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Voices

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Voices

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: Aysha Kala
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About this listen

 Memer is a child of rape; when the Alds took the beautiful city of Ansul, they descecrated or destroyed everything of beauty. The Waylord they imprisoned and tortured for years until finally he is freed to return to his home. Though crippled, he is not destroyed. His life still has purpose. Memer is the daughter of his House, the daughter of his heart.

The Alds, a people who love war, cannot and will not read: they believe that in words lie demons that will destroy the world. All the city's libraries, the great treasure trove of knowledge of ages past, are burned, except for those few volumes secreted inthe Waylord's hidden room.

But times are changing. Gry Barre of Roddmant and Orrec Caspro of Caspromant have arrived in the city. Orrec is a story-teller, the most famous of all: he has the gift of making. His wife Gry's gift is that of calling; she walks with a halflion who both frightens and fascinates the Alds.

This is Memer's story, and Gry's and Orrec's, and it is the story of a conquered people craving freedom. Coming of Age Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Le Guin's crystalline prose and her ability to dramatise political and spiritual issues of our time are unequalled (Amanda Craig)
As always, Le Guin's language is as airy and sensuous as her concerns are weighty and abstract, every sentence as precise as a spade cut
Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power
No question about her literary quality: her graceful prose, carefully thought-through premises, psychological insight and intelligent perception (Margaret Atwood)
Barbarians-versus-brainiacs may be well-trod turf, but Le Guin sure-footedly makes it new. She creates a protagonist with obvious appeal to her intended audience: a geeky girl with bad hair but a quick intelligence, who nurses a seething contempt for the illiterate thugs who run everything
Effortlessly at the top of her game. Voices... is a marvellously thoughtful and intelligent piece of fiction. ... Le Guin's writing is spare and humane, her imagination forceful and dramatic, and her book is transparently the pick... of the summer
All stars
Most relevant
Ursula Le Guin is at the top of my list, but Voices does not flow. All the elements are there: the One God invaders, the storyteller, the keeper of the Oracle, the gentle, conquered victims… .But, with four hours to go, I have lost interest. I’m not sure what is missing. Maybe “atmosphere”? Certainly pace.
Sadly, it is the VOICE of the reader which is also lacking. The heroine is a teenage girl. So, I guess, is the reader, who is competent, bar a few mispronunciations, but whose voice lacks the depth and variety of maturity and experience. Sorry, but I do find the reading monotonous.
So I’m packing my traps and moving back to one of the more substantial novels.

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