When autumn brings chilly weather, I love cozying up with some great books. 📚 Page-turning adventure novels and fascinating non-fiction books are both great choices, but my favorite books are both addictively entertaining and filled with interesting facts.
So when Jan, a mobile book store owner, suggested I read the Guardians of Ga’Hoole books, an epic fantasy series packed with insights into owl behaviors, I was definitely intrigued. 🤔
I read the entire first book in one day! I was absolutely glued to the story with its Star Wars-esque battles between good and evil, and complex, love-able and despise-able characters and medieval influence a la Harry Potter.
Plus, it’s full of National Geographic-level detail on owl behavior thanks to the deep knowledge of the Newbery-award-winning author, Kathryn Lasky, and her nature photographer husband. 🦉
The main character, premise, and conflict evolve throughout the series, but the first novel, titled The Capture, focuses on Soren, a young Tyto alba Barn Owl. (Fun fact I learned from reading the series: several different kinds of owls can be referred to as Barn Owls!)
The novel begins when Soren is kidnapped from his nest and taken to the St. Aggie’s Academy for Orphaned Owls. 😱 There, owlets’ names are replaced with numbers, they must sleep through the night, and they are forced to spend the day completing miserable tasks for the brutal leaders of the Academy. Soren soon realizes something sinister is brewing in the St. Aggie’s canyons when he discovers a plot to hypnotize the owlets into following orders and losing their will to fly by “moon blinking” them. But can he defy all odds, avoid being “moon blinked”, teach himself to fly, and escape the horrors of St. Aggie’s?
After reading all 15 books in the main series, I can definitely say this is one of my favorite fictional series! 😍 The plot is so absorbing that I found myself struggling to put the books down, and even when I did, my imagination was abuzz with anticipations of what might unfold next.
Although the Guardians of Ga’Hoole books are officially categorized as YA, this does not mean that they are not engaging or relevant to adult readers. Several technically YA works, such as Lois Lowry’s The Giver and the Hunger Games series, are as popular with adults as they are with the teens they were originally written for!
So, if you’re looking for an enthralling and informative read, I would definitely recommend the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series! You can purchase the books on Amazon or hunt for them at your local bookstore or library. Happy reading! 👓