Reviews for Powers (Annals of the Western Shore Series #3)

The average rating for Powers (Annals of the Western Shore Series #3) based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-07-20 00:00:00 Steven Lovrics This one was the longest and best of the three. I really loved it and didn't want it to be over. It follows the story of a slave boy in an important house in a large city. He was stolen from the Marsh People as a baby, and has little or no memory of his home. UKL understands slavery, what it does to your mind and how it changes who you are. She's well-acquainted with grief. Sometimes her stories are like pain dipped in honey, they're so sad and beautiful. Through the various people he lives with and the cultures he's exposed to, Gavir (the viewpoint character) learns a lot about the meaning of freedom. Again and again he finds he must leave the people he's with, the life he has learned, and travel somewhere else, as each group which had seemed benign and benevolent, who seemed to be his people, turn out to be something different. I highly recommend this series. It's some of the best fantasy that I've ever read, and UKL is one of the best writers.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-31 00:00:00 Steve Berman ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature. Powers is the third and, in my opinion, the best of the Annals of the Western Shore novels. In this book, we meet Gavir, a slave in the City State of Etra. Gavir was born in the marshes but was stolen, along with his sister, by slavers and brought to Etra. He has the power to clearly remember things he has seen before and even some events that have not yet happened to him. This power is not uncommon in the marshes, but the people of Etra fear powers, so his sister tells him not to speak of it. His memory, however, is prized by the household who owns him and he is being trained to be the teacher of the households' children. He is well treated (except by another slave who holds a grudge against him), well educated, and happy. But things go awry and Gavir ends up on a journey in which he encounters different people, ideas, and cultures. And this is what Ursula Le Guin does so well. She makes us believe in these cultures, perhaps even admire them, and then, without explicitly telling us so, she show us that there are always negative sides to an apparently perfect society. And, without telling us to do it, she makes us think about such constructs as freedom, slavery, justice, leadership, work, loyalty, and education. We find ourselves asking some tough questions: What is the value of a slave's life? Is it better to be an educated, happy, and comfortable slave, or to be cold, hungry, ignorant, and free? Is true democracy possible? Or even desirable? What is the value of an education in a society or job that doesn't require it? Is ignorance bliss? Le Guin's Western Shore novels are books for those who want to think about our own world while they read. They're not escapist literature -- there aren't sword fights and dragons and quests for magic talismans. Instead, there are issues to think about and questions to ask .... but not necessarily answers. And this is all done, of course, in Le Guin's perfect polished prose. Each of the Western Shore novels stands alone, but the reader who reads them in order will appreciate them more because references are made to previously seen characters and societies. In some cases, we see characters and societies we experienced in one novel from a different perspective in another, and this adds to the complexity and depth of this world. I listened to this on audiobook and was impressed with the production. I recommend this format for the Western Shore novels. Read more Ursula Le Guin book reviews at Fantasy literature.