Customer Reviews

The Outcast (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 8)(Library Edition)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was really great! The plot was well focused, and a lot of the characters grew and developed. It, of course, was focused on destiny, and this is the book where Nyroc, now named Coryn, finally fufills part of that magnificent destiny.

Nyroc, rejected by the Pure Ones and by even the peacable owls, is an outcast, flying alone and thinking of all that has happened. But in Ambala he meets up with an old friend of Soren, and with his free will goes to a lawless place- Beyond the Beyond- where he believes his destiny will come true. However, when Coryn saves an egg for a family of Burrowing Owls, he isn't as sure of what that destiny is.

When he reaches the Beyond, he meets a "gnaw wolf" in a pack of dire wolves. This wolf has a lame leg and as the tradition of the pack remains, he must go to the Sacred Volcanoes where the Ember of Hoole lies, waiting for the new king. Meanwhile, Otulissa meets Gwyndor in the Beyond, and they together find Nyroc. Otulissa believes Coryn is the true heir of Hoole and teaches him basic colliering (which Coryn is awesome at).

Little does Coryn know that his mother is coming for him, and is recruiting desperate dire wolves for her army. And at a crucial moment, it becomes a race for the Ember within one of the volcanoes and a new king must emerge- or die trying.

Like I said, this book was T3H 00B3R3ST. It is definitely worth your read and we get to actually hear upon how Soren is! Yay! I really loved the depth in it and it was rather beautiful. Kathryn Lasky did a good job and deserves several pats on the back! Another great book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole!

Finally! The eagerly anticipated 8th installment in the best-selling Guardians of Ga'Hoole series! The Outcast, as all Guardians of Ga'Hoole fans would most certainly agree, was probably the most exciting and nerve-racking book so far. The tensiom between Coryn (once Nyroc) & Soren, his uncle? I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! This book includes many new phrases, which fans love to add to their vocabulary, like gnaw wolves, creelies, Sacred Ring, cheiftain, lochinvyrr, ect. Well, as most of you know, the series has been following a new character instead of Soren- Nyroc. Nyroc, son of Kludd & Nyra, is heir to the Pure Ones. Not the likely main character choice, eh? However, Nyraoc is, unlike his parents, very kind-hearted! The seventh book ends with him cursing his very father's scroom on the edge of a lake. This is where the Outcast picks up in it's Prologue. In this book, Nyroc changes his name to Coryn, which is Nyroc backwards. It also sounds a lot like Soren. The main point of these 2 books is the tension between an outcast and a guardian, and how they cannot meet eachother, for one is not welcome, and the other one doesn't know the other exists. Coryn, being a shadow king, is not welcome at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, where his uncle, Soren, lives. To be accepted in the Great Tree, Coryn must retrieve the Ember of Hoole hidden deep within one of the volcanoes of the Sacred Ring, where noble King Hoole hid it 1,000 years ago. If Coryn succeeds, then that means he is the heir of Hoole and that he is king of Ga'Hoole. If Coryn gets the Ember, then he can meet his uncle. Read this book!!! It will be worth everything!!! Trust me!

I am an adult woman (24 years old) who thoroughly enjoyed all of the series of Katharine Lasky's books. I was first attracted to these books because I work with owls, and despite some minor scientific errors (i.e. the owls would start eating each other if enclosed together, as in the books), found the books to be imaginative and intriguing. As the series progresses, the stories get more complex and a hint darker. In this book, a new species of animal, the dire wolves, is introduced, and with them, a new type of society. In this book, Nyroc, a young barn owl, nephew to Soren, works through the burden of his lineage and the horror of his previous experiences. While searching for the ember of Hoole, he must learn to negotiate the society of the dire wolves and the social issues that come with it. Otulissa, the know-it-all spotted owl, joins him in his quest. This is a very satisfactory conclusion to the series. If you are reading this review, and have not read the rest of the series, please do, for although this book can be read by itself, prior reading of the rest of the series enriches the experience. I would recommend this book for anyone of any age who is interested in animals, particularly owls, and who enjoys fiction for the younger reader.

The Gardians Of Ga'Hoole books one through eight are the best series of books that I've ever read. And I've read ALOT of books in the last 11 years of my life. These books really touch your heart. This is my second time reading the series. I'm always trying to get my freinds into reading them. Anybody can relate to these books. I really hope that you read them.

