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Slowly, inexorably, the Striga, a mysterious blue owl from the Middle Kingdoms, gains control over young Coryn's mind. An then the unthinkable happens. The Band is banished from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. The Striga institutes a harsh new regime that will not stop until learning itself-the very foundation of the tree-becomes suspect and books are consigned to flame. Somehow the Band must open Coryn's eyes to the Striga's malign influence. But how? They are in exile!
210 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2008
About the author
Kathryn Lasky
225 books2,140 followersKathryn Lasky is the American author of many critically acclaimed books, including several Dear America books, several Royal Diaries books, 1984 Newbery Honor winning Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.
She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Massachusetts.
Book 15, The War of the Ember, is currently the last book in the Ga'Hoole series. The Rise of a Legend is the 16th book but is a prequel to the series. Lasky has also written Guide Book To The Great Tree and Lost Tales Of Ga'Hoole which are companion books.
She was born June 24, 1944, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is married to Christopher Knight, with whom she lives in Massachusetts.
Book 15, The War of the Ember, is currently the last book in the Ga'Hoole series. The Rise of a Legend is the 16th book but is a prequel to the series. Lasky has also written Guide Book To The Great Tree and Lost Tales Of Ga'Hoole which are companion books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
December 28, 2022
Kathryn Lasky certainly knows how to bounce back from a mediocre book in the series, and I am so grateful to her for not killing off characters. You don't know how much dread and unnecessary heartache it saves us. Bless you!
November 18, 2023
Fahrenheit 451 with owls. Particularly poignant right now with all the book banning happening.
January 30, 2011
Finally the penultimate book 14 of this huge Guardians of Ga'hoole series, Exile. Although after reading 13 books at stretch anyone would definitely get bored and start asking when will this finish but Exile out of the blue still manages to captivate us readers in love and sadness with the brave owls of ga'hoole, the demonic Pure Ones, and the fight between good and evil. Few have been able to make a successful story of animals but this series exceeds that of an animal book,. Finally with the new book we can see the series with Soren and the band continue.
Exile takes an even more darker twist in the Guardians of Ga'hoole when The Striga, a blue Dragon Owl who saved Soren's youngest daughter, Bell, and asked in return to stay and teach his ways to the owls of ga'hoole.
It was their gravest mistake to agree this proposition.
Slowly The Striga tries to inch closer in his friendship with the king of the tree: Coryn, as Coryn is even more slowly losing control over the Ember of Hoole's power. Even worse than that, books and ancient records detailing very early points in owl history, are being burnt, as a part of "cleansing from earthly possessions and vanity". The blue owl has one thing standing in his way from starting a cult: the band. As Soren, Gyflie, Digger, and Twilight figure out what is going on, poisoned by the Ember and Striga, Coryn sends a message to them as they are on their way home, banishing them, never to return to the Great Ga'hoole Tree, to stay in exile.
But The Striga isn't done. Finding ways of accusing the owls of treason with hard evidence, The Striga orders that band is to be tracked down and imprisoned by their own friends of the tree . Hopeless the band separates hoping to meet again with allies to free Coryn from The Striga's spell.
Kathryn Lasky again stumbles us with strange and dark secrets, keeps us pinned to the book in great fights, and warming our hearts with the courage and daring of the owls of ga'hoole. Exile gives us a view with the classic, good and evil, and the misuse of power and wisdom, that make a great story.
I have to say though, I may have been slowly loosing interest in the series a little but the further into the series I go, the darker the books get, introducing things like references to cults, black magic, and demonic practices, but thankfully the author is able to keep a balance between the to facts of life with good and evil.
Exile takes an even more darker twist in the Guardians of Ga'hoole when The Striga, a blue Dragon Owl who saved Soren's youngest daughter, Bell, and asked in return to stay and teach his ways to the owls of ga'hoole.
It was their gravest mistake to agree this proposition.
Slowly The Striga tries to inch closer in his friendship with the king of the tree: Coryn, as Coryn is even more slowly losing control over the Ember of Hoole's power. Even worse than that, books and ancient records detailing very early points in owl history, are being burnt, as a part of "cleansing from earthly possessions and vanity". The blue owl has one thing standing in his way from starting a cult: the band. As Soren, Gyflie, Digger, and Twilight figure out what is going on, poisoned by the Ember and Striga, Coryn sends a message to them as they are on their way home, banishing them, never to return to the Great Ga'hoole Tree, to stay in exile.
