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Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore #1)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 3,559 ratings · 382 reviews

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 against another. Two young...more

Hardcover, First Edition, 288 pages

Published September 1st 2004 by Harcourt

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Mar 02, 2011 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: All LeGuin fans/Everybody who thinks Fantasy is stupid.

Shelves: fantasy

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 farming. Orrec'...more 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 farming. Orrec's Gift has gone awry, apparently uncontrollable, and it is the Gift of Unmaking - destructive, deadly and a threat to the neighbouring clans. Orrec goes blindfolded to protect those around him, for the Gift cannot operate without looking at that which is to be Unmade. Meanwhile his friend, Gry, whose clan Gift is that of calling animals, finds that she is Gifted indeed - but she cannot bring herself to call animals to the hunt. Training horses and dogs is useful but it is calling to the hunt that really provides income to her family.

Orrec and Gry grow up together and find themselves increasingly at odds with their families and the whole Uplands way of life, which brings tragedy to Orrec.

Gifts examines the relationship between parents and their children with particular regard to parents' expectations: It concludes that it would be better to support and encourage the talents that a child manifests, not those the parents have or want their child to have - which may be absent altogether. Trying to force parental will on the child might lead to total estrangement....

Another theme is the relationship between the Gifts as used by the clans and the clan way of life, which is full of poverty and fear. Gry suggests that there might be a link between the two - that there might be more constructive ways to use the Gifts that would in turn make life more peaceful and fulfilling.

It is no great leap (though it had to be suggested to me before I noticed) to believe that LeGuin is using the Gifts as an analogy with the general talents shown by humanity - engineering can be used for warmaking or peaceful purposes, the arts can be used to propagandise or enlighten. LeGuin would prefer we chose the constructive use of our talents.

As usual with LeGuin, one is left with plenty to think about, but as sometimes happens with her books, plot is almost an afterthought and the languid prose does not provide much drive either, so I cannot consider this volume to be top-notch by the exceptionally high standards she has set with books such as A Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore or The Left Hand of Darkness (among others). Nevertheless second-rate LeGuin is a goal most authors can strive for but never obtain.(less)

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Dec 21, 2011 Ian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, affected-me, unique-theories

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 themes are all there ... a paren...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Valery Tzvetanov rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: of-might-and-magic, young-adult

Le Guin did it again. New fantasy world with another original magic system. Judging only by the first book, this series is not at the same level as Earthsea cycle. However, it is another unique fantasy unlike any other. Le Guin focuses again on the single point of view and how this person feels the world and the changes that occur in it. Her writing style and language is always a pleasure for me to read it. Every world is used carefully and her style is very touching and thoughtful.
The story is...more Le Guin did it again. New fantasy world with another original magic system. Judging only by the first book, this series is not at the same level as Earthsea cycle. However, it is another unique fantasy unlike any other. Le Guin focuses again on the single point of view and how this person feels the world and the changes that occur in it. Her writing style and language is always a pleasure for me to read it. Every world is used carefully and her style is very touching and thoughtful.
The story is narrated by Orrec. He is the only son of leader of Caspro's clan. The clans of the uplands have uncanny powers, which they call Gifts. Every clan has unique Gift and they use these powers to defend their territories and property from the other clans. Caspro's Gift is the power of Unmaking: they can destroy everything using only their eyes. Orrec's best friend is Gray. She is from another friendly clan and she can summon the animals and communicate with them. The clan way of life is full of poverty and every day is a challenge for survival. Every clan counts on his leader to defend their borders with the Gift. However some of the powers are not so good for defense and some clans are invaded by others more powerful. The father of Orrec counts on his son to become his heir someday and to be able to defend his people. However, his son is growing up and he still doesn't show any kind of possessing the family Gift. Orrec can’t met the expectation of his father and he is feeling very disappointed by himself. His mother is not from the uplands. She is coming from the village nearby, where people doesn't have powers and she is devoting herself to her husband and son. She learned Orrec and Grey how to read and spend many nights telling stories and fairy tells to both of them. With the time spend with his mother Orrec developed the ability to invent stories himself and he was very good. His battle with the development of his power continues, because no son is willing to disappoint his father without a fight.
This story is mostly for the coming of age of the youths in a harsh and dangerous world. The two of them must learn to cope with their gifts and face the struggle of becoming responsible for their actions. It is a good book to read, but not good enough for Le Guin. The plot is almost not moving and the story lacks tension. The end is open and it leaves you wanting for more. Thankfully there are two more books in this series. In my opinion even sub-prime novel by Le Guin is something that many writers cannot achieve.(less)

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Sep 20, 2007 victoria.p rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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.

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Jan 14, 2011 Qing rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

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 on his head saying "err...more

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May 29, 2009 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

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 needed to gain steam...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

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's father...more

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Sep 08, 2007 Res rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: locus_poll, sff

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 culture, th...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Candis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great stuff. Can't wait to get my hands on Voices.

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Feb 10, 2013 Bethany Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-books, favorites, fantasy

I have to admit, I LOVE Ursula K Le Guin. Her adult writing is often weird, frequently involves strange re-positioning of sexual norms (such as a society in which there are 90% women or a society in which people marry in foursomes), and is sometimes a bit too 'preachy' but I love it anyway. Her children's books are even better. I have read and re-read The Earthsea cycle more times then I can count, but I think that other than the provocative (and for me life-changing) short story "Those Who Walk...more I have to admit, I LOVE Ursula K Le Guin. Her adult writing is often weird, frequently involves strange re-positioning of sexual norms (such as a society in which there are 90% women or a society in which people marry in foursomes), and is sometimes a bit too 'preachy' but I love it anyway. Her children's books are even better. I have read and re-read The Earthsea cycle more times then I can count, but I think that other than the provocative (and for me life-changing) short story "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas", the "Annuls of the Western Short" is Ursula K Le Guin's best work. The three books in this series are loosely connected by the common thread of Orrec Caspro (the main character in Gifts) and the larger theme of story telling. They are all coming-of-age stories, but mostly the inner lives of the characters as they struggle with themes like "liberty", "loyalty" and the meaning of the stories we tell about ourselves and others. One thing I love about the series is that the literature of the "Western Shore" has been so well thought out that I feel like I ought to check out a collection of Orrec Caspro's poetry at the library. Another thing I really appreciate about Le Guin is not all her characters are white. In fact, most of them are not white, and her cultures are enough her own conglomerations that the characters would be hard to racially identify if they walked into your church this morning. I appreciate this very much, as in the world of fantasy is far too "white" for my taste. I want my children to grow up loving fantasy without having any strange disconnects from their own wonderful racial/ethnic heritage. A final note on this series for concerned parents is that it doesn't really include Le Guin's penchent for sexual re-thinking (and blessed relief, barely any romance - I get so sick of teen books with lots of romance). Anyway, as for "Gifts" I appreciate this book as a start to a good series, and a good book in its own right. I hope to do a review sometime soon on my favorite in the series "Powers" at some point soon.(less)

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Aug 04, 2012 Gill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, sci-fi, teens

Although it does depend a bit on what is going on in my life, the time I take to read a book often says a lot about how gripping I found it. I'm not sure 'gripping' is the word to describe 'Gifts', as it is not a book full of suspense and action, but Ursula le Guin's prose is so easy and flowing to read that I found myself at the end of the book and wanting more in just a couple of days.
It is a story with messages and truths to be told about the nature of power and of the dual nature of having...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Eustachio rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: statunitensi, ebook, romanzi

Nei Monti ogni famiglia ha un Dono che si tramanda di padre in figlio e di madre in figlia. Nelle parole del protagonista e voce narrante: «Il brantor è il padrone o la padrona di un dominion, ossia il capo del lignaggio e il più dotato della famiglia».
Il protagonista è Orrec dei Caspro, il cui Dono è quello di disfare (distruggere, uccidere). La sua migliore amica è Gry dei Barre, il cui Dono è quello di chiamare gli animali.
Nei Monti i Doni sono un fatto consolidato, ma per gli abitanti delle...more Nei Monti ogni famiglia ha un Dono che si tramanda di padre in figlio e di madre in figlia. Nelle parole del protagonista e voce narrante: «Il brantor è il padrone o la padrona di un dominion, ossia il capo del lignaggio e il più dotato della famiglia».
Il protagonista è Orrec dei Caspro, il cui Dono è quello di disfare (distruggere, uccidere). La sua migliore amica è Gry dei Barre, il cui Dono è quello di chiamare gli animali.
Nei Monti i Doni sono un fatto consolidato, ma per gli abitanti delle Terre Basse si tratta solo di superstizioni. Ecco perché Emmon, un ladro, quando fugge dalle Terre Basse e si ritrova tra i Caspro fatica a credere alle storie di Orrec e di Gry, nonostante Orrec a causa del suo Dono sia costretto a vivere come un cieco.

I personaggi sono ben tratteggiati, l'ambientazione è interessante e curata, il libro in sé mi ha rapito e in certi punti anche emozionato. Do quattro stelline, ma lo faccio offeso e deluso da due grossi aspetti:
1) Emmon è solo una scusa per far spiegare ai protagonisti l'ambientazione, tant'è che compare solo nel primo capitolo, dando modo a Orrec di raccontare la sua storia, e alla fine, suggerendo una certa direzione degli eventi. Posso giustificare gli infodump che pullulano il romanzo (erano coerenti, non mi hanno infastidito), ma arrivare alla fine per scoprire che il personaggio che apre il romanzo era solo un pretesto per non sforzarsi di mostrare sin da subito Doni e ambientazione mi ha fatto sentire preso in giro.
2) Verso la fine c'è una battaglia. Tipo. C'è ma di striscio, con una scusa patetica non si vede niente e viene raccontato solo a posteriori cos'è successo. Tra i principali, i Caspro hanno il Dono di disfare, i Rodd (il padre di Gry) il Dono del coltello (cioè: «Mandare un coltello magico nel cuore di un uomo o tagliargli la gola, o ucciderlo, o mutilarlo come desiderano, se la vittima è a portata del loro sguardo»), i Drum (la famiglia nemica) il Dono della consunzione lenta, eppure alla Le Guin non è proprio venuto in mente che poteva approfittarne per creare una battaglia coi fiocchi. Uno spreco.(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Abria Mattina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally reviewed here.

Gifts is the story of two youths, Orrec and Gry, coming of age under difficult circumstances. Orrec comes from a clan with a destructive gift and must learn to cope with fear of power and the consequences of wielding it. Gry has a gentler gift, one that she refuses to manipulate in order to bring animals to their deaths. As they grow from children to a young man and woman, they must establish who they are and what they want to do with the abilities and circumstances affo...more Originally reviewed here.

Gifts is the story of two youths, Orrec and Gry, coming of age under difficult circumstances. Orrec comes from a clan with a destructive gift and must learn to cope with fear of power and the consequences of wielding it. Gry has a gentler gift, one that she refuses to manipulate in order to bring animals to their deaths. As they grow from children to a young man and woman, they must establish who they are and what they want to do with the abilities and circumstances afforded to them.

I found Gifts interesting because it is unlike any fantasy book I have ever read, but I didn't enjoy the reading experience. The narrative skews heavily toward telling without enough showing to balance it out. Told by Orrec in first person, the novel feels like a monologue and does not build enough tension to suck the reader completely into the characters' world. I continued reading in order to finish it, not out of I-need-to-know-what-happens-next excitement.

Gifts begins with Orrec and Gry telling a traveling thief, Emmon, about the Uplander's gifts and the politics of local landholding families. I assumed that the thief would play some central role in the book's conflict, but instead Orrec goes on to narrate the history of his people and the challenges he faces as a young man, growing up under trying circumstances. The central conflict of the book is how difficult it is to grow up, and Emmon is really nothing more than an audience. His function is to make Orrec begin telling the story, and then he promptly disappears until the last pages of the novel. The story lacks tension and, to some degree, a narrative. It wasn't satisfying to read Orrec's "then X happened then Y happened then Z happened" storytelling.

What I did like about Gifts is Le Guin's setting. The Uplands greatly resemble the seventeenth-century Scotland highlands, both in geography and culture -- Orrec and Gry live in a world of small villages, farms, and forests. In the Lowlands, there are cities and centres of learning. The world Le Guin builds is familiar enough that it need not be explained in great detail, and unique enough to stimulate the reader's sense of wonder and imagination.

At roughly 300 pages, Gifts is a quick read. It's not a typical fantasy novel, but rather an exploration of what fantasy can be. Though I think Le Guin missed the mark in terms of storytelling, Gifts is an excellent example of world building and cultural development in fantasy fiction.(less)

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May 08, 2012 Taneka rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, high-fantasy

Feared by those in the Lowlands and even by their own neighbors, the clans of the Uplands of the Western Shore are always on the watch for enemies. The witchfolk, as Uplanders are known, are born to each clan with gifts that are used to defend their territories and instill terror among their enemies. Gifts are passed from male to male and female to female. So came the gift of undoing to Orrec Caspro of the Caspromant clan and the gift of calling to Gry Barre of the Roddmant clan. Orrec, son of C...more Feared by those in the Lowlands and even by their own neighbors, the clans of the Uplands of the Western Shore are always on the watch for enemies. The witchfolk, as Uplanders are known, are born to each clan with gifts that are used to defend their territories and instill terror among their enemies. Gifts are passed from male to male and female to female. So came the gift of undoing to Orrec Caspro of the Caspromant clan and the gift of calling to Gry Barre of the Roddmant clan. Orrec, son of Canoc Caspro and Melle Aulitta, a Lowlander, has the gift of unmaking or undoing. With eye, hand and words, he can either kill or unbind anyone or anything. The gift of unmaking passed to his father Canoc from his grandfather Caddard and his great grandfather, Orrec. Gry has the gift of calling. She can call an animal to her, to be slaughtered by the huntsmen.

Orrec is being pressured by his father to show his gift. While mounting his horse, Orrec accidentally killed his companion, a dog named Hamneda. In an attempt to prevent accidentally killing with his wild gift, Orrec has blinded himself. How can one use a gift that he fears? He is feared by most in his clan and even enemies on their borders. The one with the wild gift that kills without trying is a huge threat to anyone that comes across his path. He is feared by Ogge Drum of the Drummant Clan, a brute of a man with an attitude to match. Visiting the Drummant territory gives Orrec a sense of who Ogge really is. After the visit to the Drummant territory, his mother falls ill. She remembers hearing someone whispering words while she slept and how cold she felt after the whispers were over. Melle Aulitta dies a year and a day after their visit to Drummant. Did Ogge Drum inflict pain on his mother? Did he weave a spell to cause her to slowly die?

As his father is Bantor of Caspromant, so will Orrec be in the future. With that future Ogge fears that Caspromant will attack and strike him down. A feud can cause a clan war, but with an opponent with a wild gift, all may fall. Refusal to use the gift condemns the whole clan, for they are defenseless against those that can start fires, make one ill or contort their bodies with one spell. Will Orrec use his gift? Will there come a day when he no longer fears it? Can he use his gift for good and not for evil? Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin is the first book in the Annals of the Western Shore Series.
(less)

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Mar 12, 2012 Natasja rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this book. I gave it a 3, because I enjoyed the actually writing of it very much. Le Guin definitely has a mastery of the English language. Plot-building, however? Maybe not so much...

I guess my problem with the book is that I read the entire thing wondering when the story would actually start. The beginning was awkward in conjunction with the rest of it. I didn't really get what Emmon's usefulness was, other than to suggest that Gry and Orrec go to th...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 of the Wes...more 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 of the Western Shore, pangs that most of us can recognise and empathise with. What gives it its fantasy feel is that the growing pains are linked to the apparent lack of a capacity, the Gift of Undoing, which Orrec is expected to inherit in his genes but which is not following its expected course.

The Western Shore is a little like an amalgam of North America's west coast (where Le Guin lives) and Northwestern Europe in the Middle Ages but with the existence of magic mostly taken for granted. As in her Earthsea books Le Guin shows her adeptness in creating the illusion that such supernatural magic can be the natural extension of one's normal abilities, so much so that the magic is easily accepted almost without the necessary conscious suspension of disbelief. Living myself in an upland community in Wales I can vouch for Le Guin's credible recreation of the pace and atmosphere of a similar dispersed settlement, albeit in a fantasy world.

How Le Guin resolves the tensions inherent in the plot and setting I'll leave for the reader to enjoy, but I'll just like to provide a hint: the word 'poet' is derived from a Greek word meaning to make or create, and so the counterpart to the Gift of Undoing must of course be a Gift of Making. As in so much fantasy there is strong sense of human justice, of balance between chaos and order, and the release of tension being the conclusion of the tale. And, like any good sequence of novels, there is the hope offered in the final pages of even more vicarious living in the lands of the Western Shore, in the sequel Voices. Potential readers have a real treat in store.(less)

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Mar 02, 2011 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 within his own family be...more

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May 02, 2010 Sam Kabo Ashwell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 lineage, who...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Kristen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 talks about his life...more

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Jul 18, 2009 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

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, etc. Each lineag...more

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Jun 26, 2009 Corinne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Nov 29, 2012 Jennifer Louden rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A moving young adult story with several wonderful scenes. I give this a 3 and 3/4's.

I read this because my bonus son Aidan recommended it to help me with my novel. The story I am attempting to write is a fantasy where people can develop their natural gifts through study and joyful practice in service to keeping the world "singing into being" - keeping the juice of the world going. So if your gift is cooking, you can become a cook who does magic with your food or your recipes... or if you are a s...more

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Nov 27, 2010 jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, audiobook-d, yaf

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 I listened to the audiobook an...more 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 I listened to the audiobook and google is doing me no favors today). Each family has a heredity "gift," which provides a power that helps the branter to protect and manage their people's land. The people are rural, the culture is rough around the edges. Most people never visit a city in their entire lives. There is not much of a dominant religion. Most resources are scarce, and people eek out a living from limited farming and ranching. Nearly everyone in the Uplands is illiterate. This is classic Le Guin - where the natural world and the supernatural world coexist, and a whole social/cultural ecosystem unfolds around the reader. The major themes are maturing/adolescence, making space for yourself in the world, obligation and responsibility, human relationship to the natural world, etc.

Orrec is the main character. His familial gift is that of "unmaking," to look at something and "undo" it or destroy it. His best friend, Gry, has the gift of calling animals. Her family uses this gift to call animals for hunters. Orrec's gift is uncontrollable, and Gry is unhappy with the use of her gift (calling animals to their death is kind of a bummer, right?) so the story is focused on how the kids navigate *not* using their gifts and letting their families down. Orrec's mom is from a city. She doesn't have a gift, and maybe she doesn't even really believe in the gifts, but she can read and write and shares extraordinary storytelling with her son. Orrec is a passive guy - he is not decisive, especially brave or strong, and he struggles with his future and destiny. He seems ill-suited to becoming brantor, but the responsibility to his people weighs on him. Orrec & Gry's friendship is sweet. I was cheering for them. Gry is a fantastic character, although I felt it was a little shallow that the men are passing on a gift like "unmaking" and the women are passing on a gift of "calling animals" like Snow White or something. It's a little too shallow on the gendering. Regardless, it was still an enjoyable journey through a rich alternative world with good characters and a simplistic plot. (less)

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Feb 13, 2013 Victor Mercado rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: accion, aventuras, fantasia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Escritora de ciencia ficción soft, en esta novela da inicio a una trilogía que promete ser muy interesante, como todas las novelas a las que nos tiene acostumbrados la autora.

En el cono sur del continente existe un colectivo que se da a si mismo el nombre de «Fantasía Austral» que acuñó el término Fantasía Romántica que en parte de su definición indica:
Subgénero de la Fantasía que se caracteriza por estar protagonizado por personajes femeninos fuertes y competentes....
Le Guin es, indiscutiblemen...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Lowed rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading her highly regarded Earthsea series, I tried to amass my collection of books written by the woman. After months of trying (that included impaling another person who got hold of her Always Coming Home book first), I started reading Gifts. And know what? I was disappointed.

A Direct Copy Paste from Wikipedia:
Gifts centers on two young people, Gry and Orrec, who struggle to come to terms with inherent psychic abilities. They live in a poor, mountainous, and culturally backward region,...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Harold Ogle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, magic, mind-control

This is really a great book, but then again, when have I not loved anything Le Guin has written? I'd started reading it a couple of days ago, and within a page was immediately reminded of how much I appreciate her writing. I compared her writing to another author I've come to love, Diana Wynne Jones, but, as I pointed out to my wife over breakfast, "Diana Wynne Jones delights with the humor and humanity of her characters, but Le Guin always wrenches my heart." I've been suffering congestion from...more This is really a great book, but then again, when have I not loved anything Le Guin has written? I'd started reading it a couple of days ago, and within a page was immediately reminded of how much I appreciate her writing. I compared her writing to another author I've come to love, Diana Wynne Jones, but, as I pointed out to my wife over breakfast, "Diana Wynne Jones delights with the humor and humanity of her characters, but Le Guin always wrenches my heart." I've been suffering congestion from seasonal allergies this past week, and as soon I said this to my wife, I went to blow my nose. My wife was tickled: "Oh, you're such a softy!" As I blew my nose, I laughed at her mistake. I wasn't crying because Le Guin's writing in "Gifts" had touched me; I was just congested! But the absurdity of her mistake and my blowing my nose suddenly metamorphosed into actual tears, and suddenly I was laughing and crying and still doggedly trying to blow my nose because YES, I was touched that deeply by what she'd written. That was within the first thirty pages.

One of the reasons I thought of Diana Wynne Jones with this one is that "Gifts" is also about magic (an almost constant theme in Jones' work, in which every book explores a completely new and novel approach to what magic is and how it works). In this world, the clans of the Uplands have inherited gifts that are passed along from father to son and mother to daughter. Each gift is unique to a particular bloodline, and they manifest themselves like mutant powers in the Marvel universe: blossoming at slightly before puberty. The story is told from the perspective of one character, Orrec, the son of a clan head, it is really about a cast of characters and how each character handles the existence of such gifts. Reactions range from domination to denial. I usually shudder when people say such things, but as I read this, I could see it has the potential to be adapted into a marvelous mini-series, with each episode telling part of the story from a different character's point of view. In part, Le Guin has already done this, because Orrec tells the story out of chronological order, as well as largely dividing his narrative focus between several other characters. It begins with a lowlander thief who takes shelter in their modest abode, and so we see the Uplands first through the eyes of a skeptical outsider access character. Then we get the stories of Orrec's distant ancestor, then his father, then his mother, then the dreaded neighboring clan whose intentions for conquering their clan is clear, then his best friend and her clan, and finally, his story. This jumping around heightens the driving nature of the narrative; each detail of one character's life in the past has repercussions on the present and Orrec's life.

The world-building is well-done and compelling; it felt real and immediate to me. I was also particularly impressed by how Le Guin realized the practical ramifications of these Gifts: rather than being superpowers which solve all problems, many of the Gifts are resented by others as well as having few practical applications. So rather than being a deliverance, the Gifts are, more often than not, an obligation and responsibility to the clan. Such a grounded presentation of super powers is marvelously refreshing, and I look forward to reading the next Le Guin book I can acquire.(less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Adela Bezemer-Cleverley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, so you may know that this book was no where near my to-read list, nor had I ever even heard of it before I picked it up. But I was at the library, unable to find any of the books that are on my to-read list, and I was browsing the YA section and saw the shelf for Ursula K. Le Guin. Now, I tried reading one of her books back in grade ten, a book called The Fairy Godmother, and I got a few chapters in and found it completely uninteresting--so much that I stopped reading it. Then last year my...more Okay, so you may know that this book was no where near my to-read list, nor had I ever even heard of it before I picked it up. But I was at the library, unable to find any of the books that are on my to-read list, and I was browsing the YA section and saw the shelf for Ursula K. Le Guin. Now, I tried reading one of her books back in grade ten, a book called The Fairy Godmother, and I got a few chapters in and found it completely uninteresting--so much that I stopped reading it. Then last year my dad and I were talking about books and when he said I should read Le Guin, I told him that I tried her and didn't like her writing style at all. He said that he didn't think I had been reading one of her better books, so last week when I saw her name and had nothing to read I decided to try again.

At least I finished this one.

It certainly wasn't bad. There's nothing wrong with her writing style at all; in fact I quite like it. The thing with this story was that although it was interesting, it wasn't particularly exciting. And I prefer action over description (not solely, of course, but I don't like a book that is nothing but description if you know what I mean). Gifts had nothing to draw me in. I liked the characters but I didn't love them. I felt like I didn't learn very much about them. I think the concept, the characters and the world were all good, it's just that the whole book was a little bit on the same level, and the ending was very anticlimactic.

Oh dear, I sound really critical, don't I? I'm not trying to be. In this case, I know that Le Guin is a good author, and I know that a lot of people love her work--and probably a lot of people would disagree with what I have said about this book. But I still say that the book wasn't for me. As a said to my journal yesterday, it's good, but it has nothing on my all-stars.

That being said, I did still bookmark a couple of passages to quote to you:

' To see that your life is a story while you're in the middle of living it may be a help to living it well. It's unwise, though, to think you know how it's going to go, or how it's going to end. That's to be known only when it's over.' --pg. 15

and

' We scarcely know how much of our pleasure and interest in life comes to us through our eyes until we have to do without them; and part of that pleasure is that the eyes can choose where to look. But the ears can't choose where to listen. I wanted to hear the birds singing, for the forest was full of their spring music, but mostly I heard only the men yelling and guffawing, and could only think what a noisy race we humans are.' --pg. 155

And with that, I think I'm done with this review. I suppose I should give you a quick synopsis of the book before I go: Gifts is about a boy named Orrec who lives in the Uplands, a placed inhabited and ruled by people with powers, or gifts, different ones according to each family. Orrec's family has the power to undo. And the story is basically about him hiding from his supposed gift while his father kind of feuds with another brantor (ruler of a domain/head of a family) named Ogge. I say kind of because there is very little action. That about it, along with a bit of a friendship/love story between Orrec and his best and only friend Gry. It's a beautifully written story of little substance. But you're welcome to disagree with me if you want.(less)

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Jun 16, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: x-series-bk-1, x-2004s

gifts takes place in a world very much like medieval cornwall. magic is a big part of the culture. people in the uplands are born with magical gifts--anything from being extra skilled with a blade to calling animals out of the forest. the story is narrated by a boy named orrec caspro, who is blind. not by birth or accident, but by choice. he wears a blindfold over his eyes to keep himself from unleashing his horrible gift upon his townsmen, for he has the gift unmaking: the power of chaos. destr...more gifts takes place in a world very much like medieval cornwall. magic is a big part of the culture. people in the uplands are born with magical gifts--anything from being extra skilled with a blade to calling animals out of the forest. the story is narrated by a boy named orrec caspro, who is blind. not by birth or accident, but by choice. he wears a blindfold over his eyes to keep himself from unleashing his horrible gift upon his townsmen, for he has the gift unmaking: the power of chaos. destruction. the undoing of life itself.

the caspros are notorious for their powerful gifts, as the fear and respect it generates have made them the designated protectors of their towns. orrec's father married someone from the lowlands, however, and for the longest time he feared that her blood may have diluted the strength and purity of his own. orrec's father is pleased when his son's power unleashes itself in a series of violent and catastrophic accidents.

orrec, however, mourns the damage he has caused and refuses to undergo the training to control it--both out of fear of hurting other living things, and out of fear of disappointing his father with his own weaknesses. at first i did not like orrec at all, but as his story continued, he endeared himself to me. le guin was able to put me in his mind, and make me understand how hellacious puberty would be if the added burden of power over death was added into the mix. yikes!

i loved gry, orrec's female childhood friend, from the get-go. she has power over animals and sometimes the village has her call them from the woods for the slaughter, but she prefers to help and heal. i feel like the nuturant, responsible nature of her powers make her mature and wise beyond her years, because it takes a certain kind of temperament in order to be a good healer. she's also incredibly strong, physically and mentally, and there were many times when i wished the story was narrated from her point of view. gry is, by far, the strongest of the two, and both orrec and le guin make no bones about that simple fact.

because, really, it's not that big of a deal.

the faerie tales embedded in the story were also amazing. le guin took plots from the brothers grimm and hans christian andersen, then mixed them up and recast them to better suit her storyline. the story of the ants reminded me of a story i'd read recently. the one about two sisters, one of whom ends up having jewels drop from her mouth when she speaks and the other, who was wicked, spews out snakes and toads. kindness is a prized virtue, and it's nice to see it extolled.

the twist at the end was nice, too. i didn't see it coming! but it made a lot of sense. i loved how le guin left her ending open to multiple possibilities to keep you guessing as orrec did, without resorting to pulling things out of the left field. i also liked how realistically she portrayed the hindrance of being unable to see, and the shock and dissociation he experienced on the rare occasions the blindfold was removed.

towards the end there is a beautiful passage where he just watched the stars move across the sky for hours because he hadn't seen them for so long. and then i teared up when he saw his dog for the first time. (view spoiler)

i have no criticisms. the writing was beautiful. the story was magical. the characters were elegant and realistic. i want to read the other books in the series. the funny thing is, i didn't enjoy reading her far more popular book, earthsea, at all. but everything i didn't like about that novel has been resolved in this one. it's quite incredible how she's grown as an author. if you didn't like earthsea either, give this book a chance anyway. all my doubts were quickly--well--unmade.(less)

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Jun 14, 2011 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tatiana by: Marija

Shelves: 2011, fantasy, ya

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 better knowled...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Miranda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sf

I love Le Guin, but the novels of hers I began with (The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven) felt a little dated in their language (they were written in the 70s after all). The narrator ofGifts, however, despite the book's alternate-pre-industrial-revolution-Scottish-highlands (?) setting, spoke directly to me. This turned out to be utterly appropriate for his character, and I loved the way his calling is delicately revealed to us over the course of the novel.

The 'Gifts' themselves are siniste...more

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About Ursula K. Le Guin

As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming...more As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming in 2012, Finding My Elegy, New and Selected Poems. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν (Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, Berkeley California, 21 Οκτωβρίου 1929 - ) Πολυγραφότατη, πολυδιάστατη και πολυβραβευμένη Αμερικανίδα ποιήτρια και συγγραφέας του χώρου της «Επιστημονικής Φαντασίας» αλλά και των παιδικών διηγημάτων.

ΠΡΩΤΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ
Γεννήθηκε στο Μπέρκλεϋ της Καλιφόρνιας από τον ανθρωπολόγο Άλφρεντ Κρέμπερ (Alfred L. Kroeber) και την συγγραφέα Θεοδώρα Κρέμπερ (Theodora Covel BrownKracaw Kroeber), σπούδασε στο «Radcliffe College» και εν συνεχεία Φιλολογία (γαλλική και ιταλική αναγεννησιακή λογοτεχνία) στο «Πανεπιστήμιο Columbia». Το 1953 παντρεύτηκε στην Γαλλία τον ιστορικό Σαρλ Λε Γκεν (Charles A. Le Guin), που έγινε καθηγητής Γαλλικής Ιστορίας στο «Portland State College» του Όρεγκον και απέκτησε μαζί του 3 παιδιά.

«ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΟΝΙΚΗ» ΚΑΙ «ΜΕΣΑΙΩΝΙΚΗ» ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑ
Από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1960 συνέγραψε περισσότερα από 100 διηγήματα (που εκδόθηκαν σε 8 τόμους), 3 συλλογές δοκιμίων, 5 ποιητικές συλλογές, 19 νουβέλες και 13 παιδικά βιβλία, αλλά είναι περισσότερο αναγνωρισμένη για τα έργα της στον τομέα της «Επιστημονικής» και «Μεσαιωνικής» Φαντασίας, όπου συγκαταλέγεται ανάμεσα στους σημαντικότερους σύγχρονους δημιουργούς (πιο γνωστά στην Ελλάδα είναι τα βιβλία της «Ο Αναρχικός των Δύο Κόσμων», Αθήνα, 1992 και «Το Αριστερό Χέρι του Σκοταδιού», Αθήνα, 1990, 1994). Το 1990 αιφνιδίασε το αναγνωστικό κοινό της όταν πρόσθεσε δίχως προειδοποίηση στην έως τότε τριλογία του «μαγικού» «κύκλου της Γαιοθάλασσας» («A Wizard of Earthsea», «The Tombs of Atuan» και «The FarthestShore», 1968 - 1972) το σκληρό «Τεχανού», για το οποίο έλαβε το Βραβείο Nebula.(less)

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Quotes from Gifts

“To see that your life is a story while you're in the middle of living it may be a help to living it well.” — 52 people liked it

“We scarcely know how much of our pleasure and interest in life comes to us through our eyes until we have to do without them; and part of that pleasure is that the eyes can choose where to look. But the ears can't choose where to listen.
-Orrec-” — 13 people liked it

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Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore #1)

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