Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Mar 02, 2011

Robert rated it:

With the recent publication of the third volume of the Annals of the Western Shore, I decided to go back to the start and re-read the first two and follow it up with the latest.

Gifts is the first book. It is narrated by Orrec Caspro son of his clan's leader. The clans of the uplands have uncanny powers, Gifts, at least if the family blood runs true, but Orrec's mother is not of the clan or even of the Uplands where the clans lead their isolated impoverished existence, feuding and f More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2011

Ian rated it:

Wonderful. Beautiful. UKL's use of the English language is without equal or parallel. Not a word wasted. Not an idea wasted. Simple, efficient, and yet touching and thoughtful. I don't know how she does it.

How fortunate that I read Gifts during the Christmas season, when we in western culture are too often focused on the wrong "gifts" in our lives. Gifts is not a book about Christmas or the Christmas season, but the parallels are unmistakable. Of course the other the More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2007

victoria.p rated it:

I enjoyed this, found it interesting and compelling reading, and quite moving at certain points. LeGuin's prose is as lucid and sharp as ever, though I think to get the full impact of Orrec's story, you need to read Voices as well.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Qing rated it:

Brief premise: Orrec's lineage possesses the gift of undoing, which basically destroys life and things, but he hasn't shown any glimmerings of the ability to undo.

However, after he seemingly killed an adder, his dog, and razed a hillside without him realising that he was doing so, his father deemed his gift to be wild/uncontrollable. Orrec's eyes has to be sealed lest he accidentally undo stuff with catastrophic consequences.

The blindfold, which basically is a huge banner More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 28, 2010

Paul rated it:

2009.0521-2009.0529
2.5 Stars
In first person past tense we see 'through the eyes' of a young man, Orrec, who's heterogeneous blood line may have given him the unstable gift of great power?
In standard Le Guiniean fashion Gifts started out slow and slightly obtuse. It followed the normal, rambling (almost flow of consciousness) pattern I have grown to expect in books by Le Guin (note that my sample set is relativity small but 3 points do define a line :P). It was as though she n More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2009

Wealhtheow rated it:

Orrec is born into a Gifted family in the Uplands. Although his family controls a fey and unsettling Gift, they are nevertheless barely able to eke out a life from their sparse and rocky land. The Gifted families raid each other for the few resources that remain: livestock, wood, serfs. Cut off from the rest of the world by a combination of shunning and pride, the people of the Uplands grow more stunted and inbred with every generation.
Unable to find a wife among his own people, Orrec More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 08, 2007

Res rated it:

The one where Orrec grows up in a culture where each family has its own deadly, terrifying gift.

I read the books out of order, Voices first and this one second, and I didn't love this one the way I loved the other one; Orrec's Uplands culture is interesting but harsh, cruel, and kind of stupid, while Memer's port city is one that I'd love to live in (minus the occupying army and all). I guess, too, that I was hoping that Orrec would help to break down the destructive aspects of his More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 30, 2011

Chris rated it:

In her 1970s essay, "Science Fiction and Mrs Brown" (first published in Science Fiction at Large in 1976 and in Explorations of the Marvellous in 1978) Ursula le Guin argued for the primacy of the human dimension not only in fiction generally but also in the SF and Fantasy genres. In Gifts that primacy, which is manifested in pretty much all that Le Guin writes, is focused on Orrec, a young man who experiences the pangs of adolescence growing up in an isolated community in the Uplands More...

0 comments like

Jul 01, 2011

Maggie rated it:

Um...yes. So much for an in-depth blurb. When I saw this book at the library I picked it up anyway, though, because I'd heard Ursula K. Le Guin was good - and wow. After reading this book, I'm inclined to say that anyone who hasn't read anything by Ursula K. Le Guin, even if they're not a sci-fi/fantasy fan, is seriously missing out.

This book was quiet, powerful, and profoundly sad, without a word more than necessary - in short, something I wish I'd see more of! This book exemplifi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 02, 2011

Mike rated it:

Gifts is a children's or young adult's title by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's set in a world similar to that of the Earthsea novels, a pre-industrial society. In this story the people of the Uplands have various "gifts" or powers that are passed down through clans in a hereditary manner. This story is told by a young man who has the gift of "undo", the ability to make things come undone (which can kill if used on a living being). There is conflict with other clans and conflict More...

