| The Shattering | |
| |
| Credits | |
| Author: | Kathryn Lasky |
| Cover Art: | Richard Cowdrey |
| Cover Design: | Steve Scott |
| Details | |
| Publish Date: | 2004 |
| ISBN Number: | ISBN 9780439405614 |
| Summary | |
| Eglantine begins to distance herself from her family and friends, leading Primrose to investigate and find the truth behind her disappearances. | |
| Previous Book: | The Siege |
| Next Book: | The Burning |
The Shattering is the fifth book of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, by Kathryn Lasky.
Description[]
Soren's sister, Eglantine, is falling under the spell of a strange nightly dream. Then, just as Soren notices her trancelike state, Eglantine disappears, and the dreams become a deadly waking nightmare that puts the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole in terrible danger. Soren must lead the chaw of chaws to rescue his sister. Thus begins the next battle between the owls of Ga'Hoole and the evil Pure Ones, deep in the treacherous territory known as The Beaks, where a raging forest fire will prove the greatest danger to the rescuers - and their best hope for victory.
Eyecatcher[]
Chapters[]
Prologue
- A Friend in Need?
- Spronk No More
- A Grim Tweener
- A Missing Piece
- A Fragment from the Sea
- So Close!
- The Sign of the Centipede
- Mum Waits for Me
- The Most Beautiful Mum in the World
- Eglantine Researches
- Primrose's Last Thought
- A Gizzard Begins to Stir
- The Lucky Charm
- As a Gizzard Twitches
- Piece by Piece
- The Sacred Orb
- The Hostage Egg
- "It Cannot Fail!"
- The Peg-out
- A Crown of Fire
- The Gollymopes
- The Living Dead
- The Passing of the Claws
Plot[]
Eglantine has started to have strange dreams of her parents being alive. In them, she recalls Soren and Twilight saying that they were dead. She denied that fact and was awakened by Primrose, Eglantine's hollowmate. Ginger, another hollowmate who actually used to be a Pure One, suggested that they let her sleep. Primrose was shocked by this fact, but Eglantine reassured her that she was having a good dream. This statement started to make Primrose worried for the well-being of her friend and she suspected that something was deeply amiss. Primrose headed to the library, where Otulissa was ranting to Digger about Dewlap being a traitor. Otulissa told Primrose and Digger about Shattering, along with how it's worse than moon blinking. Later, during a flight, Soren, Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight find a page from Fleckasia and other Disorders of the Gizzard. They return the page to Otulissa. Soren later has a dream involving the Mirror Lakes. When Trader Mags arrives, Otulissa gets a dowsing rod for flecks and a diagram of the owl brain. Suddenly, Soren spots Ginger playing with a live but injured mouse with Eglantine watching her. Soren swoops in and angrily threatens to report Ginger until Eglantine intervenes and tells him that Ginger only knew the ways of the Pure Ones, who are known to play with their food. Soren takes her back to his hollow and has her sleep there. Later on, he puts her in the infirmary out of the belief that her drowsiness is caused by summer flux. Eglantine later decides that her dreams are real and flies off to the Beaks where she meets an owl who claims to be her mother. Though the owl looks a lot like her mother, there are some physical differences. Plus, the owl calls her darling, something that her mother never called Eglantine. After Eglantine falls asleep in her "mum's" nest, a light from the moon shines off a metal mask worn by an owl (probably Kludd/Metal Beak), revealing that the imposter owl posing as her mother is actually a Pure One.
When Eglantine wakes up, she finds herself back at the Tree. She heads to the library and finds the books on higher magnetics. She rips out the pages and delivers them to her "dream mum", as she calls the owl. On one such trip, Primrose follows her and gets captured by the Pure Ones. They try and shatter her as well, but she uses her amber that she received from Trader Maggs to secretly move the flecks from her bedding to a hole where it couldn't hurt her. She then faked being shattered. Eventually, Eglantine begins to sense that something is wrong with herself and flies back to the Beaks, where she realizes that her "mum" is really her evil sister-in-law, Nyra. Nyra and her owls then capture her.
Back at the Tree, Digger, who had noticed Eglantine's strange behavior, reveals he checked out her nest with the dowsing rod and found it full of flecks. The chaw of chaws realize that Eglantine has been shattered by Ginger and discover that the two owls are both gone. They set out to rescue her.
Back in the Beaks, Nyra reveals that she has laid an egg. Eglantine snatches it and flies away with Primrose. A chase ensues and find chaw of chaws find the missing pair. To escape, Eglantine is forced to drop the egg, which is destroyed. Afterwards, the Great Tree learns that St Aggie's has fallen to the Pure Ones. To prepare for a final battle with the enemy, the chaw of chaws is dispatched to the Northern Kingdoms.
Printing error[]
There is a printing error that can be found in many English copies of The Shattering - in the illustrations in the back cover, Ruby and Primrose are mislabeled, bearing each other's names. This was corrected in later printings of the book.
Trivia[]
- This is the fifth of six Guardians of Ga'Hoole books to include illustrations of the main and minor characters that appear in the book.
- It's unknown who the owl on the cover is. It could be Eglantine or Ginger.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Next Book: The Burning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -