The First Collier is an interesting installment in the Ga’Hoole series. It’s the first book in a prequel trilogy that details the start of the legends of Ga’Hoole: the owl king Hoole and his war with the hagfiends (and presumably his founding of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole). This first book deals with Grank, the titular first collier, and how he comes to receive Hoole’s egg and cares for it. Appropriately, the book ends with Hoole hatching.

Lasky really steps up the fantastic elements in this one, with the owl-crow hagfiends and their yellow eye magic, Grank’s own magery, and, of course, the ember of Hoole and the egg of Hoole. It’s also the first Ga’Hoole book to be in first person, which actually helped out a lot. It completely changed the usual ebb and flow of Lasky’s writing and helped make things less stiff and clunky and cheesy. Rather than everything feeling stilted and there being an abundance of telling rather than showing, the first person narration lessened that a lot, though there were a few instances of rather awkward worldbuilding.

However, despite some of the new things, I think I’m simply getting bored of the series. Every book feels the same. Lasky does not do enough to change things up (the first person helped, as did some of the elements of the world, but not enough); I feel as if I am reading the same story over and over again. It reminds me a bit of Erin Hunter’s Warriors series, another set of books that I ultimately got tired of as they were all too similar. The First Collier had interesting bits to it, but overall everything was done in the same delivery and style—there was even an Otulissa replacement! The only thing that changed was the terminology. I’m halfway through the Ga’Hoole series, but I’m not sure if I want to finish or not.

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Book 9 The First Collier, like the book 7 & 8(The hatchling & The Outcast) changes perspectives again from the band (Soren, Gylfie, Digger and Twilight) to Coryn in the last two books towards the old legends of ga’hoole. This book is the first part of a mini series triology.

From his death bed, the old owl Ezylryb warns Soren and the great tree’s new king, Coryn, of a coming danger, and instructs them to read the Legends of Ga’Hoole so they will know the identity of this mysterious rising threat.

The first of these three ancient volumes is entitled “The First Collier.” In it, Soren and Coryn find a world of chaos, warring kingdoms, and nachtmagen, the dark magic of the evil half-crow, half-owl creatures known as hagsfiends.

When good King H’rath is murdered by the foul hagsfiends, his mate Queen Siv knows she must give up her egg if it is to survive. The hagsfiend Ygryk knows that within the egg is a very special owl, and she wants nothing more than to steal it and turn the chick within to evil. To rescue her chick, Siv gives the egg to noble Grank, the first collier, so he can raise it far from the hagsfiends’ harm.

Lasky was very elaborate with the characters names like: H’rath, N’yrtghar. Doing this was part of her creation of a new Scottish/ German owl language called “Krakish.” This shows the creativity of the author when they are able to “make up” a whole language (in fact she made two).

By the tale’s end, Soren and Coryn discover what Ezylryb intended them to learn: that the evil is not confined to the time of legends. An ancient malevolence has been loosed from the past that will threaten the very existence of the great tree.

Another Narrative change! All of a sudden we're talking in first person - magic.
Personally, I think that alone gives reason for 4 stars. The versatility shown by Lasky throughout the series, from focus to god mode narrative, and on and on, her style is interchangeable yet unique, and as always, conveys her moral messages with crystal clarity.