Thursday, April 19, 2018

Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore #1)


Ursula K. LeGuin
Completed 4/19/2018, reviewed 4/19/2018
3 stars

I was a little disappointed with Gifts.  It’s a very simple story, told simply.  It is considered YA, so I have to factor that into it.  Still, I think the story could have been much more interesting.  This book is the first in a trilogy, the third having won the Nebula, so I’m hoping the story gets more interesting as the series progresses. 

In this world, among the clans of the Uplands, the people possess gifts.  Each family group possesses one gift.  Orrec’s family can unmake things.  Gry’s family can summon animals.  Other clans can do things like cause a wasting disease or twist your limbs like a corkscrew.  Orrec and Gry don’t like the uses of their gifts.  Orrec doesn’t want to kill people.  Gry doesn’t want to call animals to make them easy prey for the hunters.  Yet if they don’t embrace their gifts, they might be overrun by the other clans. 

The main character is Orrec.  His characterization is actually quite good.  I really enjoyed the story of him growing up and deciding to blindfold himself when he realizes his gift is out of control.  You see, to execute this gift, you need the will, the word, the hand, and the eye.  But when he unwittingly starts killing things without realizing it, he figures the only way to control it is if he blinds himself, as did his ancestor who also had the wild gift.  It was an interesting spin on the psychic abilities trope. 

However, the story left me wanting more.  It felt all too simple and straight forward.  Even the themes were simple:  using talents for good rather than evil, teen angst.  But as one reviewer pointed out, after reading quite a bit of LeGuin, you just feel like she can’t write a bad sentence or a bad story.  However, I felt like she didn’t put a lot of energy into this book. 

I give this book three stars out of five.  I’m hoping the next books have a little more oomph to them. 

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