Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 1: The Capture
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| The Capture | |
| Author | Kathryn Lasky |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard Cowdrey - art Steve Scott - design |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Guardians of Ga'Hoole |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic Press |
| Publication date | June 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 226 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-439-40557-2 |
| Followed by | The Journey |
The Capture is a novel by Kathryn Lasky, and part of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. It was published by Scholastic in June 2003.
[edit] Plot synopsis
Soren the Barn Owl nestling happily lives in a tree hollow with his family and Mrs. Plithiver, their nest-maid snake. He is pushed out of their hollow by his brother, Kludd. He is captured by two patrol owls and brought to St. Aggie's, which is supposedly a refuge for orphaned owlets. There he realizes that owls were not supposed to question and they had to forget their names but to have a number instead. After a few questionable incidents at the academy Soren begins to wonder what really is behind the plot of St. Aggie's. Soren befriends an Elf Owl named Gylfie who explains to him how the academy controls the minds of young owls, and helps him avoid being "moon blinked", or brainwashed by tricking the monitors in the glaucidum. They both meet a Spotted Owl named Hortense who, like Gylfie and Soren, is not moon blinked, but pretending to be.
Skench and Spoorn, the leaders of St. Aggie's, find out that Hortense had been delivering eggs to two eagles named Zan and Streak. "Auntie", a Snowy Owl with the real name of Finny,who was also Soren's pit guard along with Skench and Spoorn, throw Hortense off a cliff while Hortense is unable to fly. Soren and Gylfie later learn to fly with the help of an academy guard, Grimble.
During Soren and Gylfie's attempt to flee the academy after they learned to fly, Grimble is killed by Skench while defending the two owls from an attack. They head to the Island of Ga'Hoole, which is revered for its legends of noble owls who do only good. Along the way, they meet Digger and Twilight, who each have different personalities, but similar life experiences. Twilight was met when Gylfie was stuck upside-down on a tree, while Digger was met soon after in the desert land of Kuneer. Soren and Glyfie try to find their families but instead they find Mrs. Plithiver who tells them about Kludd. The strange foursome and Mrs. P then decide to begin a journey to the Great Ga'hoole Tree, which brings the series to the next book, The Journey.
[edit] Characters (grouped by importance)
- Soren - Barn Owl, main character, taken to St. Aggie's at age three weeks
- Kludd - Soren's brother, pushed Soren out of their nest
- Eglantine - newborn, Soren's younger sister who Soren really loves later to return in a later book.
- Noctus - Soren's wise father Returning as a scroom in a later book
- Marella - Soren's mother Returning as a scroom in a later book
- Mrs. Plithiver - blind snake, kindly servant to Soren's family Returns near the end of the book.
- Gylfie- Elf Owl, also brought to St. Aggie's at three weeks
- Twilight - Great Gray Owl, orphaned shortly after hatching went to the orphaned owls school for tough learning
- Digger - Burrowing Owl, his brother was killed by Jutt and Jatt
- Skench - Great Horned Owl, the Ablah General of St. Aggie's
- Spoorn - Western Screech Owl, Skench's first lieutenant
- Jutt and Jatt - Long-eared Owl, sublieutentants to Skench
- Auntie - Snowy Owl, Soren's evil pit guardian
- Unk - Great Horned Owl, Gylfie's pit guardian
- Grimble - Boreal Owl, helped Soren and Gyflie escape, later dies
- 47-2 - Western Screech Owl, picker in the pelletorium ,the owl who hears Soren ask a question (illegally)
- Hortense - Spotted Owl, broody at St. Aggie's and is a spy that is working for Ambala with Zan and Streak (eagles). Returns under the name Mist in a later book.
- Streak - Bald Eagle
- Zan - Bald Eagle Streak's mate, tongue ripped out in battle
[edit] Settings
- Forest Kingdom of Tyto (Soren's birthplace)
- St. Aegolius Canyons (location of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls)
- Kuneer- Birthplace of Digger and Gylfie, one of several places Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger travelled
- Forest Kingdom of Ambala- Birthplace of the Spotted Owl, Hortense
- Island of Ga'hoole- Destination of Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger's journey
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