Advertising yet another wonderful YA book that inspires me. Here's the summary of Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin:
"When a young man in the Uplands blinds himself rather than use his gift of 'unmaking'--a violent talent shared by members of his family--he upsets the precarious balance of power among rival, feuding families, each of which has a strange and deadly talent of its own."
This summary doesn't quite do the book justice. Gifts is a dark, captivating coming-of-age story. The book explores a heartfelt father-son relationship set against a backdrop of tribalism fueled by superstition. Plenty of intrigue here, most of which takes place outdoors in a landscape resembling feudal Scotland, a refreshing change of pace from castle intrigue.
Anyone who is familiar with Le Guin's solid body of work should know that this is among her best Young Adult novels, right up there with The Earthsea Cycle. The third and last book of this series, Powers, is on par with this one in quality. A companion novel with a new cast of characters, it tackles the subject of slavery, and has the most "epic" feel of the series. I'm sorry to say the middle book, Voices, is not quite as good. I've read it twice now and each time I had the same opinion of it: good story, a little slow, definitely too didactic. This tends to happen to fantasy literature when you intentionally draw parallels to the current religious-political conflicts of the Middle East.
But I can't recommend Gifts and Powers highly enough. If you love intelligent YA fantasy, if you are looking for a non-white cast of characters, and perhaps a realistic male who is not a ridiculous sparkly vampire, these books are worth a read.
"When a young man in the Uplands blinds himself rather than use his gift of 'unmaking'--a violent talent shared by members of his family--he upsets the precarious balance of power among rival, feuding families, each of which has a strange and deadly talent of its own."
This summary doesn't quite do the book justice. Gifts is a dark, captivating coming-of-age story. The book explores a heartfelt father-son relationship set against a backdrop of tribalism fueled by superstition. Plenty of intrigue here, most of which takes place outdoors in a landscape resembling feudal Scotland, a refreshing change of pace from castle intrigue.
Anyone who is familiar with Le Guin's solid body of work should know that this is among her best Young Adult novels, right up there with The Earthsea Cycle. The third and last book of this series, Powers, is on par with this one in quality. A companion novel with a new cast of characters, it tackles the subject of slavery, and has the most "epic" feel of the series. I'm sorry to say the middle book, Voices, is not quite as good. I've read it twice now and each time I had the same opinion of it: good story, a little slow, definitely too didactic. This tends to happen to fantasy literature when you intentionally draw parallels to the current religious-political conflicts of the Middle East.
But I can't recommend Gifts and Powers highly enough. If you love intelligent YA fantasy, if you are looking for a non-white cast of characters, and perhaps a realistic male who is not a ridiculous sparkly vampire, these books are worth a read.
You can snag your own copy here. And here is Ursula K. Le Guin's website.
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