Guardians of Ga'Hoole

#2324.09 in the official ranking · full ranking

Books 28 books Status Complete 2003–2019 Reading commitment High Kathryn Lasky Last reviewed 2026-10-27

Overview

Kathryn Lasky’s owl saga is set in a world long after humans, the vanished “Others”, where owl kingdoms, wolves, bears and snakes have their own histories and legends. The young barn owl Soren is snatched from his family by a sinister academy, escapes with three friends and finds the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, home of an order of owls who defend the weak; his long war with his brother Kludd and the Pure Ones, and the reign of King Coryn, fill sixteen books, including a cycle of legends about the first king, Hoole. The first three books became the 2010 film Legend of the Guardians. Three more series share the same world: Wolves of the Beyond follows the outcast wolf Faolan in the volcanic lands where the Ember of Hoole is guarded, Bears of the Ice follows polar bear cubs in the Northern Kingdoms, and Horses of the Dawn goes back to the world’s distant past, following the first wild horses across the Americas of the 1520s.

Epic fantasy · For Middle grade

Core Canon: Reading Order (28 works) counts toward ranking

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Kathryn Lasky

	Work	Year	Internal chron.	Canon	Rating
	The Capture	2003	1	core	3.94 (30,852 ratings)
	The Journey	2003	2	core	4.02 (15,735 ratings)
	The Rescue	2004	3	core	4.09 (13,719 ratings)
	The Siege	2004	4	core	4.12 (12,242 ratings)
	The Shattering	2004	5	core	4.08 (10,659 ratings)
	The Burning	2004	6	core	4.10 (11,544 ratings)
	The Hatchling	2005	7	core	4.09 (9,850 ratings)
	The Outcast	2005	8	core	4.11 (8,666 ratings)
	The First Collier	2006	9	core	4.03 (6,789 ratings)
	The Coming of Hoole	2006	10	core	4.04 (6,021 ratings)
	To Be a King	2006	11	core	4.06 (6,417 ratings)
	The Golden Tree	2007	12	core	4.04 (5,752 ratings)
	The River of Wind	2007	13	core	4.05 (6,364 ratings)
	Exile	2008	14	core	4.08 (4,730 ratings)
	The War of the Ember	2008	15	core	4.22 (5,775 ratings)
	The Rise of a Legend	2013	16	core	4.33 (1,705 ratings)

Sixteen novels of Soren, Coryn and the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, 2003-2013.

Wolves of the Beyond Kathryn Lasky

	Work	Year	Internal chron.	Canon	Rating
	Lone Wolf	2010	1	core	4.18 (12,154 ratings)
	Shadow Wolf	2010	2	core	4.29 (6,558 ratings)
	Watch Wolf	2011	3	core	4.32 (5,681 ratings)
	Frost Wolf	2011	4	core	4.31 (4,191 ratings)
	Spirit Wolf	2012	5	core	4.33 (3,380 ratings)
	Star Wolf	2013	6	core	4.37 (3,063 ratings)

Six-novel spin-off following the wolf Faolan in the Beyond, 2010-2013.

Bears of the Ice Kathryn Lasky

	Work	Year	Internal chron.	Canon	Rating
	The Quest of the Cubs	2018	1	core	3.98 (699 ratings)
	The Den of Forever Frost	2018	2	core	N/A
	The Keepers of the Keys	2019	3	core	N/A

Three-novel spin-off following polar bear cubs in the Northern Kingdoms, 2018-2019.

Horses of the Dawn Kathryn Lasky

	Work	Year	Internal chron.	Canon	Rating
	The Escape	2014	1	core	N/A
	Star Rise	2015	2	core	N/A
	Wild Blood	2016	3	core	N/A

Trilogy following the filly Estrella and the first wild horses in the Americas of the 1520s, the distant past of the Ga'Hoole world, 2014-2016.

