The second book in this enchanting series continues this classic hero mythology about the battle between good and evil and chronicles Soren's quest for nobility.

It began as a dream, a quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom.

The journey is long

...

The Grand Battle begins with the search for allies in the Northern Kingdoms and ends in The Burning that will change all Owldom forever. Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggies has fallen to the Pure Ones and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion...

Hoole uses the power of the Ember in the final, decisive battle and searches for the ideal place to establish an order of free owls.

"Soren's sister, Eglantine, is falling under the spell of a strange nightly dream. Then, just as Soren notices her trancelike state, Eglantine disappears, and the dreams become a deadly waking nightmare that puts the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole in terrible danger."--P. [4] of cover.

In 1932 Berlin, thirteen-year-old Gaby Schramm witnesses the beginning of Hitler's rise to power, as soldiers become ubiquitous, her beloved literature teacher starts wearing a jewelled swastika pin, and the family's dear friend, Albert Einstein, leaves the country while Gaby's parents secretly bury his books and papers in their small yard.

"Cubs Stellan and Jytte survived their treacherous trek across the Nunquivik, but their quest to rescue their mother has only begun. Svenna is imprisoned at the sinister Ice Clock--the headquarters of the Gran Patek, whose dangerous influence is spreading throughout the bear kingdom. Only one bear has ever stood up to the Grand Patek--Svern, the cubs' father, a famous warrior who's been in exile for years. And so, along with their friend, Third, the...

Abandoned by his pack, a baby wolf with a mysterious mark on his deformed paw survives and embarks on a journey that will change the world of the wolves of the Beyond.

While Coryn and his companions journey to a wintery realm where mysterious owls live, the king becomes the target of an assassination plot and it is up to Primrose and Eglantine to save him.

The golden age which is expected from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree turns gradually worse as the owls' young king hunts for the truth about his ancestry.

When earthquakes and erupting volcanoes strike the Beyond, Faolan and the other surviving wolves must head for the Distant Blue, where they hope to find a new home.