"In this moment in history, as well as in the current political climate, perhaps it's impossible not to see commentary behind every character in a young adult fantasy novel. Anyone who enjoyed her Earthsea trilogy will relish this new work and fans of dark fantasy, such as Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, will want to check out this title as well." -BookPage "As always, Le Guin has delivered a story that captivates and draws the reader in. "A brilliant exploration of the power and responsibility of gifts." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another.
Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. Wondrous gifts: the ability-with a glance, a gesture, a word-to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. 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. GIFTS is Ursula Le Guin at her best: an exciting, moving story beautifully told.In this beautifully crafted novel, the first of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, Ursula K. 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 … Gry’s gift runs true, but she refuses to call animals for the hunt. Orrec and Gry are the heirs to Caspro and Barre. The Caspro gift is the worst and best of all: it is the gift of undoing: an insect, an animal, a place …
The Callems can move heavy things – even buildings, even hills. The Rodds can send a spellknife into a man’s heart.
The women of Cordemant have the power of blinding, or making deaf, or taking away speech. The people there are like their land: harsh and fierce and prideful ever at war with each other. Orrec, the son of the Brantor of Caspromant, and Gry, daughter of the Brantors of Barre and Rodd, have grown up together, running half-wild across the Uplands. ‘Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power’ OBSERVER She is unparalleled in creating fantasy peopled by finely drawn and complex characters… GIFTS has the simplicity of fairy tale and the power of myth’ GUARDIAN ‘She’s showing no signs of losing her brilliance.
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