0 comments like

May 02, 2010

Sam Kabo rated it:

A solid piece of YA fantasy; not exceptional by Le Guin's standards, although that's a high bar. There's the usual elements of her style -- richly-developed culture closely tied to a marginal economy; tough, realistic plots in which people get permanently hurt; costly magic; worlds gestured at but not fully revealed.

Leadership in the Upland clans is determined by inherited magic, recessive and quite limited; their main use is political, as favours and threats. Orrec is of the Caspro More...

0 comments like

Apr 22, 2010

Kristen rated it:

What was I supposed to think when I picked this up? I hardly ever actually look inside the book and read the first page or first chapter. It's always the cover and blurb on the back of the book that makes me want to read it.

Maybe I should start reading the first page or chapter from now on?

It's written by Orrec's point of view, and when I say written, I pretty much mean exactly that. It's like an autobiography. Orrec, to me, comes across as a bit of an emo person. The way he More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2009

Tatiana rated it:

Ursula K. Le Guin is a fantastic writer. She's one of my very favorite writers of all time. If you haven't read The Lathe of Heaven, or the Earthsea books, or The Left Hand of Darkness, I highly recommend them. This book is billed as young adult fiction but there's nothing dumbed-down about it. The story is one that has a universal appeal, I think.

It's set among a rural people who have genetic abilities to call animals, or to unmake things, or to give someone a wasting disease, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 26, 2009

Corinne rated it:

Not everyone in the Uplands has a gift - a special and specific ability - but those who do are revered and feared, depending on what their gift is. The men in Orrec's family are to be able to, with a wave of their hand and a look from their gifted eyes, to destroy whatever they see. For Orrec, though, this kind of gift seems more like a curse and he chooses to blindfold himself and live as though he were blind instead of unintentionally destroying those that the loves. With the help of a childho More...

0 comments like

Nov 27, 2010

jess rated it:

It occurred to me that I haven't read any Ursula Le Guin in a long time, so I better put her back into my readerly rotation or stop telling people she's one of my favorite authors. So, I decided to read this series (Annals of the Western Shore). I actually purchased #2 a long time ago, but I was dedicated to reading them in order and never read #1.

So, in the Uplands, there is a sort of feudal system where the "lord" (or "brantor" - I don't know how it's spelled bc More...

0 comments like

Jun 14, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

Gifts is a hard sell as a teen fantasy novel. Why not market it in the same vein as A Wizard of Earthsea I wonder?

As all Le Guin's books, Gifts is deeply philosophical and introspective. It is preoccupied with exploring what it means for a person to have a dangerous, potentially lethal ability. To give some frame of reference, think Graceling with Katsa's constant fretting about her killing Grace minus action, angsty teen romance and pseudo-feminist propaganda plus more depth and be More...

13 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

Heidi rated it:

Ah, miten hyvä kirja!

Tarina alkaa petollisen pehmeästi: kaksi resuista lasta kertoo tarinoita elämästään ja kylästään kaukaa tulleelle vieraalle. Lapset ovat ylämaiden "noitakansaa", muusta maailmasta eristyksissä eläviä karjankasvattajia. Vieraalle tarinat noitakansan synnynnäisistä, julmista kyvyistä ovat silkkaa satua, mutta lapsille totisinta totta. Pojan lahja on kyky tuhota pelkällä katsella. Hirveä voima, joka kauhistuttaa häntä itseäänkin. Tytön voima on kutsua eläimiä, kyky jo More...

0 comments like

Aug 14, 2009

Matthew rated it:

Gifts by Ursula K. LeGuin is an amazing out fo your seat book that takes pace ina fantasy world where people have powers. In this book thir powers are known as gifts, hence the book's title. The book is about this boy named Orrec who has the ability to undo anyhting that he can see. Later in the book it tells us that he is out into pressure by his father making sure that the bloodline trait of the gift stays true. Also, he is forced to waer a blindfold as his father claims to Orrec that he was More...

0 comments like

Dec 29, 2011

Liana rated it:

Slow work day means I have plenty of time to read (and to eat crackers and cheese ball brought in by my boss, yum...).

