125:120 Daughter of Odren by Ursual K. LeGuin

A short story set in the world of Earthsea.  Weed has been leaving offerings at the stone for the past 14 years, waiting and watching for the right time for her father to be released and his revenge wrecked upon those who tricked him into it.  Now, her brother has returned to her as a learned mage and ready to take up the task to bring Lord Garnet home and restore them both to their rightful places as the children of the Lord of Odren.  Unfortunately, things don't always work out the way we so often hope for.

While set in Earthsea, this doesn't contain any characters from the stories and doesn't seem to relate to anything previous published (at least as far as I can remember) but was none-the-less an enjoyable, if short tale.


Page count: 31p/31,971p ytd/246,887p lifetime

94:120 Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

My review from my first time reading it back in 2009:

So I remember reading at least part of these eons ago and all I could ever remember from it was the shadow that scared the beejezus out of me and I've never picked it up since.  Well, my brother has been waxing poetic about it and it was part of the English course I'm doing with foster son so I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties, and dove in. 

Yes, the shadow is still scary but I don't think I ever made it to the end as a child.  I really enjoyed the whole book and the deeper meanings within it.  I'm glad that I finally made it a priority and read it and I'm even more happy that my son and foster son have also read it and we get to share it together.  Beautifully written in a rich world with richer characters.  I really look forward to reading the rest of the series and other books by LeGuin.

This is now my third time reading this book and I have read the whole series now as well as a few other of Ms. LeGuin's work and it holds up so well.  I'm still enchanted with her worlds.  They are so rich and deep and it seems like every time I read them, I discover some other little nuance or buried thing that makes it that much better.


Page count: 336p/24,742p ydt/239,674p lifetime

44:120 The Lathe Of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin

George Orr has a problem.  He has been caught poaching other people's med cards to get more anti-sleep meds than he is legally allowed.  While illegal, the sentence is therapy to help him move away from this behavior.  When he arrives to see the therapist and is asked why he didn't want to sleep, George tells him it's because there are times when he dreams and his dreams end up changing the world around him and he doesn't feel like he is qualified to make changes that can affect everyone like that without their permission.  It quickly becomes apparent that George is telling the truth and the therapist starts working on directing his dreaming for the "betterment of society".  Unfortunately, problems occur since he is trying to influence George's subconscious and that interprets things in it's own way.  Soon, there are 6 million less people on Earth, then there is no more war on Earth because we are at war with aliens who have set up bases on the Moon, now there is no race tensions because everyone is grey.  Things keep getting progressively worse and worse in George's opinion and he finally vows to put an end to it at which point we find out that the therapist thinks he is now able to replicate this effective dreaming technique himself, thus no longer leaving things up to George's subconscious interpretations of his ideas for creating a perfect society.

I found the whole concept fascinating and the story completely engaging.  The psychology of the characters kept me enthralled from beginning to end and so many questions are open to interpretation so it made for a wonderful discussion at book club.  I have definitely found Ms. LeGuin's books to be incredibly insightful into the human psyche and this was no exception.


Page Count: 194p/9,536p ytd/224,470p lifetime