Voices (Annals of the Western Shore #2)

Voices is Ursula Le Guin’s second book in the Annals of the Western Shore collection. The story takes place seventeen years after Gifts. The main character, Memer, lives in a city taken over by the ignorant neighboring country – a people who believe that books and written words are evil.

Before the siege Memer’s people were scholars. Today, all books that have not been thrown into the Sea by the Alds, are hidden – to be caught with one would mean death. But things may be about to change. A story-teller and his wife come to town. They are Orrec and Gry of the Uplands and they give Memer hope of a brighter future.

The third book, Powers, is due out in September of this year.

Le Guin, Ursula K. (2006). Voices. New York: Harcourt Inc.

Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore #1)

Gifts is the first book in Ursula Le Guin's Annals of the Western Shore series.

But these are not necessarily gift you would like to receive. The Uplanders are farmers in a fairly unpopulated land. Some have wonderful or useful abilities like summoning animals or bringing forth fire. Others have gifts that only destroy - the ability to inflict illness or chain a mind. The Uplanders live in fear that their neighboring families will unleash these "gifts" against each other.

But even worse for Orrec, he has a wild gift. He has the power to undo - to destroy. But he cannot control it. In an effort to spare the people he loves potential harm he binds his eyes. His friend Gry will help him find his way through the darkness.

Will a blindfold be enough to harness the power to destroy? Or will the wild gift control young Orrec even in the darkness?

Le Guin, Ursula K. (2006). Gifts. New York: Harcourt Inc.