Ursula,K. Le Guin

Page Updated: 23/10/2005

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Ursula,K. Le Guin - Page 1

Gifts

Changing Planes

The Birthday of the World

Tales From Earthsea

The Other Wind

by Ursula,K. Le Guin

About the Author

Bibliography

First British Edition Orion Children's Books (2004)

Gifts
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 one or other of their neighbours, raiding cattle, capturing serfs, enlarging their holdings. It is only the gifts that keep a fragile peace.
The gifts are powerd, given to protect the domains: they run 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 dear, 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 vgift of slow wasting.
The Caspro gift is the worst and best of all: it is the gift of undoing: an insect, and animal, a place…
Orrec and Gry are the heirs to Caspro and Barrel Gry’s gift runts true, but unlike her mother, she will not use it to call animals for the hunt. Orrec too has a problem, for his gift of undoing is wild; he cannot control it – and that is the most dangerous gift of all…
Gift is Ursula Le Guin at her legendary best: an exciting, moving story beautifully told.
‘Le Guin is still at the height of her powers’ Publishers Weekly
‘A master storyteller’ amazon.com
'There is no writer with an imagination as forceful and delicate as Le Guin's' Grace Paley
'She writes fables: splendidly intricate and hugely imaginative tales' Newsweek

First British Edition Gollancz (2004)

Paperback - Gollancz (2005)

Changing Planes
Armchair travel for the mind
It was Sita Dulip who discovered, whilst stuck in an airport, unable to get anywhere, how to change planes literally. By a mere kind of a twist and a slipping bend, easier to do than describe, she could go anywhere - be anywhere - because she was already between planes …and on the way back from her sister’s wedding, she missed her plane in Chicago and found herself in Choom.
The author, now armed with this knowledge and Roman’s invaluable Handy Planetary Guide - although not the Encyclopedia Planeria, as that runs to forty four volumes - has spent many happy years exploring places as diverse as Islac and the Veksian plane.
Changing Planes is an intriguing, enticing mix: a satirical, sometimes cynical, sometimes hilarious spoof on air travel by one of the world’s most elegant writers.
‘One of the great masters of science fiction’ Robert Silverberg
‘Her characters are complex and haunting and her writing is remarkable for its sinewy grace’ Time
‘Brings a whole new meaning to inter-planetary travel ... Le Guin continues to demonstrate her genius with gentle if caustic tales that throw the world’s folly back in our faces’ Jon Courtenay Grimwood in the Guardian
‘Intriguing pieces, full of wit and invention’ Times Literary Supplement
‘The cumulative power of the stories is superb’ Good Book Guide

British Pbk Original - Gollancz Millenium (2003)

The Birthday of the World
And other stories
For more than four decades, Ursula K. Le Guin has enthralled readers with her imagination, clarity and moral vision; creating a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters: Here, in The Birthday of the World, are eight brilliant short works, including the original novella Paradises Lost, which probe the essence of humanity. Six of the are set in Le Guin’s world of the Ekumen - `my pseudo-coherent universe with holes in the elbows’ as Le Guin describes it; which was made famous in the multi-award-winning classic novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Step into the worlds powered by Le Gun’s extraordinary imagination, and discover complex social interactions and troublesome issues of gender anti sex, loyalty and survival, religion, history and slavery: Discover one of the most remarkable talents writing today.
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books have sold millions of copies in sixteen different languages. Her Hainish cycle is one of the most critically acclaimed constructs in science fiction.
'A master of the craft' Neil Gaiman

First British Edition Orion (2002)