But The Striga isn't done. Finding ways of accusing the owls of treason with hard evidence, The Striga orders that band is to be tracked down and imprisoned by their own friends of the tree . Hopeless the band separates hoping to meet again with allies to free Coryn from The Striga's spell.
Kathryn Lasky again stumbles us with strange and dark secrets, keeps us pinned to the book in great fights, and warming our hearts with the courage and daring of the owls of ga'hoole. Exile gives us a view with the classic, good and evil, and the misuse of power and wisdom, that make a great story.
I have to say though, I may have been slowly loosing interest in the series a little but the further into the series I go, the darker the books get, introducing things like references to cults, black magic, and demonic practices, but thankfully the author is able to keep a balance between the to facts of life with good and evil.
September 1, 2023
Ok one of my favorite things and this has happened in the 14 out of 15 books I’ve read is that our Ms Lasky just forgets to worldbuild so she just does it on the fly.
The opening of this book is like “ok first you gotta know that all this time off screen the owls have been having major I mean MAJOR holidays but they haven’t been relevant until now but they’ve ALWAYS been there, k?”
Regular Tolkien of owl-kind, know(l) what I mean? 🦉
The opening of this book is like “ok first you gotta know that all this time off screen the owls have been having major I mean MAJOR holidays but they haven’t been relevant until now but they’ve ALWAYS been there, k?”
Regular Tolkien of owl-kind, know(l) what I mean? 🦉
August 15, 2021
This one’s fine, I’m just ready to be done with the series. Oh the mistakes we make in the name of nostalgia.
January 20, 2024
Honestly, I hate to say it, but I did not enjoy exile very much at all. It was written well enough, and nothing silly or stupid occurred, but the entire book felt oppressive and didn't have any joy in it whatsoever. An interesting character (Orlando), who was created in the prior book was instantly turned into a villain with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and began turning everyone else into villains as well. Furthermore, at the end, he gets away, somehow, which is, I believe, the fourth or fifth time that has happened in this series now. What makes this occurrence particularly annoying, however, is that Orlando doesn't have any feathers, can't really fly well, and is being chased by owls who, by the entire Ga'hoole universe's definition, are the best flyers in the entire planet, yet somehow he just scoots away so he can team up with Nyra, who has fled twice under similar circumstances. That just plain sucks. By the end of the book there really wasn't much to appreciate, and I was kind of thankful it was over so I could move on to the next one. I don't feel this book captured the essence of what the Ga'hoole books bring to the table. It's a shame.
March 4, 2017
After I read this book I thought that it was very well written, because when I read the title "Exile" I got confused and at the same time curious about what it is was about. As I read through it I started to understand it much more. This was one of my five top favorites out of the whole series. The other four where Legends Of Ga'hoole, Battle of the Ember, The Burning, and The Rescue. As I read each of these books so many thoughts about the story raced through my head. There are 15 books in total, sometimes when I think about when i read the books I wish that they would be one more story to the series a 16th book. Overall it was a great read and I hope someone takes interest in this.
December 10, 2012
these books are getting weirder and weirder...a BLUE OWL named striga has gained control over coryn's mind making him EXILE the band as well as making owls burn their so-called "vanities". .........WHAT THE HGFGEUHFDHDSAHBGRUOFGMGDSDHHCDWAGYJHFMNXBXNCVHJSIEUGFYEJEBFGEJDBFHEHDFBFHDNDHFHSBCHFKWCJKJHBVSDHUIULNFHDBKUNHCKWHFBUWKHFKDFHWKJFHQUHEWBUHF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
March 23, 2013
This one was good. Rather dark I would say. The Striga is slowly taking over Coryn's mind. Tricking and deceiving him. As Striga has said, " at the heart is decite" now the band has been banished. It's the classic fight between good and evil. It questions power. And it begs the question, " Do we live under power or moral values?"
December 30, 2020
Really wasn’t expecting a plot line about the Rapture mixed with Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Friar Savonarola in a fantasy book about owls.
March 27, 2024
In Exile, we revisit Book 12’s theme of corruption at the Great Tree, but with major elements from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (name-dropped in the text) and the awkwardly conceived blue owls from Book 13 shoehorned in. The first half of the book raises the stakes, with reports of book burnings and later witch trials with owls burned at the stake. I get that it makes the final battle more exciting because we want to see the Big Bad Striga ousted from the tree, but I did not enjoy reading what felt like Lasky’s perverse destruction of her beautiful fantasy world. The owls also complete their transformation into humans this book, with the invention of the printing press, calculus, and the circulation of the Arthurian Legends (directly name-dropped in the text). This is funny because we already have an owl version of the Arthurian cycle through the Hoolian Legends (Books 9-11), so how necessary was it to bring in its thinly veiled inspiration?
