Deep in the forest of Tyto, nestled into the arms of the fir trees,
the Barn Owls dwell. Soren is born into their tranquil kingdom. But
evil lurks in the owl world, evil that threatens to shatter Tyto's peace
and change the course of Soren's life forever.
First eggs begin to mysteriously disappear from their nests, then Soren
himself is captured by a part of strange yellow-eyed owls. He finds
himself in a dark and forbidding canyon. It's called an orphanage, the
St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, but Soren knows it's something
far worse. Within his gizzard, the hope for escape remains alive, no
matter how many rules, punishments, and sleepless days he faces at St.
Aggie's. He and his best friend, Gylfie, know the only way out of this
place is up, so they will need to do something they have never done
before -- fly.
Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky takes flight once more with a brand-new Guardians of Ga'Hoole novel!
Far off in the ice-choked land of the Northern Kingdoms, a young screech owl is marked by destiny. He is Ezylryb, an owl who will rise through the ranks of the Killian Army to become the commander of a battalion of snakes. But although Ezylryb is touched by greatness, his battle-filled life is punctuated by tragedy — from the attack that leaves his father flightless forever, to a terrible betrayal by Ezylryb's own brother. But the young owl — with the support of a snake named Octavia — rises above it all, rises high on strong wings.
Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger travel to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree,
a mythical place where an order of owls rises each night to perform
noble deeds. Soren and his group are seeking help to fight a great evil
they discovered in the owl world.
Now that Soren has been reunited with this sister, Eglantine, he must
face his new challenge: making sense of the mysterious disappearance
of his mentor, Ezylryb. When Soren discovers that Ezylryb is in danger,
he and his friends Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger devise a plan to save
their teacher. In this process, Soren fights a ferocious foe who wears
a terrifying metal beak, sharpened for battle. It's not until the confrontation
is over that Soren discovers the true identity of his opponent . . .
Soren's beloved mentor, Ezylryb, is finally back at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. But all is not well. There's a war between good and evil in the owl kingdom. On one side is a group led by Soren's fearsome brother, Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle-scarred face. On the other side are the owls of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, who must fight to protect their legendary tree from Kludd's attacks.
In the midst of war, Eglantine unwittingly becomes a spy for Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones (a group of evil owls). She is brainwashed by an owl sent by the Pure Ones to infiltrate the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Her odd behavior eventually attracts attention, and Soren and his friends vow to find out what's wrong with Eglantine. They ultimately learn what happened and help her reverse the effects of the brainwashing. Kludd continues to battle against the Guardians of Ga'Hoole for control of their tree. In the end, Kludd and his forces are defeated. But his conflict with Soren is not yet over.
Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggies has fallen to the Pure Ones and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion of The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. With the future of all Owldom in the balance, the parliament of Ga'Hoole must decide whether or not to join forces with the brutal Skench and Sporn and the scattered remnants of St. Aggies who remain faithful to them.
A great battle is on the way.
Kludd is dead. Nyra, his mate, is determined that her hatchling, Nyroc, will fulfill his father's destiny: the vicious oppression of all the owl kingdoms. But Nyroc is a poor student of evil. A light grows in his heart, fed by scraps of forbidden legend and strange news of a place where goodness and nobility reign. He must summon all his courage to defy his destiny -- and the embodiment of evil that is his mother.
Haunted by his past, hunted by the Pure Ones, Nyroc flies alone. He yearns to go to the great tree, where good and learned owls do noble deeds, but he cannot. He is son of Kludd and Nyra, sworn enemies of all Ga’Hoole stands for, feared and despised everywhere. By Nyroc has glimpsed hope-and a new destiny-in the flame over his father's very bones. In search of that destiny, he trains his gaze and beats his wings toward a dark, lawless place where desperate characters roam a barren landscape and fire splits the sky-The Beyond the Beyond.