Quick answers

• How many books are in Guardians of Ga'Hoole? Guardians of Ga'Hoole's Core Canon is 28 books.
• What is the reading order for Guardians of Ga'Hoole? Publication order, starting with The Capture. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
• Is Guardians of Ga'Hoole finished? Complete (2003–2019).
• How much reading does Guardians of Ga'Hoole take? High reading commitment (estimated from 28 Core Canon books).
• How is Guardians of Ga'Hoole ranked? #232 in this site's official ranking, based on 192,546 reader ratings across 23 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.

Why is it ranked #232?

Ranked #232 in the official ranking.

• Average reader rating of 4.09 across 23 core books.
• Backed by 193k reader ratings.
• Uneven reception: its books range from 3.94 to 4.37.
• Less than 0.01 behind #231, Redwall (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
• Below the top-10 average of 4.46.

5 Core Canon books here don't have a recorded rating yet and aren't counted above: “The Den of Forever Frost” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.); “The Keepers of the Keys” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.); “The Escape” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.); “Star Rise” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.); “Wild Blood” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.).

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Highly rated · 28 books · Complete · 193k ratings · Ranks #232 overall

Good choice if you want a long-running epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.

Reading order

Publication order (28 Core Canon books)

1. The Capture (2003)
2. The Journey (2003)
3. The Burning (2004)
4. The Rescue (2004)
5. The Shattering (2004)
6. The Siege (2004)
7. The Hatchling (2005)
8. The Outcast (2005)
9. The Coming of Hoole (2006)
10. The First Collier (2006)
11. To Be a King (2006)
12. The Golden Tree (2007)
13. The River of Wind (2007)
14. Exile (2008)
15. The War of the Ember (2008)
16. Lone Wolf (2010)
17. Shadow Wolf (2010)
18. Frost Wolf (2011)
19. Watch Wolf (2011)
20. Spirit Wolf (2012)
21. Star Wolf (2013)
22. The Rise of a Legend (2013)
23. The Escape (2014)
24. Star Rise (2015)
25. Wild Blood (2016)
26. The Den of Forever Frost (2018)
27. The Quest of the Cubs (2018)
28. The Keepers of the Keys (2019)

Documented internal/story order

1. The Capture (2003)
2. Lone Wolf (2010)
3. The Quest of the Cubs (2018)
4. The Escape (2014)
5. The Journey (2003)
6. Shadow Wolf (2010)
7. The Den of Forever Frost (2018)
8. Star Rise (2015)
9. The Rescue (2004)
10. Watch Wolf (2011)
11. The Keepers of the Keys (2019)
12. Wild Blood (2016)
13. The Siege (2004)
14. Frost Wolf (2011)
15. The Shattering (2004)
16. Spirit Wolf (2012)
17. The Burning (2004)
18. Star Wolf (2013)
19. The Hatchling (2005)
20. The Outcast (2005)
21. The First Collier (2006)
22. The Coming of Hoole (2006)
23. To Be a King (2006)
24. The Golden Tree (2007)
25. The River of Wind (2007)
26. Exile (2008)
27. The War of the Ember (2008)
28. The Rise of a Legend (2013)

Awards (verified)

• No major book award was found for the series.

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Suggestions computed from what Guardians of Ga'Hoole and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

• Circle of Magic (Emelan) Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.12
• Deltora Quest Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.01
• The Edge Chronicles Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.18
• Redwall Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.09

Official resources

• Wikipedia: Guardians of Ga'Hoole
• Author's site

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.09 across 192,546 ratings on 23 Core Canon books. 5 additional Core Canon books haven't been rated yet, so they aren't counted here. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.

How do we know this?

Admission: Canon Extension: Guardians of Ga'Hoole (Kathryn Lasky, 25 books) accepted 2026-10-27

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

• Wikipedia: Guardians of Ga'Hoole Tier 2

Last reviewed: 2026-10-27

Rule: Core Canon = the sixteen Guardians of Ga’Hoole novels (The Capture to The War of the Ember, plus the prequel The Rise of a Legend), the six Wolves of the Beyond novels, the three Bears of the Ice novels and the three Horses of the Dawn novels, which the author ties to the same world: Horses of the Dawn is set in the Americas of the 1520s, its distant past. The two in-world guidebooks are not registered.

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