The Beginning Place

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Rob Inglis

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Tembreabrezi is like Eden - a beginning place. There, Hugh and Irena assume they have merely discovered an escape from the dull monotony, even the terrors of their regular lives.

But Tembreabrezi has a secret, a dark fear that is threatening the very life-blood of the kingdom. Hugh and Irena were led there for a purpose, selected for an impossibly hopeless mission.

If they accept the challenge, they may lose everything - their new-found paradise, and possibly their lives.

©1980 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)1991 Recorded Books, LLC

Odd

It's a fantasy "coming of age" and "working through a traumatic past" style story. Not bad, but a bit awkward at times. Excellent narration.

The beginning place review

I love this story and although its not really typical of LeGuin, its a really good adventure story. I liked both the main characters, especially the boy, and I like the way the story ended. I would have liked a little more explanation of where the beginning place was and more details about the people. They’re not very nice to send two kids into danger without explaining anything to them. The atmosphere of the place is well established, the low light, the forests and the mountains.

Really needed an editor and some clear point

When I read this in 1979 I loved it (the magic I guess). I just reread it through audible and now have a completely different opinion. It's so seriously flawed that I can't understand why she wrote it except to publish something for some reason. The characters stumble on a magic town but have no curiosity about it. They have serious flaws and engage in unbelievable behavior. REALLY unbelievable behavior. Laughable and ridiculous. At least half the book is spent describing scenery. The big moment is rapidly discarded for more descriptions of scenery. Maybe she could have written it as a short story, limited the scenery to a few shrubs and some trees and included it in one of her collections. Maybe. I'm still a huge fan. Her prose and creativity are wonderful even when they're buried under the scenery. The narration was wonderful! Three stars because of the quality of the narration. Two stars because her prose is beautiful.

Not your typical LeGuin

An interesting story, spanning two worlds. Its different from most of LeGuin , but I enjoyed it. The reading was wonderful.

not worth the time

Inglis is a great narrator, and the story is mildly interesting at the beginning but stopped not far into it because of unnecessary, inappropriate sexual content. Can't recommend.

An alright story with poor narration

The story here isn't one of the author's better works - it's not terrible, more just mediocre. The setup in the first half is the better material, unfortunately the latter half doesn't really pay off, and it falls into too many cliched story tropes.
Another issue is in the audio production, with a somewhat baffling choice of a British narrator for an American story, and in particular, one with an extremely dry, even stodgy delivery. It just feels completely unsuited for this particular story.
So, a mediocre story brought down by the narration choice, not a strong recommend.

Turned off...

Thought I would try this just because I love the narration.
I hardly read a couple of chapters before a creepy sexual fantasy was expressed. I hate that. So...I will not read the whole book and will not recommend it.

I don’t get it

I don’t get this book. The overall plot ends up being nonsense. The themes in the book are simplistic, boring, and hammered home with a sledgehammer.

There are times when the prose is fine and times when it’s extremely awkward. The world is simple and hollow.
I can’t recommend.