Tales From Earthsea
Here, collected together for the first time, are five magical tales of Earthsea, the fantastical realm created by a master storyteller that has held readers enthralled for more than three decades.
`The Finder’, a novella set a few hundred years before A Wizard of Earthsea, when the Archipelago was dark and troubled, reveals how the famous school on Roke was started.
In `The Bones of the Earth’ the wizards who first taught Ged demonstrate how humility, if great enough, can rein in an earthquake.
Sometimes wizards can pursue alternative careers - and `Darkrose and Diamond’ is also a delightful story of young courtship.
Return to the time when Ged was Archmage of Earthsea in `On the High Marsh’, a story about the love of power and the power of love.
And `Dragonfly’, showing how a determined woman can break the glass ceiling of male magedom, provides a bridge - a dragon bridge - between Tehanu and The Other Wind.
This enchanting collection is rounded off with an essay about Earthsea’s history, people, languages, literature and magic.
‘The magic of Earthsea remains as potent, as wise and as necessary as anyone could dream’ Neil Gaiman
`I found this book a treasure. It is at the top of any fantasy book to be treasured.’ Andre Norton, author of Witchworld
`It has been years since the last Earthsea book, but Le Guin hasn’t lost her touch’ Booklist
`Strong work from a master storyteller; highly recommended.’ Amazon.com
`Le Guin makes a triumphant return… the publication of this collection is a major event in fantasy literature.’ Publishers Weekly

First British Edition Orion (2002)

The Other Wind
The new Earthsea novel
The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. He dreams of the land of the dead. And he dreams of his wife, who died young and wants so much to return to him that she kissed him across the low stone wall that separates our world from the Dry Land, where the grass is withered, the stars never move and lovers pass without knowing each other. Every night, the dead pull Alder to them. And through him, they are seeking to free themselves and invade Earthsea.
In desperation, Alder turns to Sparrowhawk, the former Archmage, who brought the king home from the realm of death and then flew off on a dragon’s back. Alder is told to go to Havnor, to seek out Tenar,Tehanu and the young King Lebannen.
From there, Alder, with these three and the amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to take the shape of a woman, journey to the Immanent Grove on Roke, for the incursion of the dead is not the only danger threatening Earthsea: the dragons are back.
And after centuries of peace, they come to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs . . .
The bestselling saga that started with A Wizard of Earthsea continues in this triumphant, potent and fantastical tale of magic, love and dragons.
The previous novels in the classic Earthsea cycle are A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu
‘Earthsea has made her name spell enchantment, gentle terror and pleasure to children and adults alike.’ Independent on Sunday
‘I adored The Other Wind. Real mythmaking, done by a master of the craft . . . The magic of Earthsea remains as potent, as wise and as necessary as anyone could dream.’ Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman
‘Le Guin understands magic and dragons better than anyone, and her writing only gets better with each new book. The Other Wind is a triumph.’ Michael Swanwick, author of The Iron Dragon’s Daughter
‘Her characters are complex and haunting and her writing is remarkable for its sinewy grace’ Time

About The Author
Ursula K. Le Guin was born in 1929 into an academic household - her father, A. L. Kroeber, was an eminent anthropologist, while her mother, Theodora Kroeber, was a writer. She herself obtained a Masters degree in Romance Literature following her undergraduate degree. Her first story was published in Fantastic magazine in 1962. Her first novel was Rocannon’s World (1966), set in her Hainish universe. Her fourth novel, The Left Hand of Darkness was critically acclaimed and won both the Nebula Award (in 1969) and the Hugo Award (1970). She repeated this feat with The Dispossessed (1974). Between these two books she wrote The Lathe of Heaven (1971), which was adapted for television in America, and the Earthsea Trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Tombs of Atuan (1971) and The Farthest Shore (1972)), a fantasy originally written for children. In 1985 Le Guin published the ambitious Always Coming Home. She returned to the world of Earthsea with her novel Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea (1990). As well as writing SF, she has written SF criticism; she received the Pilgrim Award for her critical work in 1989, a Pushcart Prize, the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Newbery Honor and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

Gifts (Orion Children's Books, 2004)

Changing Planes (Gollancz, 2004) Gollancz Pbk Jan 05

The Birthday of the World Short Stories (Gollancz Millenium Pbk, 2003)

Tales From Earthsea (Orion, 2002)

The Other Wind (Orion, 2002)

The Telling (Gollancz Pbk, 2001)

A Fisherman Of The Inland Sea Short Stories (Gollancz, 1996) Vista Pbk 1997

The Wind's Twelve Quarters Short Stories ( 1975) Gollancz Pbk Oct 00

The Dispossessed ( 1974) Gollancz Millenium Pbk Aug 99

The Lathe of Heaven ( 1971) Gollancz Millenium Pbk Aug 01