This story takes place in a world where various families have different powers or "gifts." Some can control minds, others heal, while others can kill or maim with a look. Each family controls a domain, protecting itself and its serfs from other domains. Orrec Caspro is the son of the "brantor" of Caspromant, who married a woman from the Lowlands, w More...

0 comments like

Sep 20, 2009

Rachel rated it:

I didn't find this book compelling, maybe I should have read Voices first. Reading the premise at the library, I was interested.

"Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability--with a glance, a gesture, a word--to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift aga More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2011

Natalie rated it:

I've read it before, and I didn't really remember anything that happened except that I was pretty sure I enjoyed it. This time around though, it was just a little slow for me. Yes, I liked the characters, and it was a good coming-of-age story, but I just kept waitiing for action or a quest or something that never came. I never put the book down in disgust or anything, but I did a few times because I was getting tired.

In the end, it wasn't bad enough that I'd be afraid to reccommend More...

0 comments like

May 20, 2010

George rated it:

The Uplands is divided among clans, each of whom possesses a particular power that is passed down genetically. These "gifts" range from the ability to call animals to the ability to cut things with your mind. Orrec, the son of the ruler of one of these clans, is coming of age and there is concern that his gift has yet to show itself. But when it does finally arrive, the consequences are not what Orrec or his family were expecting. There is no doubt that Le Guin comes up with some inter More...

0 comments like

Nov 10, 2010

Marija rated it:

Gifts is written in the same vein as Kristin Cashore’s Graceling, trilogy, in terms of the concept of the gifts—inherited skills or abilities with fearsome power. But that’s also where the similarity ends. Le Guin’s novel is much more sophisticated in terms of the themes conveyed. It’s very much a novel of development. Viewing the story in this light, it reminded me of Pip’s identity crisis in Great Expectations. Here, Orrec is looking back, recounting and analyzing the events that lead him on h More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 09, 2009

Ruby rated it:

I love fantasy stories where people are endowed with extraordinary natural gifts. The best of these stories explore how individuals come to terms with their gifts, how they master them. Orrec's descends from legendary men with the gift of "undoing," an overwhelmingly destructive power, while Gry's heritage is "calling," the ability to communicate with animals and persuade them to follow the will of the caller. Gry's mother employs her gift to call animals to their deaths a More...

0 comments like

Jul 30, 2011

Natalie rated it:

This was the first of Ursula K Le Guins books that I’ve had the pleasure to read; and it was a pleasure. There was so much to be enjoyed: lean, swift prose, a sedate, measured pace, vivid descriptions, insightful commentary, sympathetic, well-rounded characters and a very believable world.

My only criticism (and it’s one I have with lots of fantasy stories, so maybe it’s me and not them) is that there were a lot of unfamiliar (and similar) names for people, places and families. It too More...

0 comments like

Jun 25, 2010

Lindsey rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Apr 21, 2008

Lorrin rated it:

I give this book 3 1/2 stars! I love the story, but found at times it moved too slow. Although this could also be because of my impatient mood. When I read this book 5 years ago I liked it a lot more.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2011

Rebekah rated it:

I was a little sad and frustrated by this story. That it took so long for justice, was frustrating but it comes. The challenge to the "gifts" from this generation. It is interesting to think that perhaps things had turned a bit inside out. And that the evil parts had been accepted as men became a bit more savage. That they didn't find ways to make life better, but rather dwelt in the trying of day to day existence with powers magic that was barely understood. It was interesting how the More...

0 comments like

Mar 02, 2009

Kristen rated it:

Lots of world-building, very little plot. Didn't realize it was the start of a series until after I'd finished it, but it honestly doesn't stand very well on its own. 90% of the book is description, 10% is actual action.
That said, it is a very interesting world, with powers passed as lineage, and factions constantly protecting themselves from each other. Unfortunately the most interesting idea - of the gifts/powers is that they were once used solely for good, and now have degraded to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 13, 2011

Gwenyth rated it:

I liked this. I will probably try to track down the second book at some point. Almost gave it 4 stars because I love Ursula K. LeGuin so much anyway. She has a talent, I believe, for building civilizations from the bottom up: for saying, 'ok, so if people had X ability, how would that affect how they saw the world, what kind of society would they create as a result of it' - and so forth. It's a bit different, in a refreshing way, from the tendency to create worlds that are basically just like U More...

0 comments like

reviews