I was cheering by the end but the rest was a slog. 3/5.
I was cheering by the end but the rest was a slog. 3/5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2019
Ok so... This. Book. Was. AMAZING. this is one of my favorites from the whole series. the with all of the previous books developing the characters it allows for you to really feel their emotions and allowed me to connect to the book. The plot involving The Striga was incredible. It totally caught me off guard and I loved it. Definitely read this series. I am super excited to read the next one.
August 21, 2020
This is one of the scarier books in the series. All communities deal with ideas if good and evil. Lasky's owls are no different. Intense.
Read
February 10, 2017Exile
Jason Clemente
1/30/17
English 10 7th hour
Author’s Background
“Kathryn Lasky has had a long fascination with owls.” “She thought she would someday write a nonfiction book about owls.” “She realized though, that this would indeed be difficult as owls are shy, nocturnal creatures.” “So she decided to write a fantasy about a world of owls.”
She “wanted to include as much of their natural history as she could.”
Kathryn Lasky was born on june the 24th in 1944 and grew up in indianapolis, “She received a bachelor’s degree in English from the university of Michigan and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Wheelock college.”
2 Literary Time Period.
2007 was the year the book was published.
3 Setting
The setting is the Great Ga’hoole Tree and Ambala, the place of the living books.
4. Characters
Soren - Barn Owl - Coryn’s adviser - Guardian at the tree
Glyfie - Elf Owl - Guardian at the tree
Twilight - Great Gray Owl - Guardian at the tree
Digger - Burrowing Owl - Guardian at the tree
Otulissa - A teacher or ryb at the tree - usually goes with the others on missions
Bess - Boreal Owl “The Knower” Bess is the keeper of the Palace of Mists
Striga a former dragon owl
Tengshu “Qui master and sage of the middle kingdom”
6.Plot Summary
They invited the Striga a blue owl that saved Bell to come back to the tree with them. The Striga got Coryn to cancel the harvest festival that was held every year at the tree because the striga wanted to remove what he said was vanities. The Striga started giving out blue feathers for a blue feather club which was his means from removing vanities while away from the tree. They eventually find out that the Striga was stealing books from the library and burning them after they were sent on a research trip which they were “exiled” by the Striga. Some owls in ambala started the place of living books and explained to the band that the blue brigade has been stealing and burning books and other valuables.
8. Memorable Quotes - 3 minimum
“No pun intended, but even the Band seems to have been disbanded.”
Jason Clemente
1/30/17
English 10 7th hour
Author’s Background
“Kathryn Lasky has had a long fascination with owls.” “She thought she would someday write a nonfiction book about owls.” “She realized though, that this would indeed be difficult as owls are shy, nocturnal creatures.” “So she decided to write a fantasy about a world of owls.”
She “wanted to include as much of their natural history as she could.”
Kathryn Lasky was born on june the 24th in 1944 and grew up in indianapolis, “She received a bachelor’s degree in English from the university of Michigan and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Wheelock college.”
2 Literary Time Period.
2007 was the year the book was published.
3 Setting
The setting is the Great Ga’hoole Tree and Ambala, the place of the living books.
4. Characters
Soren - Barn Owl - Coryn’s adviser - Guardian at the tree
Glyfie - Elf Owl - Guardian at the tree
Twilight - Great Gray Owl - Guardian at the tree
Digger - Burrowing Owl - Guardian at the tree
Otulissa - A teacher or ryb at the tree - usually goes with the others on missions
Bess - Boreal Owl “The Knower” Bess is the keeper of the Palace of Mists
Striga a former dragon owl
Tengshu “Qui master and sage of the middle kingdom”
6.Plot Summary
They invited the Striga a blue owl that saved Bell to come back to the tree with them. The Striga got Coryn to cancel the harvest festival that was held every year at the tree because the striga wanted to remove what he said was vanities. The Striga started giving out blue feathers for a blue feather club which was his means from removing vanities while away from the tree. They eventually find out that the Striga was stealing books from the library and burning them after they were sent on a research trip which they were “exiled” by the Striga. Some owls in ambala started the place of living books and explained to the band that the blue brigade has been stealing and burning books and other valuables.
