Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: The River of Wind

The Guardians of Ga’Hoole Book 13: The River of Wind by Kathryn Lasky

I liked it

This series is continuing for longer than I expected, with new plotlines and additions to add in as the Guardians and the Pure Ones continue their head-to-head stand-off, neither truly winning or losing.

Read: May 19, 2025

Genre: Fantasy, Fable
Audience: Children, Middle-grade
Book contains: vanity, punishment, manipulation, death, violence, blood

Purchase a copy from Indigo.ca

A New Beast in a New World!

Bess, the Boreal Owl living in the Palace of Mists, has discovered old papers speaking of a new world, the Sixth Kingdom of owls, and the Band is determined to find it and learn more about them. At the same time, Nyra and the Pure Ones are growing in strength once again. Will the battle finally be over?

While I always love expanding worlds and new books in a series that I enjoy, it feels a bit like Lasky is wringing the towel dry on this one. Nyra keeps escaping, so the Pure Ones still aren’t defeated. The new Middle Kingdom, which has never been mentioned or hinted at before, feels like just another thing for them to learn about, a new piece of magic, and while all the new lore is cool, it feels a bit disjointed. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable read.

The frontispiece in this book was nice, though I would’ve appreciated a new addition to the map(s) in the book because of the expanding world. The structure remains the same as all the other books, with a shifting omniscient third person point of view following the Band, Coryn, Nyra, and other characters. Coryn took a bit of a backseat in this book; it actually focused more on characters like Twilight and Digger.

The day was quite wet and dreary: a perfect day to stay inside and read. I read this book the old-fashioned way, meaning it made me sleepy, but I managed to finish the whole thing in one day!

As I mentioned above, this book focused less on Coryn and instead gave the spotlight to Digger (the philosopher of the group), Otulissa, Twilight, and Soren. Bell (one of Soren’s daughters) also played a big role in this book as she made friends with a new character who I anticipate will play a bigger role in the later books.

The Chaw of Chaws remains a close-knit group, though I’m not entirely sure the lot of them were necessary for the trip. The Band, sure, but Martin and Ruby didn’t play big enough roles to warrant their appearance. Nyra, in this book, is a lot more focused on Soren and Coryn (specifically their deaths). A big new relationship that seems important is that between Bell and a new owl who found and rescued her after a gale. This relationship was unique in that both of them were teaching one another, and thus offered mutually beneficial aid.

I’m always pleased by the playful syntax Lasky uses for this series, and it’s great writing for younger readers, though there were once again some higher-level words that eight- to twelve-year-olds may not understand. This is a good book for adults to read together with their child to explain these words when they come up. I found a few typos, but nothing wild.

The pacing of this book was quite fast. It also almost seemed self-contained, as even though the continued plot of Nyra and the Pure Ones was happening in the background, a lot of the plot and subplots began suddenly in this book without being set up in the previous books. It was a fun adventure and will definitely affect the future books in a big way.

I still recommend this book to fans of the series. It provides a cool expansion of the world and lore.

The Guardians of Ga’Hoole Book 13: The River of Wind by Kathryn Lasky

A New Beast in a New World!

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