It is a time of Legends and a time of chaos. Warlords vie for power and marauding outlaws roam the land. Good King Hrath and his queen, Siv, noble Spotted Owls struggle to keep peace in their kingdom. Grank, noble Spotted Owl, friend and supporter of King Hrath, has exiled himself to Beyond the Beyond, where he has developed his firesight and learns how to work with embers, fire and how to forge metals. He is the First Collier. Deep in a volcano in the farthest reaches of Beyond the Beyond, he discovers a magical Ember but fears its awful powers will be misused and hides it again.
A tale of chaos, betrayal, and nachtmagen unfolds in the second
of three ancient legends. It is no idle history, for hidden in its pages are the truths about the great promise- and greater
danger- that lie just ahead for the Guardians. And so Soren,
Coryn, and the members of Band read on:
A grizzled collier will tend a young prince in exile. An owl who would be monk will don battle claws. A mother who is also a queens will raise an army. And under the shower of embers in the shadow of the Sacred Volcanoes, a king will be born- or die.
Hoole reclaims the throne of his father and goes on to wage a war against the forces of chaos, greed and oppression led by the powerful warlord-tyrants. Grank, the first collier, uses his skills with fire and metals to forge weapons for battle. With great trepidation Hoole uses the power of the Ember in the final, decisive battle and wins. At the dawn of a new ear of peace, Hoole searches for the ideal place to establish not a kingdom but an order of free owls and finds the Great Tree.
Coryn, Soren, and the Band preside over a new Golden Age of the Great Tree under the subtle influence of the Ember. All seems well, but beneath the prosperity of peace Coryn is tortured by the suspicion that his evil mother, Nyra, is a hagsfiend and that his own blood carries the haggish taint. He wanders afar searching for the truth from hagsfiends themselves - putting the Great Tree in danger. Soren & the Band follow their new king to strange parts to guard him from the consequences of his obsession.
Coryn and the Band have returned to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree and restored order. With the Ember safely hidden away, the tree shakes off its gaudy golden glow and recovers its natural majesty. Meanwhile, deep in the Palace of Mists, Bess finds an ancient map fragment that reveals that there are not 5 owl kingdoms — as has been thought since time immemorial — but 6. Coryn and the chaw of chaws set off to find this unknown land. In a landscape of perpetual winter, they discover a monastery of serene, learned owls, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.
Guardians of Ga’hoole: A Guidebook to the Great Tree
Studious by nature, fortunate to have been present at the most glorious moments in the tree's recent history, and above all honored to count as friends its most ardent champions, I, Otulissa, have decided to write a compendium, a catchall — a guide, in short — to the history, life, and spirit of the tree. Pause a moment before the next adventure begins to read of its natural history, its origin, and yearly changes. Read of its lesser-known heroes: of Joss, brave messenger of legends; of the brothers Ifghar and Ezylryb and the treachery that bound them; of Theo, the peaceful warrior.
The Striga, former dragon owl from the Middle Kingdom beyond the Unnamed Sea, has come to stay at the great tree. He has earned the trust of all by saving Bell, Soren's owlet, from Nyra, and he grows daily closer to the young king Coryn, with whom he seems to share a strange bond. The Striga senses the power of the ember hidden in Bubo's forge and draws it closer. As his power waxes, he accuses the Band of treason and produces flimsy evidence to support his abominable claim. And so the Band is exiled, strengthening the Striga's hold over Coryn.
The strange, maniacal blue owl known as the Striga has been rousted from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Nyra, leader of the vicious Pure Ones, is either dead or laying low in some distant land,leaving the tree finally at peace. As if fed by an invisible spring, learning and the lively arts flourish at the great tree and spread throughout the owl kingdoms.
But unbeknowst to the Guardians, in a long-empty cave deep in the Northern Kingdoms two ruthless villains join forces to conjure an ancient evil, an evil that will do their bidding and wreak havoc on the world.
Guardians of Ga’hoole #16: Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole
Guided by the Knower, Otulissa has studied long in the libraries of the Others; she has probed the ancient lore of the strange and powerful dire wolves of the Beyond. And at the Great Ga'Hoole tree itself she has uncovered secret histories of Guardians she thought she knew well! Attention Dear Reader! Great mysteries will be revealed to the attuned mind in these last Lost Tales of the Great Tree!
