Guardians of Ga’Hoole is a fantasy book series written by Kathryn Lasky. The first book, The Capture, was published in 2003.

Summary

Soren is a barn owl (owlet) living in the peaceful Forest Kingdom of Tyto; with his siblings (Kludd and Eglantine) and his parents (Noctus and Marella). But there evil owls lurching in the deep canyons, threatening the owl kingdom by capturing owlets not old enough to fly. Soren, pushed out of the nest is then snatched by the evil captors; they claim that they are from the St. Aegolius Academy for ‘orphaned’ owlets like Soren, and that they are to teach him the ‘truth’.

During the experience of such weird and confusing things, Soren and his elf owl friend, Gylfie, notice that they’re being moonblinked, which is sort of a brainwashing technique and being controlled. The two decide to escape that horrible place; but for young owlets like them, it is almost impossible to escape the deep canyons of St. Aegolius. And the only way is to..fly! So Soren and Gylfie prepare an escape with the help from two other friends, Hortense and Grimble, that aren’t entirely moonblinked; an escape by flight. But there is so much danger out in the world they now face. Still, Soren and Gylfie are ready for a flight for a dangerous journey that will change their lives forever.

Personal Review

I like that the words and sentences have lots of owlish meanings in it; the landscapes, exclamations, and stuff. For an example, some parts of the owl kingdom named ‘The Beaks’,’Broken Talon Point’, and ‘Ga’Hoole tree’. Also, I like the way when Soren and the other owls(and nest-maid snakes) exclaim ‘Oh, for the sake of Glaux!’ or ‘Great Glaux!’ or ‘racdrops!’ The words make it more clear that the story is about ‘owls’; even during the character’s quotes, there are sentences that indicate the owls’ ways of life; ‘Goodnight’ means ‘Good morning’ and ‘the stars are up’ means ‘the  sun is up’.

Another reason why I like this book is that it’s just so enchanting, full of adventure, and people-like. The plot of young owlets kidnapped, brainwashed, controlled, and used by evil owls(caused by the ‘moon’!), is quite interesting; and how Soren and his friends risk an adventure to uncover the real purpose of owlet snatching. Even though it’s an animal topic story, because of the plot so real, it almost seems like they’re all human; it’s like you can understand another world, the world of owls.

Also, I like that the author makes it clear that Soren, Gylfie, and other main characters are one band, embarking a journey, but at the same time, very different. And in not only the types of owls, but how they act, show, say, think, and prefer. It was kind of amazing for me that such different owls joined perfectly as one ‘band’.

This book really has a lot of purposes peeking from it as you turn the page, making a fast-flowing, and at the same time, a strong and enchanting story with lots of questions tossed to the reader to think about. If you don’t prefer questioning books, just read it by the story; the story itself is still enchanting and full of surprises.

Other Books Related

Guardians of Ga’Hoole series:

The Journey, The Rescue, The Siege, The Shattering, The Burning, The Hatchling, The Outcast, The First Collier, The Coming of Hoole, To Be a King, The Golden Tree, The River of wind, Exile, War of the Ember, The Rise of a Legend

Guide Books:

A Guide Book to the Great Tree, Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole

Wolves of the Beyond series:

Lone Wolf, Shadow Wolf, Watch Wolf, Frost Wolf, Spirit Wolf, Star Wolf

Horses of Dawn series:

The Escape, Star Rise, Wild Blood

Bears of the Ice series:

The Quest of the Cubs, The Den of Forever Frost, The Keepers of the Keys

I would really like you to read this book series if you haven’t read it; and if you like enchanting, mysterious, animals, adventures, any of these, I recommend this book to you strongly.