Orrec is the son of the Brantor of Caspromant; Gry the daughter of the Brantors of Barre and Rodd. They have grown up together in neighbouring domains, running half-wild across the Uplands. The people of the domains are like their land: harsh and fierce and prideful; ever at war with each other, raiding cattle, capturing serfs, enlarging their holdings. It is only the gifts that keep a fragile peace. The gifts are powers, running from father to son and from mother to daughter. The Barre gift is calling animals. The women of Cordemant have the power of blinding, or making deaf, or taking away speech. The Rodds can send a spellknife into a man's heart, or cut his throat, or maim as they please, if he's in sight. The Callems can move heavy things by word and gesture - even buildings, even hills. And Brantor Ogge of Drummant has the gift of slow wasting. The Caspro gift is the worst and best of all: it is the gift of undoing: an insect, an animal, a place . . . Orrec and Gry are the heirs to Caspro and Barre. Gry's gift runs true, but unlike her mother, she will not use it to call animals for the hunt. Orrec too is a problem, for his gift of undoing is wild: he cannot control it - and that is the most dangerous gift of all . . . GIFTS is Ursula Le Guin at her best: an exciting, moving story beautifully told.
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'I just had to read this book fast; I got so attached to it. I had to keep reading on and on.' (Emika Currie TEEN TITLES )
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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A thrilling new fantasy from the bestselling author of the EARTHSEA series
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He was lost when he came to us, and I fear the silver spoons he stole from us didn't save him when he ran away and went up into the high domains. Read the first page
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He was lost when he came to us, and I fear the silver spoons he stole from us didn't save him when he ran away and went up into the high domains. Read the first page
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48 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was surprised when I saw a recent profile of Le Guin in The Guardian which mentioned that she had begun a new series of books - the first of which is GIFTS. I admire Le Guin so much that I was wary approaching it - not wanting an idol to fall at this stage. There are very few writers of her age who would embark on such a thing and even fewer who could capture and sustain an audience for a fresh series of books. However, my trepidation was unfounded: Le Guin is (as always) an exception - GIFTS is a majestic, troubling and powerful book. It treads completely fresh ground - although there are thematic trheads that tie it particularly to the latter books in the Earthsea sequence: Tehanu and The Other Wind. It is resolutely an adult novel that only comes into the fantasy genre by default. As with all her fiction she sketches in a new world deftly and subtly so that you scarcely notice what it is she has done. She never uses pyrotechnics or familiar genre tricks. She just writes with piercing honesty and simplicity. Over the years I've read the odd review of Le Guin books criticising either her prose style or her politics: flat, dull preaching. To such critics I say "numbskulls" - Le Guin's prose is sparse, yes, but it is stylish. Her politics are visible but they are thought through and measured. She is provocative, but never on a soap box. I hope she is hale and hearty and long-long lived and that GIFTS marks the beginning of a sequence of books as remarkable as Earthsea was - but written by a wise old woman who, I suspects, knows everything implortant that there is to be known about the human condition.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While not quite in the class of the Earthsea sequence (especially The Other Wind, the latest and greatest, but there again neither is anything else) this is still a wonderful book - economically written, moral, compelling and involving. I read it a single sitting then had to re-read it immediately. Looking forward to the next book in this new series!
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By TeensReadToo
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
In Ursula K. Le Guin's GIFTS, the gifts in question bring more trouble than happiness to the novel's main character, sixteen-year-old Orrec. Orrec lives in the Uplands, a rough landscape where small clans squabble amongst themselves to maintain their land holdings and cattle herds. The leader of each clan has a specific gift: a mystical power that allows them to call animals or twist human bodies with the force of their mind. Orrec is the next in line to lead his clan, and his family's gift is
one of the most terrible: the undoing. His father can kill a man with a word and a gesture, and it is expected that Orrec will come into the same power. However, when Orrec's power arrives, it is wild and uncontrollable, and he must stay blind-folded to avoid harming those he loves.
The best thing about this outstanding novel is its premise. Everyone has wished at one time or another for a secret power. GIFTS forces the question: what if your having such a gift caused harm to the people around you? It gives no easy answers, exploring the issue with depth and feeling. The society and culture of the Uplanders is detailed and realistic, making the conflicts that much more powerful. Readers will quickly feel as though they've lived in this wonderful and terrifying world themselves.
As narrator, Orrec is thoughtful and questioning, with a rhythmic voice that recalls traditional story-tellers. He handles the tragedies and disappointments in his life with honesty and good humor. Despite being from a somewhat alien world, his view is very human and teens will find it easy to see through his eyes. When he is finally able to face the most disappointing truth of all, readers will cheer even as they share his pain.
GIFTS is an excellent read for teens of all interests.... Read more ›
one of the most terrible: the undoing. His father can kill a man with a word and a gesture, and it is expected that Orrec will come into the same power. However, when Orrec's power arrives, it is wild and uncontrollable, and he must stay blind-folded to avoid harming those he loves.
The best thing about this outstanding novel is its premise. Everyone has wished at one time or another for a secret power. GIFTS forces the question: what if your having such a gift caused harm to the people around you? It gives no easy answers, exploring the issue with depth and feeling. The society and culture of the Uplanders is detailed and realistic, making the conflicts that much more powerful. Readers will quickly feel as though they've lived in this wonderful and terrifying world themselves.
As narrator, Orrec is thoughtful and questioning, with a rhythmic voice that recalls traditional story-tellers. He handles the tragedies and disappointments in his life with honesty and good humor. Despite being from a somewhat alien world, his view is very human and teens will find it easy to see through his eyes. When he is finally able to face the most disappointing truth of all, readers will cheer even as they share his pain.
GIFTS is an excellent read for teens of all interests.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A boy's Gift is so powerful that he volunteered to be blinded so that he could not hurt another. He lives among the clans of the hills, clans with Gifts who do not neccesarily live peacefully or act with honour. Into this world comes an outsider, to stir things up.
Le Guin's style is one of conflict without bloody violence, which makes her very fresh and easy to read. She doesn't shy from it, just doesn't let it drive her stories.
Her characters are subsequently fully rounded and developed and they drive the story in personal directions. I love this non-epic fantasy - it's very rewarding.
Gifts departs from Earthsea (hope Le Guin goes back there some day) and is set in its own culture who comprise the folk of the Western Shore. It is the first book in the sequence, followed by Voices and Powers.
The life of the protagonist and the clans are richly told as the story unfolds. It can be quite tragic, but Le Guin manages to uplift the hero and the reader by the end, leaving one hopeful for the boy's future.
I thoroughly recommend it.
Le Guin's style is one of conflict without bloody violence, which makes her very fresh and easy to read. She doesn't shy from it, just doesn't let it drive her stories.
Her characters are subsequently fully rounded and developed and they drive the story in personal directions. I love this non-epic fantasy - it's very rewarding.
Gifts departs from Earthsea (hope Le Guin goes back there some day) and is set in its own culture who comprise the folk of the Western Shore. It is the first book in the sequence, followed by Voices and Powers.
The life of the protagonist and the clans are richly told as the story unfolds. It can be quite tragic, but Le Guin manages to uplift the hero and the reader by the end, leaving one hopeful for the boy's future.
I thoroughly recommend it.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've long admired Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea books, but this is the first story outside that cycle that I've read. It's the opener of the so-called Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, set in an imaginary world whose places and people are briskly introduced in the first few pages with sentences like "If he'd believed what they told him down in Danner, he'd never have come up to Caspromant".
The tale (which is written for young adults, but contains much for adults to mull over) is about Gry and Orrec, who are struggling to come to terms with the psychic powers (the gifts of the title) which they've inherited from their families. Gry can call animals, while Orrec has the gift of destruction. But Gry won't use her gift for hunting, and Orrec is apparently unable to control his. And their families expect them to use their gifts in the building up of their domains, and maintaining the uneasy peace that exists with their neighbors; the story focuses on how Gry and (mainly) Orrec learn to cope with the tension between what they want and what's expected of them. As usual, Le Guin writes in a simple, direct style which is yet extraordinarily effective and poetic. This is a thought-provoking, compelling story which makes me look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
The tale (which is written for young adults, but contains much for adults to mull over) is about Gry and Orrec, who are struggling to come to terms with the psychic powers (the gifts of the title) which they've inherited from their families. Gry can call animals, while Orrec has the gift of destruction. But Gry won't use her gift for hunting, and Orrec is apparently unable to control his. And their families expect them to use their gifts in the building up of their domains, and maintaining the uneasy peace that exists with their neighbors; the story focuses on how Gry and (mainly) Orrec learn to cope with the tension between what they want and what's expected of them. As usual, Le Guin writes in a simple, direct style which is yet extraordinarily effective and poetic. This is a thought-provoking, compelling story which makes me look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
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