8. Memorable Quotes - 3 minimum
“No pun intended, but even the Band seems to have been disbanded.”
May 19, 2008
JP Tulacka
Guardians of Ga’ Hoole book 14 The Exile is a great book. I could hardly stop reading it was so suspenseful. The characters are the Soren Gylfie, Twilight and Digger which makes up the band. Outilisa a noble Spotted Owland and Coryn the King of the Kingdom. There also is The Striga who is an evil blue owl who came from the Middle Kingdoms and takes over Coryns mind. He convinces Coryn to send the band to go do weather research and once the band has left The Striga has the blue brigade (his secret society) come in and wait for the night of celebration so that they can take over the great tree and burn all of its vanities and rule the kingdoms. I liked this book because I have been a fan of the series for a while now and all of the books are excellent I think you should read it because it makes your imagination go wild.
Guardians of Ga’ Hoole book 14 The Exile is a great book. I could hardly stop reading it was so suspenseful. The characters are the Soren Gylfie, Twilight and Digger which makes up the band. Outilisa a noble Spotted Owland and Coryn the King of the Kingdom. There also is The Striga who is an evil blue owl who came from the Middle Kingdoms and takes over Coryns mind. He convinces Coryn to send the band to go do weather research and once the band has left The Striga has the blue brigade (his secret society) come in and wait for the night of celebration so that they can take over the great tree and burn all of its vanities and rule the kingdoms. I liked this book because I have been a fan of the series for a while now and all of the books are excellent I think you should read it because it makes your imagination go wild.
January 16, 2011
I always enjoy the GoG'H books when the Band go off on their special adventures. It's always funny because they are such old friends they are always joking or squabbling with each other.
In this book the Band and the other Guardians of the tree are invaded from the inside by the new owl who has recently taken up residents in the Great Tree. This evil owl grows closer and closer to Coryn and farther and farther away from reality. The young king is blinded by the new comers evil ways. And in the proses the evil owl does the unthinkable.... he burns books, owls and he banishes the band into exile. Can the Guardians and the Band defend them selves from such an evil owl whose forces are growing stronger by the day? Or will the six owl kingdoms fall into the fatal talons of the evil new-comer?
In this book the Band and the other Guardians of the tree are invaded from the inside by the new owl who has recently taken up residents in the Great Tree. This evil owl grows closer and closer to Coryn and farther and farther away from reality. The young king is blinded by the new comers evil ways. And in the proses the evil owl does the unthinkable.... he burns books, owls and he banishes the band into exile. Can the Guardians and the Band defend them selves from such an evil owl whose forces are growing stronger by the day? Or will the six owl kingdoms fall into the fatal talons of the evil new-comer?
September 8, 2014
Guardians of Ga'Hoole: Exile (Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 14) Summary: Slowly, inexorably, the Striga, a mysterious blue owl from the Middle Kingdom, gains control over young Coryn's mind. And then the unthinkable happens. The Band is banished from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. The Striga instates a harsh new regime that will not stop until learning itself - the very foundation of the tree - becomes suspect and books are consigned to flame. Somehow the Band must open Coryn's eyes to the Striga's malign influence. But how? They are in exile!
Rating: 3 stars
Opening Line: "'All right, Otulissa, how does this sound for the lead article?'"
Quote: "But, Cleve, I got this wound in battle. You are a gizzard-resister. I am a warrior. That is why we parted, remember?"
Rating: 3 stars
Opening Line: "'All right, Otulissa, how does this sound for the lead article?'"
Quote: "But, Cleve, I got this wound in battle. You are a gizzard-resister. I am a warrior. That is why we parted, remember?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2015
Another totally awesome book in the Ga'Hoole series! Poor Coryn - led astray but yet another owl because he let his weakness of parentage get in the way of logic. The Striga is such a fool and it's sad that so many flew to his cause. I can't help but make the connections to our lives now, we have some jerk spouting ideas and too many people following him without really listening.
Anyone, the Band and the rest of the tree have to get creative in order to save their livelihoods from the Striga.
Book burning = blasphemous! Hope the Striga gets the stake in the final book!
Also YAY/OUCH/AWE for Otulissa!
This completes my reading goal of 175 books for 2014! Yay! Can't wait to finish this amazing series for the start of the new year!
