Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Karen Laskey Books 9-11

At the end of book 8, The Outcast, I was sure the series was over. Coryn was at the great tree with the ember and, more critically, Ezylryb was dead...heroically of course. It was a good place to end it I felt, yet I had a stack of eight more books in the series cluttering up the coffee table. Where could Lasky possible go from here.

The answer, back in time...sort of. As it turns out Ezylryb had three histories squirrelled away in his hollow along with solemn instructions that Coryn and Soren should read them.

The First Collier begins with the story of Grank who becomes the first collier and H'rath and Siv who are owl royalty and will become the parents of Hoole. I'm particularly fond of Siv, she's got some real grit. Collectively, the three books outline a time constantly under threat of the dark magic of hagsfiends.

Hoole is born at a bleak time and is a kind of owl version of King Arthur. He goes on to found the great tree and drive out the hagsfiends.

These are good reads, not as gripping as the original story line, but interesting all the same. It felt very much like a primary purpose of these is to lay the groundwork for the continuation of the series.

9. The First Collier
10. The Coming of Hoole
11. To Be a King