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.
