You’re a young barn owl. You have just found out that all your life you’ve been lied to. How would you feel? Well, this is what Nyroc, the main character in Kathryn Lasky’s The Hatchling, is going through.
The Pure Ones, a group of owls that believes only Barn Owls (most “pure”), Masked Owls and Grass Owls (“pure”), and Sooty Owls (slightly “pure”) are “pure”, as they call it, is hosting the Marking Ceremony (the cremation of a dead owls remains) for their fallen leader, Kludd, a Barn Owl, like all leaders of the Pure Ones. The only attendants are: Nyra, Kludd’s ferocious mate, Nyroc, Nyra’s somewhat pacifistic son, Dustytuft, a Sooty Owl, Nyroc’s best friend (who is often called Phillip by Nyroc), and Gwyndor, a Masked Owl, the Rouge smith (a blacksmith belonging to no kingdom) doing the cremation of Kludd’s bones. During the ceremony, Gwyndor notices that the reflection in Nyroc’s eyes. Gwyndor recognizes this as fire sight, the a talent that allows an owl to see events that have happened, are happening now, and events in the future as well as images and names. He makes an excuse about materials and leaves to consult the Rouge Smith of Silverveil, an artistic Snowy Owl who prefers to work with silver. She gives him a small number of special coals to build a fire with and show to Nyroc. When Gwyndor returned to the canyons, he did so, and the fire revealed to Nyroc numerous truths that had been concealed from him his whole life. Nyroc and Phillip left the next day to flee from the Pure Ones. Will they escape alive? Where will they go if they do? Read the book to find out.
My favorite part of this book was when Nyroc traded a mouse for the crows’ permission for day-flight. I like it because it shows that the nonnegotiable can be negotiated with.
I would recommend this book to male or female fans of fiction, fantasy, action, owls, and adventure age 10 or older. There are a few graphic scenes, one of which trumps the others by far, that influenced this recommendation, but if blood and gore (mainly blood) doesn’t bother you, disregard this. Please note that this is book #7 in a 15 book series, so read books #1-6 first.