I am a fan of the series, so i really liked the book.I thought the book was even better at the end when Nyroc "Completes" his "Quest".I was very much surprised, the book took an unexpected turn at the end.this was a compelling novel and i can not wait to see what happens next!I still am disappointed though,...(You'll know what i mean if you have read the book!)overall the book was great and i would reccomend it, but i would suggest reading the other books first. Graet Book!

Nyroc is on the run. Determined to have nothing more to do with his evil and often bloodthirsty mother Nyra, Nyroc wants to have a new life --- one in which he is no longer looked upon as being the son of Nyra and Kludd, but is accepted and liked for who he is. More than anything he wishes he could join the owls who live on the Island of Ga'Hoole. His uncle Soren is one of them, and Nyroc sorely wishes to meet this brave owl. He knows though that he cannot attempt to go to the island until the time is right.

In his gizzard, in his heart, Nyroc knows that there is something that he has to do before he can join Soren --- and the answer lies in the land of the outcasts, in The Beyond the Beyond.

Guided by Mist, the strange, wise and loving owl who seems to live between worlds, and by other creatures whom he meets on the way, Nyroc begins his monumental journey. In the process the young owl changes his name to Coryn and sets about doing all he can to create a new life for himself. In the background there is always that connection he cannot help feeling exists between himself and that greatest of owls, Hoole himself. Somehow Coryn is connected to the past and somehow that past will help him find a future.

With his courage, kind heart, and special powers over fire to help him, Coryn faces great hardship and many trials. Just as we followed the adventures of his uncle Soren, so too do we fly on the wings of this young owl who is trying to find his way in a world full of danger, betrayal, self-discovery, old legends, and magic.

--- Reviewed by Marya Jansen-Gruber, Editor of Through The Looking Glass Children's Book Review (http://www.lookingglassreview.com)
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This is an awesome book, and in the week I had it I think I read it 5 times! (uber-fast reader) It's an awesome book!!!!!!

Young Nyroc has rejected the Pure Ones and all they stand for. Though he is the lone son of their slain leader, Kludd, and his vicious mate Nyra, he has found out for himself (through the murder of his best friend by his own mother) that he simply cannot lead this group of evil owls. So he changes his name to Coryn and flies to Beyond the Beyond, a faraway land of active volcanoes and outcasts like himself, where he hopes to find a way to be accepted by the civilized owl world.

Here, Coryn meets dire wolves, his old friend Gwyndor, and finally Otulissa, who has left the Great Ga'Hoole Tree against her own reason to teach Coryn how to be a collier.

Nyra, meanwhile, is intent on hunting down and killing her son for deserting the Pure Ones, and ultimately seizing control of the owl universe. So she plans to help out the most desperate clan of dire wolves, the MacHeaths, by preparing to bring them to their "rightful" position as guardians of the legendary Ember of Hoole and convincing them that Coryn is the one who cannot be trusted with the Ember.

It becomes abundantly clear that Coryn must be the one who gets the Ember, and quickly. The fate of the owl world is at stake. Can he retreive the Ember in time? Read Guardians of Ga'Hoole #8: The Outcast to find out!

I love this book about where Nyroc (now coryn) is the main character. It is very sad when his bestfriend philip dies! I like the part in the book where Coryn sees the glass volcanoe! Then he becomes king, I kind of thought it was bad where they just ended where Coryn met Soren his uncle. I kind of wished they could have had a book where it tells what he does as king!

My nine-year-old son is devouring these books, and I love them. The writing is good. The grammar is, for the most part, excellent. And the books stretch my son's vocabulary just exactly enough.

However, I'm noticing a bit of confusion from him that, I think, could have been avoided with just a bit of planning on the storyteller's part. Beginning with The Hatchling, the saga is focused away from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, a place in which, at this point, my son has invested a significant bit of fictional time. It seems to me (and I haven't read ahead, so I don't really know) that the publisher, if not the author, could have signaled this by dividing the books into subseries (much the way the Ga'Hoolian Legends are divided into cycles). The Hatchling and The Outcast also lack the illustrations of the characters found in the fronts and backs of the first six books, so there's no clue from that, either. Put that together with a slight lag in the pace of the saga, which I'll allow as necessary to fully establish a new protagonist, and this book comes in, for me, as slightly less amazing than The Capture and the books that come right after that one.

Other than those points, I have nothing but praise for this book. Nyroc's development is finely drawn, and, while the free will drum is beaten like a rented mule, the choices Nyroc makes are dramatic and suspenseful. The scenery is well-described without bogging down the action, and a couple of things brought both my son and me to tears. I've already ordered the next book and am looking forward to reading it with my son.