Book Review: Guardians of Ga'Hoole 1-15

I have now read this series cover to cover and find it to be a great set....... long..... 15 books to be exact. I am not sure most kids are tenacious enough to read them all, but if they are they will have a good read. It ends well. Throughout the series good and bad are clearly distinguished with common characteristics to our world today. Lording it over another is bad, thinking one type of owl is better than another is bad, senseless violence, cruelty, etc......  valor is good, defending the helpless is good, doing right is good, loyalty, working together, equality, conviction, etc.
Being such a long series and written in two or three sections there are a few gaps in the story line and such. However, the details left out are not key to the story line and do not detract. There is ample opportunity for the reader to use his or her own imagination without loosing anything in the plot or story.
In the books there are different kingdoms of owls who are threatened by various groups of owls who would like to take over for the sake of power, they use "purity of species", brainwashing and owl-napping along with violence and under described cruelty to reach their ends. The Guardians pledge to preserve the freedom to think freely, live safely and equitably. They consistently defeat the enemies each time. A bit predicable, but none the less captivating for the new ways they solve the problems in battle. The battle scenes are all a bit short, and lack graphic description, compared to the lengthy build up to the battle scenes, which is the actual story. They hold enough description to keep the attention but not enough to give bad dreams or vivid images.
 
The only objection I have to this book is in the few books where the main owls are youngsters and use some bad language. None of it is "real" bad language but certainly correlates to certain phrases in our culture which are actually bad language, at least to some.

The relationship to the movie is minimal. They crammed the first 7-8 books into one movie missing huge chunks of detail and things that were really pertinent. All in all it adds up for a pretty different story than the books tell.  I liked the movie and the owls are totally endearing. The image of Soren was just like I thought he was and made him all the more endearing to me.

I would say this series would be content appropriate for boys and girls in grades 3rd through 8th. The reading level is about average late elementary.

List of books in the series:

• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 1: The Capture (2003)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 2: The Journey (2003)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 3: The Rescue (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 4: The Siege (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 5: The Shattering (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 6: The Burning (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 7: The Hatchling (2005)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 8: The Outcast (2005)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 9: The First Collier [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 10: The Coming of Hoole [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 11: To Be a King [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 12: The Golden Tree (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 13: The River of Wind (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 14: Exile (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember (2008)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole: A Guide Book to the Great Tree (2007)
• Guardians of Ga’Hoole: Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole (2010)

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