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Kathryn Lasky
Kathryn Lasky is the author of the Newbery Honor book The Capture. She writes for both young adults and children, with a focus on historical fiction and animal stories.
To Be A King
Synopsis
To Be a King is the climactic third volume of the Legends of Ga'Hoole trilogy, the prequel arc nested inside Kathryn Lasky's Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. Having survived the fires of the First Collier's forge and the long road told in The Coming of Hoole, the young owl Hoole now holds his father's throne — and the Ember that crowned him.
But a crown does not end a war. Hagsfiends and warlord-tyrant lords move against the new king, hoping to see the N'ythghar fall back into chaos rather than answer to him. Hoole turns to his oldest allies — Grank, the first collier, whose mastery of fire and metal can arm an army, and the blacksmith Theo — to build a force of free owls capable of standing against them.
The battle that follows tests more than swords and talons. The Ember's power is real, but Lasky is just as interested in its cost: even magic wielded for good can undo the owl who carries it. In the aftermath, Hoole chooses not a throne room but a tree — the Great Tree that will one day shelter Soren, Coryn and the Band — laying the foundation for the order the rest of the series is built around.
Genres
Characters
HooleProtagonist
The young king who has claimed his father's throne and bears the Ember that crowned him.
GrankSupporting
The first collier; his mastery of fire and metal lets him forge weapons for Hoole's army.
TheoSupporting
A blacksmith and ally who helps Hoole build a force of free owls.
Frequently asked questions
Is To Be a King the last book in the Legends of Ga'Hoole trilogy?
Yes. To Be a King is the third and final book of the Legends of Ga'Hoole prequel arc, following The First Collier and The Coming of Hoole. Together the three form books nine through eleven of the wider Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.
Do I need to read the main Guardians of Ga'Hoole books before To Be a King?
No. The Legends of Ga'Hoole trilogy (The First Collier, The Coming of Hoole, and To Be a King) is a self-contained prequel that tells the story of Hoole, an ancestor of the owls in the main series. It can be read on its own, though it was published after — and is set generations before — the events of The Capture and the books that follow.