almost being drowned AGAIN and magically surviving AGAIN (but this time with less believability) was cheap. So once again I think she ended on a low note. But overall I liked her more this book, I think.
Ghost was pretty average in this one. His character development was as expected, and his arc was predictable yet satisfying. I did like how he reunited with his littermates, and that they got to play a role in the story this time. Overall, he wasn’t a standout, but very solid.
Nimbletail as a character was sadly forgotten this book. While I do think having three POVs max is probably a good idea, I am disappointed that she got practically nothing character-wise. She did do some things for the story, though, and serve as a connector for the two plots. So at least she had some purpose, even if it was only as a plot device.
Like with Rain, I already mentioned why I was a little put-off with Dasher’s inclusion in this one. He’s also not the most interesting character. Like Nimbletail last book, I feel like the Erins keep coming up with interesting ideas for characters, but not making them unique enough to feel well-rounded. I do appreciate that his friendship with Leaf was highlighted, though, as friendships are often forgotten in the Erins’ books. I just hope we get to actually see some of that friendship in the next one.
And finally, villains. While I was a bit bored of Lychee at first (once I figured out he was the twist villain), I am very intrigued by the ending. I’d love to see an anti-villain in these books, where a bad guy works against the villain and the heroes. But I doubt that’ll happen, and if it does it’ll be next book. So overall, he’s fine.
Brawnshanks is very stereotypical, and I honestly don’t even remember what his goal is anymore. (I know he wants to control or destroy the Dragons, I just don’t remember why.) So, he’s pretty mid as a villain for me.
Overall, not as good of a comeback from The Dark Sun as I was hoping. It wasn’t terrible, though, so here’s hoping the final book in this arc picks up the slack a bit.
SERIES RATINGS:
Creatures of the Flood: —
River of Secrets: —
Journey to the Dragon Mountain: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dark Sun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lightning Path: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fire and Ash: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2025
I rated the predecessor to this book, Bamboo Kingdom, Book 4: The Dark Sun, 4 stars. And in my review of that book, I predicted that I would rate the 5th book in the Bamboo Kingdom series 5 stars. Now I've actually done it. This book was an excellent penultimate book to the series. I look forward to reading the 6th, final book, Bamboo Kingdom, Book 6: Fire and Ash, when it comes out next month.
June 29, 2024
Okay, I always enjoy the books. It’s funny though because I had this feeling that it was Lychee the whole time that killed pebble and sold out Nimbletail will be looking forward to the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 18, 2024very sad
February 3, 2025
What an ending!
Want to read
April 23, 2025SM
July 3, 2024
Thankfully a big step up from the last book. The book actually utilizes Rain (thank you!) and has some interesting character moments and plot elements and twists. One of the main characters doesn't appear throughout a lot of it, but we're given an actual reason why so it doesn't feel unearned (unlike Rain being painfully ignored last book for no reason).
The main twist in the story was also properly built up while not being too obvious. My main gripes would be that the monkeys feel a bit less threatening and underutilized in this book, and that the romance between Rain and (spoiler character) was rather poorly written and came across as stale and plot-device-y rather than genuine.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
The main twist in the story was also properly built up while not being too obvious. My main gripes would be that the monkeys feel a bit less threatening and underutilized in this book, and that the romance between Rain and (spoiler character) was rather poorly written and came across as stale and plot-device-y rather than genuine.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
September 24, 2024
Best bamboo kingdom book yet! Can't wait for #6 😁
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews