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Annals of the Western Shore #1-3
Annals of the Western Shore: Gifts / Voices / Powers
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Nebula Award–winning young adult fantasy series—gathered for the first time in a deluxe collector’s edition for readers of all ages
Teenagers struggle to come to terms with their own mysterious and magical gifts as they come-of-age in the far-flung Western Shore.
This fifth volume in the definitive Library of America edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s work presents a trilogy of coming-of-age stories set in the Western Shore—a world where young people find themselves struggling not just against racism, prejudice, and slavery, but with how to live with the mysterious and magical gifts they have been given. All three novels feature the generous voice and deeply human concerns that mark all Le Guin’s work, and together they form an elegant anthem to the revolutionary and transformative power of words and storytelling.
In Gifts , Orrec and Gry will inherit both their families’ domains and their “gifts,” the ability to communicate with animals, or control a mind, or maim or kill with only a word and gesture. Both discover their gifts are not what they thought. In Voices , Memer lives in a city conquered by fundamentalist and superstitious soldiers who have made reading and writing forbidden. But in Memer’s house there is a secret room where the last few books in the city have been hidden. And in the Nebula Award-winning Powers , the young slave Gavir can remember any book after reading it just once. It makes him valuable, but it also makes him a threat. Gav sets out to understand who he is, where he came from, and what his gift means.
This deluxe edition features Le Guin’s own previously unseen hand-drawn maps. Included in an appendix are essays and interviews about the novels, as well as Le Guin’s pronunciation guide to the names and languages of the Western Shore.
Teenagers struggle to come to terms with their own mysterious and magical gifts as they come-of-age in the far-flung Western Shore.
This fifth volume in the definitive Library of America edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s work presents a trilogy of coming-of-age stories set in the Western Shore—a world where young people find themselves struggling not just against racism, prejudice, and slavery, but with how to live with the mysterious and magical gifts they have been given. All three novels feature the generous voice and deeply human concerns that mark all Le Guin’s work, and together they form an elegant anthem to the revolutionary and transformative power of words and storytelling.
In Gifts , Orrec and Gry will inherit both their families’ domains and their “gifts,” the ability to communicate with animals, or control a mind, or maim or kill with only a word and gesture. Both discover their gifts are not what they thought. In Voices , Memer lives in a city conquered by fundamentalist and superstitious soldiers who have made reading and writing forbidden. But in Memer’s house there is a secret room where the last few books in the city have been hidden. And in the Nebula Award-winning Powers , the young slave Gavir can remember any book after reading it just once. It makes him valuable, but it also makes him a threat. Gav sets out to understand who he is, where he came from, and what his gift means.
This deluxe edition features Le Guin’s own previously unseen hand-drawn maps. Included in an appendix are essays and interviews about the novels, as well as Le Guin’s pronunciation guide to the names and languages of the Western Shore.
672 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
84 people are currently reading
441 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,045 books30.2k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two 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. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 22, 2022
Annals of the Western Shore is set in a world peopled by peasants, serfs, slaves, and masters, a world with significant inequality in political power and wealth, a world where a few people had extraordinary gifts. In the Uplands, some could call animals; others could contort people's bodies, "undo" bodies or places, blind or silence their enemies, kill or maim someone in sight, set fires; or lift heavy objects.
What, though, if you did not have the gift expected by your people? What if you had a gift not valued by your people?
Annals of the Western Shore contains the entire trilogy: Gifts, Voices, and Powers. This trilogy is set in one world in the same period (maybe over 20 years), but different books have different peoples, regions, and city states, each with its own unique culture. There is some continuity, as two characters appear in all three books, two in only two books, and multiple figures, books, and writers in the background so the three books work well together but work equally well when read out of order, as when I read Powers the first time.
The major characters of each book in is a misfit, at least initially, with strengths other than those valued by those in power. The books could be thought of in terms of fights between good and evil, but that would be a glib characterization that Ursula Le Guin would have been uncomfortable with. In general, her "evil" characters are warped, perhaps by being ignored/devalued/spoiled, but some members of the evil group are also wise and thoughtful. Her "good" characters often make mistakes, go astray, but learn from their mistakes.
This is a trilogy about books and the power of language and stories, even for illiterate cultures: "Books are at the heart of this book I’m writing. Books caused the danger we were in, the risks we ran, and books gave us our power" (Kindle 2703). I love reading books about books, perhaps because they validate many of my own choices.
Although a major theme to the trilogy is learning self-acceptance and growing into one's gifts, Le Guin also explores freedom, which is a less clear construct than I naively thought; she described multiple paths to achieving it and multiple layers to its manifestation. To find freedom you must leave home, quest, take risks, learn, listen to your gifts/voices/powers, and love. Freedom requires owning your voice, recognizing other perspectives, being visible even to oneself. It is not just laziness or boredom, although it may include an absence of tension. It does not require war and battle. Freedom must be learned: "Being a slave is easy. To be a free man you have to use your head, you have to give here and take there, you have to give your orders to yourself" (Kindle 7968). This poem is a touchstone throughout the last two books, reminding people who they are and the importance of freedom.
As in the dark of winter night
The eyes seek dawn,
As in the bonds of bitter cold
The heart craves sun,
So blinded and so bound, the soul
Cries out to thee:
Be our light, our fire, our life,
Liberty!
The stories in this trilogy and Le Guin's characters are more than I've described here. They listen closely to themselves and others and, thus, pulled me in. I am sorry to put these books aside – and thankful that she wrote so prolifically in her lifetime.
What, though, if you did not have the gift expected by your people? What if you had a gift not valued by your people?
Annals of the Western Shore contains the entire trilogy: Gifts, Voices, and Powers. This trilogy is set in one world in the same period (maybe over 20 years), but different books have different peoples, regions, and city states, each with its own unique culture. There is some continuity, as two characters appear in all three books, two in only two books, and multiple figures, books, and writers in the background so the three books work well together but work equally well when read out of order, as when I read Powers the first time.
The major characters of each book in is a misfit, at least initially, with strengths other than those valued by those in power. The books could be thought of in terms of fights between good and evil, but that would be a glib characterization that Ursula Le Guin would have been uncomfortable with. In general, her "evil" characters are warped, perhaps by being ignored/devalued/spoiled, but some members of the evil group are also wise and thoughtful. Her "good" characters often make mistakes, go astray, but learn from their mistakes.
This is a trilogy about books and the power of language and stories, even for illiterate cultures: "Books are at the heart of this book I’m writing. Books caused the danger we were in, the risks we ran, and books gave us our power" (Kindle 2703). I love reading books about books, perhaps because they validate many of my own choices.
Although a major theme to the trilogy is learning self-acceptance and growing into one's gifts, Le Guin also explores freedom, which is a less clear construct than I naively thought; she described multiple paths to achieving it and multiple layers to its manifestation. To find freedom you must leave home, quest, take risks, learn, listen to your gifts/voices/powers, and love. Freedom requires owning your voice, recognizing other perspectives, being visible even to oneself. It is not just laziness or boredom, although it may include an absence of tension. It does not require war and battle. Freedom must be learned: "Being a slave is easy. To be a free man you have to use your head, you have to give here and take there, you have to give your orders to yourself" (Kindle 7968). This poem is a touchstone throughout the last two books, reminding people who they are and the importance of freedom.
As in the dark of winter night
The eyes seek dawn,
As in the bonds of bitter cold
The heart craves sun,
So blinded and so bound, the soul
Cries out to thee:
Be our light, our fire, our life,
Liberty!
The stories in this trilogy and Le Guin's characters are more than I've described here. They listen closely to themselves and others and, thus, pulled me in. I am sorry to put these books aside – and thankful that she wrote so prolifically in her lifetime.
August 3, 2025
Le Guin had many recurring themes in her writing, one of which being freedom (something she became increasinly obsessed with near the end of her life), and it's beautifully explored in this trilogy. I re-read the books as part of the Library of America collection this year, bundled with some vaguely related but ultimately not super wow-worthy interviews.
There are many things that keep coming back in this trilogy, and the fantasy aspect (the gifts/powers) is honestly the least of it. More integral to these stories is the power of stories (and their tellers), reading and books. Freedom, of course. Post-colonialism (living together instead of dominating one another). These books ask hard questions and provide no easy answers.
Phenomenal read.
There are many things that keep coming back in this trilogy, and the fantasy aspect (the gifts/powers) is honestly the least of it. More integral to these stories is the power of stories (and their tellers), reading and books. Freedom, of course. Post-colonialism (living together instead of dominating one another). These books ask hard questions and provide no easy answers.
Phenomenal read.
December 3, 2022
This was definitely one of the best books I read this year. Le Guin was really the master of slow, ethnographic fantasies. These are all about stories, text, reading, and the magical power of language, place, and narrative. Each story contains all the minutia of life - how people eat and care for their homes - the small important things that women tend to while history happens. I love disparate stories that come together, and these do that beautifully. The talks and interviews at the end - meditating on what makes stories for young adults, how to write as and about women, how to create a story that doesn’t rely on constructs about good and evil - add a lot to think on as well. Really good.
March 27, 2023
У Ле Гуин гораздо популярнее другие циклы - Хайнский и Земноморье, например. Про "Легенды Западного побережья" вам в лучшем случае скажут, что цикл проходной и лучше читать что-то другое, а в худшем случае просто пожмут плечами, т.к. впервые слышат о нем. Покупая эту книгу, я скорее добивал всю Урсулы Ле Гуин, которую выпускала Азбука в серии "Мир фантастики". Мною были прочитаны прекрасные романы о Земноморье, о межпланетном объединении цивилизаций, оставившие после себя море положительных эмоций. Почему же "Легенды", судя по статистике, хуже?
В книге 3 романа со сквозным сюжетом, но в принципе их можно читать и по отдельности. Первая история, "Проклятый дар", мне понравилась больше всего. У некоторых людей из Нагорья (под ним явно зашифрована Шотландия) с рождения есть уникальный дар. Кто-то может общаться с животными, кто-то лечит, кто-то разрушает. У таких людей свои семьи и свои семейные территории, на которых они живут, пашут землю, выращивают животных. Начинается роман очень неспешно и ты не сразу понимаешь, в каком месте сюжет начнет активно развиваться. Глава одной семьи умеет убивать взглядом, и он хочет, чтобы и его сын поскорее научился владеть этим даром. Но вот сын, к сожалению, не видит в этом какой-то пользы, скорее наоборот. На этой почве рождается конфликт, который усиливается после инцидента с соседом, чей дар состоит в распространении хвори.
Стилистически роман - все та же Ле Гуин, которую мы знаем. Неспешный меланхоличный рассказ с грустными мыслями, с поиском правды и того самого узкого выхода. Многие из нас мечтали когда-либо владеть какой-то суперсилой, но представьте себе, что дарованная вам суперсила вам противна. И как сложно удержать мировые отношения, когда посеяно зерно раздора, особенно когда недопонимание появилось у сверхлюдей. Своим мощным умением ты можешь навредить всем окружающим, даже тем, кто тебе дорог.
Конфликт отца и сына - тоже важный момент, поднимаемый в романе.
Роман закончился довольно быстро, и после него мне очень хотелось обсудить его с теми, кто уже знаком с "Проклятым даром". Вроде с одной стороны и как-то вяло по развитию, но темы, поднятые в романе, интересные. И еще более интересно было узнать, что же будет дальше, ведь второй роман является хоть и не прямым, но продолжением.
А в "Голосах" уже совсем другой главный герой - девочка из южных земель, чей город был завоеван вражеской Империей. Новая власть запретила книги, богов, культуру, историю. Книги не доведут до добра - считают варвары. Возьмите наших богов, нашу культуру, наши традиции - тогда будет вам мир и хорошая жизнь. Конечно, убить в себе себя за несколько лет невозможно. Жители Ансула хоть и внешне смирились с новой властью, но внутри бушует огонь несправедливости. Толчком к действиям послужил приезд в город известного поэта. Оказывается, новый глава города любит поэзию, и возможно у гостя получится повернуть колесо вспять...
Этот роман, к сожалению, мной не был понят до конца. Он для меня был просто скучным и довольно банальным. Стихи, высекающие искры революции, книги, разрушающие каноны, женщины, не имеющие прав - вот основные темы романа. Я все ждал, когда повествование начнет закипать от накала страстей, но так и не понял, где и кому я должен был сочувствовать и переживать. Может быть потому что я не люблю стихи и не понимаю поэзию?
Трети роман повествует о рабстве. О том, что рабство может быть принято нормой в каком-нибудь сумасшедшем обществе. И даже когда ты выпутываешься из кандалов, не до конца понимаешь. правильно ли ты делаешь, не захлебнешься ли свободой, ведь свобода может убить тебя, беззащитного человеческого птенца. Герой бежит от той жизни, в которой он находился с рождения. Но он попадает в другие общества, с другими законами. Найдет ли он себя? Настигнет ли его кара хозяев? Где можно найти найти спасение рабу?
Этот роман по эмоциям для меня где-то посередине между первым и вторым романами цикла. Периодически было интересно, периодически скучно. Я уже не могу точно вспомнить, в каком моменте я перестал придираться к странной логике бывшего раба, поняв, что роман-то ведь не про приключения, а про манифест (что традиционно для писательницы).
По оценкам романам получилось что-то около 8, 6 и 7. В целом 7/10. Это действительно не самый яркий, интересный цикл Урсулы Ле Гуин, и советовать его читать тем, кто не читал лучших ее романов, я бы не стал. В некоторых рецензиях фанаты прям очень жестко высказываются об этом цикле, но я бы не сказал, что он плох. Есть за что ругать (как обычно, вялотекучесть и вечная тема борьбы с несправедливостью), но и волшебная меланхоличность, присущая стилю Ле Гуин, тут однозначно есть.
В книге 3 романа со сквозным сюжетом, но в принципе их можно читать и по отдельности. Первая история, "Проклятый дар", мне понравилась больше всего. У некоторых людей из Нагорья (под ним явно зашифрована Шотландия) с рождения есть уникальный дар. Кто-то может общаться с животными, кто-то лечит, кто-то разрушает. У таких людей свои семьи и свои семейные территории, на которых они живут, пашут землю, выращивают животных. Начинается роман очень неспешно и ты не сразу понимаешь, в каком месте сюжет начнет активно развиваться. Глава одной семьи умеет убивать взглядом, и он хочет, чтобы и его сын поскорее научился владеть этим даром. Но вот сын, к сожалению, не видит в этом какой-то пользы, скорее наоборот. На этой почве рождается конфликт, который усиливается после инцидента с соседом, чей дар состоит в распространении хвори.
Стилистически роман - все та же Ле Гуин, которую мы знаем. Неспешный меланхоличный рассказ с грустными мыслями, с поиском правды и того самого узкого выхода. Многие из нас мечтали когда-либо владеть какой-то суперсилой, но представьте себе, что дарованная вам суперсила вам противна. И как сложно удержать мировые отношения, когда посеяно зерно раздора, особенно когда недопонимание появилось у сверхлюдей. Своим мощным умением ты можешь навредить всем окружающим, даже тем, кто тебе дорог.
Конфликт отца и сына - тоже важный момент, поднимаемый в романе.
Роман закончился довольно быстро, и после него мне очень хотелось обсудить его с теми, кто уже знаком с "Проклятым даром". Вроде с одной стороны и как-то вяло по развитию, но темы, поднятые в романе, интересные. И еще более интересно было узнать, что же будет дальше, ведь второй роман является хоть и не прямым, но продолжением.
А в "Голосах" уже совсем другой главный герой - девочка из южных земель, чей город был завоеван вражеской Империей. Новая власть запретила книги, богов, культуру, историю. Книги не доведут до добра - считают варвары. Возьмите наших богов, нашу культуру, наши традиции - тогда будет вам мир и хорошая жизнь. Конечно, убить в себе себя за несколько лет невозможно. Жители Ансула хоть и внешне смирились с новой властью, но внутри бушует огонь несправедливости. Толчком к действиям послужил приезд в город известного поэта. Оказывается, новый глава города любит поэзию, и возможно у гостя получится повернуть колесо вспять...
Этот роман, к сожалению, мной не был понят до конца. Он для меня был просто скучным и довольно банальным. Стихи, высекающие искры революции, книги, разрушающие каноны, женщины, не имеющие прав - вот основные темы романа. Я все ждал, когда повествование начнет закипать от накала страстей, но так и не понял, где и кому я должен был сочувствовать и переживать. Может быть потому что я не люблю стихи и не понимаю поэзию?
Трети роман повествует о рабстве. О том, что рабство может быть принято нормой в каком-нибудь сумасшедшем обществе. И даже когда ты выпутываешься из кандалов, не до конца понимаешь. правильно ли ты делаешь, не захлебнешься ли свободой, ведь свобода может убить тебя, беззащитного человеческого птенца. Герой бежит от той жизни, в которой он находился с рождения. Но он попадает в другие общества, с другими законами. Найдет ли он себя? Настигнет ли его кара хозяев? Где можно найти найти спасение рабу?
Этот роман по эмоциям для меня где-то посередине между первым и вторым романами цикла. Периодически было интересно, периодически скучно. Я уже не могу точно вспомнить, в каком моменте я перестал придираться к странной логике бывшего раба, поняв, что роман-то ведь не про приключения, а про манифест (что традиционно для писательницы).
По оценкам романам получилось что-то около 8, 6 и 7. В целом 7/10. Это действительно не самый яркий, интересный цикл Урсулы Ле Гуин, и советовать его читать тем, кто не читал лучших ее романов, я бы не стал. В некоторых рецензиях фанаты прям очень жестко высказываются об этом цикле, но я бы не сказал, что он плох. Есть за что ругать (как обычно, вялотекучесть и вечная тема борьбы с несправедливостью), но и волшебная меланхоличность, присущая стилю Ле Гуин, тут однозначно есть.
October 3, 2020
"Annals of the Western Shore" includes all 3 books of this series - "Gifts", "Voices", and "Powers". This series is really gentle fantasy at its finest and a true comfort read. The writing is beautiful, as you would expect, and the characters are half-solid and half-ethereal. This really is a wonderful series.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and Edelweiss+ for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and Edelweiss+ for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
September 16, 2021
Aaach! Pohlazení!
June 26, 2022
Freedom has become a word weaponized and rendered meaningless in American society, and often works of art that deal with it are either sappy or cynical. Leave it to Le Guin, who so thoughtfully and poetically struggles to unearth the truths of freedom: what it is and what it is not, how it happens and what prevents it. Unlike say, The Matrix series, freedom doesn’t come by taking a pill or shooting the bad guys; instead it often requires you to leave home, to go questing, to take risks, to learn more, to listen to your own innate gifts/voices/powers, and to love others.
It’s always amazing to me how Le Guin manages to make such detailed worlds that also have a philosophy behind them. What a gem of an author.
It’s always amazing to me how Le Guin manages to make such detailed worlds that also have a philosophy behind them. What a gem of an author.
April 12, 2024
This volume of Ursula K. Le Guin from the Library of America contains her final invented, a loosely connected fantasy trilogy The Annals of the Western Shore. While each novel has a new cast of characters, for the most part, all three contain similar themes of power relationships and the power of literature and storytelling.
In the first novel, Gifts, Orrec is a young man of extraordinary powers in a community where people with powers rule. With his childhood friend Gry, he discovers that, perhaps, that his people are using these powers in the wrong way. In Voices, Memer grows up in the occupied city of Ansul. The Ald, who follow the Book, seek to eliminate all other books. In secret, Memer learns from the hidden library of her home and seeks to liberate her city. In Powers, Gav is enslaved with his sister in the city state of Etra, where he is learning to be the tutor of the children of his free masters. After a tragedy, Gav begins a journey of discovery beyond the world that has betrayed him. Powers is, I think, far and away the best of the three, but they are all interesting works.
This volume also contains a couple of essays and three interviews with Le Guin from around the time the novels were released, offering some insight into where they came from. In one interview, Le Guin describes Gifts as an inverse of A Wizard of Earthsea, and in a way the entire trilogy can be considered an inverse Earthsea. In that series, people come into power and make world-changing decisions; in this one, people tend to have no power and take actions that change only their own lives within a much more complex world. There's a way in which this is what I want out of fantasy and science fiction, although I also have to admit that I prefer Earthsea.
The interviews with Brian Attebery and Alexander Chee are both excellent - Le Guin chatting with familiar people who dig into some of her ideas and draw out revelations regarding her work and her career. I'm always a little disappointed when the perspectives of Le Guin's works come from men - it seems like it has only been since her death that I have found editions of her novels with introductions by other women. Nevertheless, Attebery and Chee's contributions here are extremely valuable to both the Annals of the Western Shore and Le Guin's body of work as a whole.
In the first novel, Gifts, Orrec is a young man of extraordinary powers in a community where people with powers rule. With his childhood friend Gry, he discovers that, perhaps, that his people are using these powers in the wrong way. In Voices, Memer grows up in the occupied city of Ansul. The Ald, who follow the Book, seek to eliminate all other books. In secret, Memer learns from the hidden library of her home and seeks to liberate her city. In Powers, Gav is enslaved with his sister in the city state of Etra, where he is learning to be the tutor of the children of his free masters. After a tragedy, Gav begins a journey of discovery beyond the world that has betrayed him. Powers is, I think, far and away the best of the three, but they are all interesting works.
This volume also contains a couple of essays and three interviews with Le Guin from around the time the novels were released, offering some insight into where they came from. In one interview, Le Guin describes Gifts as an inverse of A Wizard of Earthsea, and in a way the entire trilogy can be considered an inverse Earthsea. In that series, people come into power and make world-changing decisions; in this one, people tend to have no power and take actions that change only their own lives within a much more complex world. There's a way in which this is what I want out of fantasy and science fiction, although I also have to admit that I prefer Earthsea.
The interviews with Brian Attebery and Alexander Chee are both excellent - Le Guin chatting with familiar people who dig into some of her ideas and draw out revelations regarding her work and her career. I'm always a little disappointed when the perspectives of Le Guin's works come from men - it seems like it has only been since her death that I have found editions of her novels with introductions by other women. Nevertheless, Attebery and Chee's contributions here are extremely valuable to both the Annals of the Western Shore and Le Guin's body of work as a whole.
September 3, 2022
This is a re-release of three YA novels, Gifts, Voices, Powers, in one volume. I liked Gifts the best. They are classic UKLG -. Whole worlds and cultures created out of the imagination in such detail that it is hard to believe they aren't real. Each one has its own politics, economics, literature, how they treat their women, how they raise their children, what gods they worship and how do they worship them...
Though there are lots of themes, morals, and messages here, I just didn't find them quite as moving or having quite the depth of much of her work. Maybe that's what the YA means. Like many things that are labelled YA, I think the audience that would love these the most would be teenagers, especially younger teens. And they would be completely age appropriate for them.
As an avid UKLG fan, I loved it that the volume includes some essays and interviews by her.
Though there are lots of themes, morals, and messages here, I just didn't find them quite as moving or having quite the depth of much of her work. Maybe that's what the YA means. Like many things that are labelled YA, I think the audience that would love these the most would be teenagers, especially younger teens. And they would be completely age appropriate for them.
As an avid UKLG fan, I loved it that the volume includes some essays and interviews by her.
December 24, 2023
This set includes: Gifts, Voices and Powers, 3 interconnected books that celebrate a love of stories, whether written or oral. A must read for fans of Le Guin’s fantasy. Each are strong but I enjoyed Gifts and Powers the most. As always, Le Guin leaves the reader thinking about her stories long after they are finished. This is far better than what passes for YA fantasy these days. I’m talking about you, Sarah J Maas. The bonus content of Le Guin’s speeches and interviews adds insight into her writing process (or lack of), the disadvantages of being buttonholed into the sci-fi/fantasy genre and her opinions on many other topics. I enjoyed this as much as the novels. We lost a great treasure when she died.
December 15, 2023
This is a powerful anthology of three largely unrelated stories that all carry the Le Guin trademark brilliance. It was only in reading all three plus the interviews at the end that i realized why I liked them so much. She just has that touch of strong female characters and vast worlds brought down to a level of village detail.
Love it all. So glad I found this recent gift from a long time favourite author.
Note just rewatched some of Avatar on an airplane ride from very green friendly Singapore.
and found out that James Cameron based Avatar loosely on
The Word For World is Forest by Le Guin. Of course he did.
Love it all. So glad I found this recent gift from a long time favourite author.
Note just rewatched some of Avatar on an airplane ride from very green friendly Singapore.
and found out that James Cameron based Avatar loosely on
The Word For World is Forest by Le Guin. Of course he did.
July 25, 2025
overall 3.5
it's bueno.
Le Guin is about the only person I feel comfortable with reading when it comes to YA. I struggle deciding which if these are my favorite. the third book is good, but feels a tad long. master level characters per Le Guin usual. book one is fuckin' GNARLY. 🤘
some tough stuff in here, man. i can see these books as children's first literary glimpse at the cruelty of the world and existential dread wrapped up in a pretty UKLG bow.
P.S. RIP Ozzy, fucking legend among legends.
it's bueno.
Le Guin is about the only person I feel comfortable with reading when it comes to YA. I struggle deciding which if these are my favorite. the third book is good, but feels a tad long. master level characters per Le Guin usual. book one is fuckin' GNARLY. 🤘
some tough stuff in here, man. i can see these books as children's first literary glimpse at the cruelty of the world and existential dread wrapped up in a pretty UKLG bow.
P.S. RIP Ozzy, fucking legend among legends.
January 17, 2022
Contains all three books (Gifts, Voices, Powers) in the Annals of the Western Shore series. I read this as Powers won the Nebula Award. As always Le Guin's writing is superb. For be Gifts was the stand out five star favourite. The other two (Voices and Powers) were also very good, but for me, did not quite live up to the high of the first (Gifts). Overall still a five star read and highly recommended.
April 2, 2023
I don't know how I missed this series until now. Le Guin may have been writing for a younger audience (although I would consider it appropriate for older youth, not younger children) but it still has in full her gift for distinctive, engaging characters facing both action/adventure type and ethical/moral challenges.
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January 23, 2021The Left Hand of Darkness had a big influence on me as a young reader. I thought I had read just about everything she had written and purchased mostly as a gift to myself BUT the editor of this series has included nonfiction writings which are new to me.
September 18, 2022
Music read for fantasy lovers.
The interviews at the end are worth reading, especially if you're a writer. Although this book is categorized as a YA the truth telling is often profound as it is in all of her books. I recommend it for young and older alike.
The interviews at the end are worth reading, especially if you're a writer. Although this book is categorized as a YA the truth telling is often profound as it is in all of her books. I recommend it for young and older alike.
August 27, 2021
It's hard rating all three books at once, so really this is a 3.5 rounded up.
January 19, 2023
Literally my favorite series.
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April 22, 2025Note to self: souhrnná vydání se ti čtou strašně špatně
August 10, 2024
Wonderful wonderful wonderful
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