Anyone, the Band and the rest of the tree have to get creative in order to save their livelihoods from the Striga.
Book burning = blasphemous! Hope the Striga gets the stake in the final book!
Also YAY/OUCH/AWE for Otulissa!
This completes my reading goal of 175 books for 2014! Yay! Can't wait to finish this amazing series for the start of the new year!
January 25, 2010
This time the story focus on the blue owl which is not so good. The blue owl create a cult and influence the king. The premise is like England witch hunt.
How the king was influence, remind me of another chapter story in the book (i forgot which chapter). There is also a re-introduction of the owl previously introduce in the earlier chapter.
At first, I found it hard reading the book because the blue owl really get into my nerve, but near the end where everything is starting to get better, I quite enjoy it. That's why I love this sage, each chapter has its own crisis and then the problem always get solved at the end of the chapter.
How the king was influence, remind me of another chapter story in the book (i forgot which chapter). There is also a re-introduction of the owl previously introduce in the earlier chapter.
At first, I found it hard reading the book because the blue owl really get into my nerve, but near the end where everything is starting to get better, I quite enjoy it. That's why I love this sage, each chapter has its own crisis and then the problem always get solved at the end of the chapter.
September 23, 2016
In the penultimate entry of author Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole saga, the Striga, a strange blue owl from the Middle Kingdoms, gains influence over King Coryn, with the Band led by his Uncle Soren exile from the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, and literature being set ablaze. The writer owes her gratitude to fellow writer Ray Bradbury for the dystopian world of his novel Fahrenheit 451, which has a similar depiction of the forbiddance of literature and learning, and the Striga plays a similar role to Grima Wormtongue in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Aside from occasional defecation humor, this installment is on par with its predecessors, which is to say, good.
July 15, 2012
My book is the 14th book in The Guardians of Ga’hoole series. This book focuses on Croyn, Gylfie, Soren, Twilight, Digger and the bad guys. All of the characters are owls and other creatures. It happens in a world where magic exists and the inhabits don’t exactly know what humans are. The book starts with an assassination attempt on our main characters.
If you like this book you may also like the rest of The Guardians of Ga’hoole series. If you like books 9-11 in The Guardians of Ga’hoole series you may like King Arthur stories.
Reviewed by Bulldog (Age 8)
If you like this book you may also like the rest of The Guardians of Ga’hoole series. If you like books 9-11 in The Guardians of Ga’hoole series you may like King Arthur stories.
Reviewed by Bulldog (Age 8)
May 21, 2014
Whoosh, a stranger just saved my life. Shouldn’t I do something to repay him? How would you feel if this happened to you. What if this life saver tries to manipulate you, and he succeeds without you knowing? What if your friends knew about it and you didn’t?
Try reading this book and you will be truly amazed. The strongest of people can be drawn into the claws of evil. One minute you are the very important and the next it’s like you don’t even exist.
In this book you will read some bewildering things. I can’t tell you any of them, but you can read the book for yourself. - LH
Try reading this book and you will be truly amazed. The strongest of people can be drawn into the claws of evil. One minute you are the very important and the next it’s like you don’t even exist.
In this book you will read some bewildering things. I can’t tell you any of them, but you can read the book for yourself. - LH
July 11, 2015
I rated this book 4 star because I couldn't help but absolutely love a book in one of my favorite series, but at the same time the book was so horrible. I don't think anything good happened in it. Still a great book!
May 1, 2010
Coryn discovers his true lineage and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole join the Greenowls of Ambala. It turns out, only Tengshu can be trusted from the Middle Kingdoms, while Orlando is rather troublesome. The question is: What has more power; the Striga or the Ember of Hoole?
June 8, 2015
This was probably my favourite book in the series. There's betrayal, gizzard-control, love, secrecy, and more. It was actually really good, not just fun, like the other books, but this was really good.
August 30, 2016
I thought this series was losing some of its power but this book was really good! I totally cannot wait until the next one is released!
March 10, 2008
OHEMGEE this book is so...so inTENSE!!!!!!!!! Must...see...what...happens...next... *picks up book and starts reading madly*
May 10, 2008
Deals with religious extremism in the form of blind adherence to an idea, taking it to its extreme and not tolerating any dissent. A very interesting twist in the plot.
May 15, 2008
This second to last (yes, I'm horrified, there will only be fifteen books, this fourteen!!) book in the series brings surprises and wonderful achievements that I absolutely adore!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews