The Warriors is a novel written by Sol Yurick in 1965, that was later adapted into the 1979 film with the same title. The Warriors is one of my favorite movies ever so once I found out that it was a novel as well I had to read it, because if the movie is great then the book has to be 10x better. The setting takes place in New York, and is centered around a gang that goes by the name The Warriors. We follow them as they make their way through New York to meet at some kind of assembly held by the leader of the strongest gang in New York whose name is Cyrus. The purpose of this meeting is to get all the gangs to work as one to take over the city and overthrow the police, and everything goes as planned until it takes a drastic turn. The leader of the top gang is shot and killed, and the police also appear so this sends everybody into a panic. The leader was shot by the leader of another gang whose name is Luther. Luther then decides to throw the blame onto the warriors and everybody believes him. So now here the warriors are far away from their base, and they have to make it back home all while avoiding not only police, but other rival gangs along the way.
The go through an array of obstacles the end up picking off certain members of their gang, leaving them with a smaller group than how they started. They make their way through several areas that belong to rival gangs who are trying to kill them because they think that they shot Cyrus. Their own leader ends up being killed by Cyrus’s gang, so a member that goes by the name Swan takes over. Along the way Swan meets a girl who lived with another gang. Her name is Mercy, and they form a bond that is toxic, but still romantic. Mercy ends up leaving with the warriors after she instigated a fight between them and her previous gang. Through out the night they have to survive many fights and battles with gang members and the police as well. We truly see the dynamic of the group and what roles they each play as the story progresses. Eventually they do make it make to Coney Island, where Luther and his gang is there waiting to kill them, but it does not go according to his plan. Cyrus’s gang received information on who actually killed him, and pays their respects to the warriors and end up killing Cyrus. From there the warriors are free from running and have nothing to worry about. They lost three members in total and ended up gaining one more.
I’m not able to do full justice by just describing how this story went, but it is truly one of the best things that I have both read and watched. It was incredibly enjoyable and I loved how well the novel was paced. There was a single moment where I felt it was rushed or drug out too long. It’s an amazing film and an occult classic, so I encourage everyone to at least watch the movie if reading is not your favorite thing!
I’ve never heard of The Warriors, book or movie! But now I have to check them out, especially if they contain such compelling stories. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
I am so intrigued by this storyline now. Thanks to your blog, I now have another item on both my tbr and my tbw lists, and I’m not even mad. Great work!