Gifts

Annals of the Western Shore, Book 1

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Jim Colby

In this beautifully crafted novel, the first of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world's darkness, gifts of light.

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 people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts.

One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.

"A brilliant exploration of the power and responsibility of gifts."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Listen to another book in this series: Powers.©1994 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Rich in the earthy magic and intelligent plot twists that made the Earthsea novels classics." (Booklist)

Amazing book, well read!

If you love Le Guin, you'll love this story. The reader does an excellent job dramatizing the voices and emotions. I'm off to download the next volume!

great story, simple, moving, original

Ursula LeGuin grown yet more masterful with age, spinning a dark tale with tragic depth lit by a young heart.

The gift of Gifts

I have always enjoyed the worlds created by Le Guin. Her character development is excellent and her plots are worthwhile. The first book of this series presents a premise as interesting as the magic in the Earthsea series.

While a bit more brooding than Earthsea, I liked the book and plan to read the whole series.

horrible narrator

Just don't. Get your credit back. The narrator kills the story. I'd rather buy the book.

I enjoy listening to this book

This book was slow going and felt like it had a lot of back and forth telling between present and past event. I wasn't always sure of the time lime. I am really not sure how the opening chapters fit into the whole of the story, however overall the story was good and I enjoyed listening to it.