Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: To Be a King

The Guardians of Ga’Hoole Book 11: To Be a King by Kathryn Lasky

I really liked it

Here is our final ancient legend of Hoole! I’m a bit sad to get to the last one, but I’m also just about ready to get back into the present day of this series and actually get back to the problems at hand.

Read: May 1 – May 7, 2025

Genre: Fantasy, Fable
Audience: Children, Middle-grade
Book contains: owl experimentation, grooming, war, death, attempted murder, mild gore, impersonation, depictions of madness

Purchase a copy from Indigo.ca

A Final Lesson for Coryn and the Guardians

King Hoole and the first guardians have taken up residence in the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, but peace is still out of reach. The witchy hagsfiend Kreeth is still experimenting with nachtmagen, and Lord Arrin’s forces are scattered but not defeated. Can Hoole lead his loyal owls to victory against evil magic?

I quite enjoyed this book, though I was a bit thrown by some of the storylines that were left open-ended. While fun and interesting, I’m not sure how much new information it gave the guardians. It just closed out the trilogy they were reading. We’ll see the full impact in future books, I guess!

Like the other two legends, this book did not have a frontispiece but rather had a parchment-looking page with the beginning of the Ga’Hoole legends. It followed a few different characters, such as Hoole, Theo, and Kreeth, in limited third person, as they were the main driving forces of the plot. In each scene, the POV was slightly omniscient, as it jumped between different character heads.

This book took a bit longer to read, not because it was long, but because I didn’t have the time most days. I took it with me on a weekend road trip, expecting to have time to read, but didn’t get the chance. The moments I did have time, however, I could hardly put it down.

I like Hoole as a noble character, but he’s not the most interesting. Lutta, a new sort-of antagonist is much more interesting because of her depth and internal struggles; I wish she had more time to go through an arc. Kreeth and a few other antagonists are just evil and/or power-hungry, so they weren’t very interesting either. I also liked the espionage aspect of Emerilla’s character. (Is her name an easter egg from the other books? I’m almost certain that Otulissa mentions her by name.) I was glad to see Namara the dire wolf in this book again, and other returning characters were appreciated. One thing I was confused about was Otulissa’s lack of pride as the book mentions Spotted Owls; it feels slightly out of character for her to saynothing about it, even if she’s grown as a character.

Not much is focused on romance in this book, though I was confused by the few romances that do happen, specifically with Hoole and his eventual chosen queen. His close familial relationship with Grank is sweet, and I love that he can trust his close friends on his quests and leave the Ember back at the Tree because he trusts them all. It opens him up to deception, which is definitely taken advantage of by the villains.

Lasky’s writing continues to be understandable for younger readers while maintaining depth for older readers like myself. It’s definitely geared towards middle-grade kids, though. There were only a few errors I found, typos as well as a few syntax mishaps when the text seems to forget that the characters are owls and thus can’t do everything that humans can. My other spot of confusion comes from the open-ended plotlines that feel slightly like loose ends; they’re fine but just feel a bit off. Otherwise, the writing really brought me into the world and the conflicts within that King Hoole and his guardians face.

The pacing of this book was pretty good, as it followed a few different storylines that were both easy to follow and that didn’t drag on too long before they switched to a new character. Because of this, a reader is unlikely to get bored if the storyline follows a character that they don’t particularly care for.

I’m continuing to enjoy this series, and I highly recommend fans to keep reading. These three legends have set up the series to continue in the present with a whole new challenge.

The Guardians of Ga’Hoole Book 11: To Be a King by Kathryn Lasky

A Final Lesson for Coryn and the Guardians

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