Audiobooks by Ursula K. Le Guin

Diverse Energies

"“No one can doubt that the wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed, but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men. No one can doubt that cooperation in the pursuit of knowledge must lead to freedom of the mind and freedom of the soul.” —President John F. Kennedy, from a speech at University of California, March 23, 1962 In a world gone wrong, heroes and villains are not always easy to distinguish and every individual has the ability to contribute something powerful. In this stunning collection of original and rediscovered stories of tragedy and hope, the stars are a diverse group of students, street kids, good girls, kidnappers, and child laborers pitted against their environments, their governments, differing cultures, and sometimes one another as they seek answers in their dystopian worlds. Take a journey through time from a nuclear nightmare of the past to society’s far future beyond Earth with these eleven stories by masters of speculative fiction."

Cindy Pon, Daniel H. Wilson, Ph.D., Ellen Oh, Greg Van Eekhout, K. Tempest Bradford, Ken Liu, Malinda Lo, Paolo Bacigalupi, Rahul Kanakia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Catherine Ho, James Chen, Jasmin Walker, Kurt Kanazawa, Neil Shah, Nick Walther, Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Narrator)

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The Beginning Place

"Tembreabrezi is like Eden-a beginning place. There, Hugh and Irena assume they have merely discovered an escape from the dull monotony, even the terrors of their regular lives. But Tembreabrezi has a secret, a dark fear that is threatening the very life-blood of the kingdom. Hugh and Irena were led there for a purpose, selected for an impossibly hopeless mission. If they accept the challenge, they may lose everything, their new-found paradise, possibly their lives."

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Rob Inglis (Narrator)

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The Other Wind

"The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. The dead are pulling him to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand. In this final book of the Earthsea Cycle, Le Guin combines her magical fantasy with a profoundly human, earthly, humble touch."

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Samuel Roukin (Narrator)

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Tales from Earthsea

"The tales of this book explore and extend the world established by Ursula K. Le Guin's must-read Earthsea Cycle. 'The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream.' (Neil Gaiman) This collection contains the novella 'The Finder,' and the short stories 'The Bones of the Earth,' 'Darkrose and Diamond,' 'On the High Marsh,' and 'Dragonfly.' It concludes with an account of Earthsea's history, people, languages, literature, and magic. With stories as perennial and universally beloved as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of The Rings—but also unlike anything but themselves—Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels are some of the most acclaimed and awarded works in literature. They have received accolades such as the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the Nebula Award, and many more honors, commemorating their enduring place in the hearts and minds of readers and the literary world alike. Join the millions of fantasy readers who have explored these lands. As The Guardian put it: 'Ursula Le Guin's world of Earthsea is a tangled skein of tiny islands cast on a vast sea. The islands' names pull at my heart like no others: Roke, Perilane, Osskil … '"

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator)

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Tehanu

"The Nebula and Locus Award–winning fourth novel in the renowned Earthsea series from Ursula K. Le Guin. In this fourth novel in the Earthsea series, we rejoin the young priestess Tenar and powerful wizard Ged. Years before, they had helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Together, they shared an adventure like no other. Tenar has since embraced the simple pleasures of an ordinary life, while Ged mourns the powers lost to him through no choice of his own. Now the two must join forces again and help another in need—the physically, emotionally scarred child whose own destiny has yet to be revealed. … 'Le Guin's power is undiminished. She weaves contemporary concerns—the roles of men and women, the theft of resources from and the passage of power to the next generation—into a tale with the universality and dignity of legend.'—Kirkus Reviews"

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator)

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Powers

"Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel: A young man tries to come to grips with his strange gifts as he sets out on a dangerous journey. Brought up in comfort as a house slave for a great family, young Gavir can recall the page of a book after seeing it once. Sometimes he even “remembers” things that are going to happen in the future—a power Gav cannot explain or control, and one that his beloved older sister wisely advises him to keep secret. But when tragedy destroys his trust in all he has ever known, he flees in blind grief, setting off on a treacherous journey towards a goal he does not understand. Is Gav seeking freedom? Or his own people? Then there is the greatest mystery of all: the true use of his powers. “This follow-up to Gifts and Voices may be the series’ best installment,” raved Booklist, while the Toronto Star praised Le Guin for “her facility in world making and her interest in human nature” in “a good, long trek of a fantasy.” Shortlisted for a Locus Award, the third book of the Annals of the Western Shore is an epic story of survival and self-discovery that brings its hero home at last to a place where he has never been before."

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Andy Paris (Narrator)

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Voices

"In this second novel in the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, Ursula K. Le Guin brings readers a haunting and gripping coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of violence, intolerance, and magic. Ansul was once a peaceful town filled with libraries, schools, and temples. But that was long ago, and the conquerors of this coastal city consider reading and writing to be acts punishable by death. And they believe the Oracle House, where the last few undestroyed books are hidden, is seething with demons. But to seventeen-year-old Memer, the house is a refuge, a place of family and learning, ritual and memory—the only place where she feels truly safe. Then an Uplands poet named Orrec and his wife, Gry, arrive, and everything in Memer's life begins to change. Will she and the people of Ansul at last be brave enough to rebel against their oppressors? Voices is a novel that readers will not soon forget."

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Melanie Martinez (Narrator)

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Gifts

"In this beautifully crafted novel, the first of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, Ursula K. 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. Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability—with a glance, a gesture, a word—to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill. 'A brilliant exploration of the power and responsibility of gifts.'—Publishers Weekly, starred review"

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Jim Colby (Narrator)

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