I would like to begin by apologizing. It has been three weeks since my last post. Despite my vow to write something at least once a week when I started this blog, I let the holiday festivities get the better of me. Yet, the promise of a new year, fresh with no mistakes in it yet, gives me hope that I can and will be blogging at least once a week this year.
On to the Guadrian’s of Ga’Hoole. I have very mixed feelings about the first book in this series. The Guardian’s is the very first book I got on my Nook, so I was excited to dig in. In the first few chapters, we learn about Soren, a young owlet who is not yet old enough to fly. In these chapters, we discover Soren is a Barn owl who lives in his nest with his Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, and a snake called Mrs. Plithiver who is a blind snake that acts as a nest maid to the family.
These first chapters are interesting because of how detailed the author, Kathryn Lasky, describes the owls from the way they live, to how they hunt, to how they care for one another. The detail is amazing! I have such an amazingly clear picture of this little family in my head and their cozy little nest. It is in this safe haven that Soren first hears the tales of the Guardian’s of Ga’Hoole (from his Father), the owls who fight for truth and injustice for their kind. Needless to say, this description is delightful and I enjoyed it very much.
The action begins when Soren falls from the nest and is taken away from his family. He is spirited away by a pair of very cruel owls who take him to a place called St. Aegolius. In St. Aggies, he quickly finds out that this place is nothing like home. It is filled with owls of all races that have been snatched from their families and treated cruelly. The owls are divided into groups and forced to do certain jobs that are chosen for them by a set of owls that run St. Aggies. It is in this terrible place that he meets an Elf Owl named Gylfie. Gylfie and Soren become close friends and use that friendship to try and discover a way to escape St. Aggies, and find the Guardian’s of Ga’Hoole so they can put a stop to the terrible things that go on here.
The way I explain the story above makes it all sound very exciting, but in all honestly, the part of the story that takes place in St. Aggies is really slow in spots. There were times I wondered to myself why I kept reading. The part in the beginning when Soren was in the nest was so interesting! I am a big fan of animals, and I watch Animal Planet all the time. I love learning about them. I even like books where animals can speak because I think in their own way; they speak to one another, so giving them a human voice is not too big a stretch. Yet, in St Aggies, oh man! It is very slow in spots. I understand that the author did this to show how slow time goes by for Gylfie and Soren, but I kept losing interest. Until the end that is.
The last several chapters are about Soren and Gylfie trying to escape. Without giving away the details, the end is quick moving, action packed, and excellent! So excellent in fact, that my earlier desire to give up on the book altogether and not bother reading the next two I’d purchased went out the window. I’ve already started the second book and love it so far. Who knows? Maybe to you this first book in the series went quickly. What one person finds interesting versus another is always different.
All I can say is, although it moved very slowly, I was pleasantly surprised in the end. I can wait to finish the first three books, and then watch the movie that just came out on DVD. I’ll be glad to let you know what I think of that too! So if you have enough patience, like Owls, and are willing to stick this book through to the end, I’m sure you will love it just as I did.
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