Whoooo's There: The Captive

I've read one other Ga'Hoole book as part of my Reading My Library Quest -- Kathryn Lasky's series gets its own shelf in the Children's Series bookcase. That was number 8, and now I find that I had the first book, The Captive, on my shelves at home. I wonder what else I've got hidden in there...

I remember only bits of the story; owls and their legends, ancient weapons and claw extensions, a Chosen One who must find his destiny. I'm fairly sure that Chosen One was Soren, the hero of this book, whose evil brother pushes him from his nest and into the claws of evil totalitarian owl fanatics. Or maybe not; it could be a prequel or something.

BarockSchloss, CC license

Through a combination of friendship, loyalty, sharp wits and the occasional magical hint, Soren rescues himself and his dimunitive friend and starts his quest to wider circles of the avian world. The writing and story line are fairly powerful and skillful; not the cookie cutter prose that I tend to expect from extended series. If any elementary school kid wants to plow through the entire owlish series, I say more power to them. (And the NOOK has it for only $2, at the link above.)

This was a fun book to read while I recovered from donating blood; I had my own small sense of noble sacrifice to help me emphasize with all the feathered heroes in the story.