Gifts

Annals of the Western Shore, Book 1

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Jim Colby

In the Uplands, people have magical and fearsome gifts. Orrec, a boy growing into his powers, can destroy any living thing with simply a glance. But he refuses to use his ability, and wears a blindfold to protect others from his devastating gaze. This allegorical coming-of-age tale shows that power can be cruel.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.

Read it for a school project

I read this book for a school project but then I fell in love with this book.

Great for Anyone

This is a great book whether you are into science fiction or not. It is thought-provoking and very emotional. It has turns in the story that makes it fun to listen to as well. Definitely recommend it.

Enjoyable Listen

I picked up a monthly audible account the day I was able to install the audible app on my android :) (beta) and this was my first listen. I'm happy :)

It took me about an half an hour to really get into this book, after that I really enjoyed the pace and plot line

Enjoyed the story

Enjoyed the story and characters. The narrator’s swallowing was really noticeable and distracting. Also, the chapters began very abruptly. No separation from the previous chapter.

Short

The world described in this book is fascinating, almost even more so than Le Guin's famous Wizard of Earthsea books, which makes it a real shame that we get to spend so little time in it. To be blunt, this program is way overpriced for only five hours. The story in "Gifts" is more like the pilot episode of a TV series than a self contained book. The conflict and moral issues at stake are truly interesting but are resolved in the last 14 minutes of the book with a too convenient death, it is incredibly disappointing, in fact I would go so far as to call it a cop-out.

I was planning to say that I was eager for the continuation of the story surrounding these characters except I made the mistake of immediately purchasing the Voices audiobook, and so I all ready know it's terrible, and fails to address anything brought up in Gifts, though the main characters do feature prominently.

The reader, while not awful, doesn't suit the character behind the first person narrative and that takes a little getting over. Enough so that I would recommend getting the print version of this book if that's an option. He is, however, not nearly as dreadful as the reader of Voices.