Guardians of Ga'Hoole: # 1 Capture Paperback – 1 July 2003

When the film came out, I was so in love with it! I watched it over and over again and I couldn't get enough of it. Then a few weeks ago, I found out that it was based on a series of books. I had no idea but I knew that I wanted them. I never usually read because it bores me but I love the film so much, I had to give the books a go. I absolutely loved this. I will definately be buying more of them!

I purchased this book for my 9 year old daughter and she absolutely loved it. So much so that she now has the complete collection of 15 books in this series by Kathryn Lasky and the first book of her new series, Lone Wolf. A really good read if you like owls or just an exciting fantasy book! I would recommend this for anyone age 8 and up.

As an avid reader,i have read these before and decided to do it again due to lack of new books and a long span of time. Immediately i fell in love with it again. Though i have finished the books as a fast reader, i loved every second of it. I know that i have a range of books and so others may not love as much as i did but it is worth the time to have a go at it.

Born in the peaceful forest of Tyto, Soren the barn owl looks forward to a life of eating bugs and learning to fly, but evil forces have another plan for the owls.When Soren is captured and taken to a mysterious place known as St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, he discovers the orphanage has a darker purpose. With the help of his friend, Gylfie, they set out to uncover the truth and find a way to escape.Unfortunately, the only way out is up, and the young owls will have to learn to fly if they have a hope of escape.I first read THE CAPTURE many years ago and looked forward to reacquainting myself with the world of the owls. This tale of suspense and finding heroes in unlikely places is full of struggles and triumphs that are easy to relate to, even though the main characters are birds. Re-reading it made me want to get my hands on the other books in the GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE series so I can continue reading Soren's story.Reviewed by: Joan Stradling

I SO wanted to like this series, and tried very hard; I love Owls and books about animals, but the Owls here were simply too `humanlike' to make the story for me... I think I had a similar problem with the `Wolves ` series. (see my Review for those) and so I gave up at about halfway through. There were times I wanted to give up much earlier it was that bad, but I so wanted to like it and to give it a better chance to redeem itself, and didn't think I was being very fair - I felt it may just get better as it went along once I'd got used to the style of writing - but alas didn't...I understand Kathryn Lasky's books are very popular, and they appeal to many people - but not me... At times I felt I was reading about two children characters when reading about Soren and Gylfie - not Owls at all - or indeed any animals for that matter - I had to keep reminding myself! Except the constant mentioning of pellets and the eating of other animals in graphic detail which I found rather distasteful... Not because of that part of an animal's life being included; after all one cannot have a story about animals and not involve their diet some where along the way, but you can over do it, which I think is what Ms. Lasky tends to do in her books. It would have been better for her to have concentrated more on other aspects of animals lives within the story; she seems bent on such accuracy and detail when it comes to their food in her books yet having a sort of `humanlike' plot. She might as well have had them sending out for pizzas and be done with! :-)Not for me I'm afraid...