| The First Collier | |
| |
| Credits | |
| Author: | Kathryn Lasky |
| Cover Art: | Richard Cowdrey |
| Cover Design: | Steve Scott |
| Details | |
| Publish Date: | 2006 |
| ISBN Number: | ISBN 978-0-439-79568-5 |
| Summary | |
| Long ago in the time of Hoole, Grank, a collier, must protect an owl egg as war between Hagsfiends and owls rage on. | |
| Previous Book: | The Outcast |
| Next Book: | The Coming of Hoole |
The First Collier is the ninth book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, and the first volume in The Legends.
Description[]
An ancient malevolence that will threaten the very existence of the great tree has been loosed from the past. With his dying breath, Ezylryb tells Soren and Coryn to read the legends of Ga'Hoole hidden in his private library. There, they will find a world of treachery and magic in which a young king and queen struggle to keep peace while Grank, their most loyal friend and supporter, studies embers and flames in a distant land. Then a desprate plea comes from the king, and Grank rushes to the aid of his noble friends.
Eyecatcher[]
Chapters[]
Prologue
- Grank I Am
- I Discover Firesight
- Fengo
- BONK!
- A Strange Interlude
- When We Were Very Young
- The Grog Tree
- The Nacht Ga'
- The Eyes of Fengo
- My Best Intentions
- The Ice Cliff Palace
- To the Bitter Sea
- Blood Snowflakes
- The Arrival of Theo
- A Wounded Queen
- A Polar Bear Named Svenka
- Vanished!
- Svenka Tells a Tale of Death
- The First Battle Claws
- A Stubborn Owl Gets More Stubborn
- Siv Learns to Fly Again
- First Blood
- Theo Returns
- A Haggish Lord
- Odd Stirrings
- The Longest Night
Epilogue
Plot[]
An illustration of Twilight, Digger, and Gylfie at the beginning of the book, huddling on the branch outside Ezylryb's hollow. From the Japanese version of the book.
The First Collier is the first in the trilogy known as "The Legends". Soren and the new king Coryn, at the request of Ezylryb, are tasked with reading the trilogy. These books, The First Collier, The Coming of Hoole , and To Be a King, are all based on the owl legends.
The First Collier is about, as the name suggests, the first collier, Grank. Grank discovers that he has firesight, and goes to Beyond the Beyond to learn more about firesight. There, he meets Fengo, and discovers the Ember of Hoole, known at the time only as the Owl Ember. Once he retrieves it, he spends countless days staring at it as if entranced. He sees that the King H'rath and Queen Siv are in danger, yet he does nothing to help his dear friends. Joss, a messenger for the royalty, delivers a message to Grank from H'rath. Fengo retrieves Grank from his trancelike state and Grank, after returning the Ember to the volcano, goes to help his friends.
Siv and her servant, Myrrthe, seek shelter in the Glauxian Sisters' Retreat, only to discover that the owls there have been spellbound. The evil hagsfiends cast the Nacht Ga' spell on the Glauxess, Siv's cousin, capturing the other Glauxian sisters. Myrrthe discovers this, and the duo leave immediately.
Grank, after seeing pictures in the flames, finds out about the Glauxian Sisters and attempts to rescue them. He goes to the Retreat and "seeks shelter." The Glauxess invites him for a vole, and Grank agrees. He finds out that all of the owls have been spellbound. In his talons, he has an ice splinter, ready to stab the Glauxess in the gizzard so that the owls will be freed from the spell. As he sees the Glauxess, a harsh, hypnotic yellow light fills the area (radiated from the hagsfiends' eyes), trying to blind Grank and put him in their control. He finds himself slipping, but as the Glauxess comes closer, he stabs the ice splinter in her gizzard and loses conscience. When he awoke, he discovered that the Glauxian Sisters have been freed from the spell. He heads to the Ice Palace in search of Siv.
Grank locates Siv and Myrrthe at the Palace. They talk, and Grank states that "a queen in danger is more dangerous than the egg in danger." They plot that Grank will take the egg and raise it, while Siv will escape with Myrrthe. Suddenly, a harsh stench fills the air, indicating the approach of incoming hagsfiends. They agreed that Siv will carry a fake egg made of snow and ice. They say their farewells, and Grank flies off. He travels to a small island in the Bitter Sea to create a nest for Siv's egg, as well as form a forge. He makes sure it's comfortable, and then sets up a fire in his new forge. He spots Siv and tries to clearly see her movements.
Siv was still in the Palace. Two of Lord Arrin's hagsfiends were cornering her to snatch the egg. Once cornered, a harsh yellow light (the same light that had almost hypnotized Grank in the Glauxian Sisters' Retreat) filled the air. The moon and stars faded into the glaring, hypnotic light. Siv looked as if she were going yeep, but she was actually falling under the spell, Natch Ga'. Despite the yellow light glaring at its maximum intensity, Siv cried out in resistance and lunged forward with her weapon. There was a bloody wing on the ground, and the snow turned red. The visions disappeared, and Grank found himself deeply disturbed.
Grank later meets Theo, his first apprentice and the first owl blacksmith. Grank teaches him the ways of fire, and Theo teaches Grank the lesson of obnoxiousness., rarely ever ceasing to talk during their lessons.
Meanwhile, Myrrthe guides Siv to an iceberg which was "safe from enemies". Myrrthe cares for her, and meets a polar bear named Svenka . Svenka teaches her how to fish, and helps in caring for Siv. One day, Myrrthe leaves and doesn't come back. Siv becomes worried. Upon returning from hunting, Svenka says that Myrrthe had been killed by hagsfiends.
Svenka told Siv that the hagsfiends had surrounded Myrrthe. Svenka tried to save her, but again the dangerously luminous yellow light filled the night. Svenka, surprised, was slowly paralyzed and watched as the hagsfiends killed Myrrthe. Once the light retracted, Svenka made her move. She grieved for Myrrthe, yet Siv grieved more. Svenka dedicates herself to caring for Siv, even teaching her to fly again. One day, Svenka heads to a private place to give birth, leaving Siv alone for a while.
Lord Arrin, who had long wanted Siv's egg, visits her iceberg inquiring about the egg, then requests to become her mate. Siv dosen't give any information about the egg, so at the end of the speech, outraged, Arrin retreats. Siv remains in the hollow thinking about her egg and other things, like the natchmagen of the hagsfiends and the types of birth. At the end of her reflections she find a way to avoid being charmed by the hagsfiends, that is: don't be distracted or amazed by them, and focus on something.
Later, Svenka gives birth to three cubs and returns to Siv for a brief time. Siv is excited and asks Svenka about her them. She says that there were three beautiful little cubs, but that one died. Siv says to her that Lord Arrin would be back soon, considering that the weather of the firth was freezing. So the polar bear helps Siv break the ice near the iceberg, in order to discourage the hagsfiends' attack due to their vulnerability to seawater. In the end, Lord Arrin and his troup of hagsfiends come to attack Siv, and in that same moment the egg begins to hatch, assisted by Grank and Theo. Meanwhile, Siv tries to strike Penryk with the H'rath's scimitar, but he avoids the stroke. So she decides to fly over the firth, hoping to find a spot of ice-free water, that would endanger the hagsfiends. Then, surrounded by them, she lands on a flow, where Lord Arrin insists on asking her to become his queen and if the egg was hatched, trying to distract her. But she remains focused and ready to battle with the scimitar raised.
In the meantime Hoole is born, and Siv immediately felt a strong bond with him.
In the epilogue, Coryn confesses to Soren that, due to this tale, he had come to understand that his mother is a hagsfiend.
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Covers[]
Next book: The Coming of Hoole