Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Stories

Top positive review

I got this book because of BTS and their references ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2018

I got this book because of BTS and their references to the Omelas story but I found myself loving the rest of the stories as well.

85 people found this helpful

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Fire Goddess

Collection of short and partial stories

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2020

While I very much enjoyed some of the stories and wished for more of those, I have to be honest and say over half of these stories were so uninteresting or unable to hold my attention. I'll stick to the novels.

3 people found this helpful

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I got this book because of BTS and their references ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

I got this book because of BTS and their references to the Omelas story but I found myself loving the rest of the stories as well.

85 people found this helpful

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BumbleBear10

Well Worth The Read!

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

I originally bought this for the story,"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", which was on the reading list for the first lecture for 'Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature', from The Great Courses. Being a major fan of Ursula K. Le Guin, these stories rank right up there with her other stories and novels. I'll say again, Well Worth The Read!

2 people found this helpful

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persephone

Great collection of stories with personal commentary!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

I really liked the conversational notes by Ursula K LeGuin. The stories are a beautiful introduction to the major themes and styles of LeGuin. Very enjoyable!

5 people found this helpful

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Matt & Carla

Wide variety of short stories

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Collection of sci-fi/fantasy short stories from Ursula Le Guin. Some are related to her books, which was interesting to see the connections. Some of the stories were weird, some of them were interesting, length varied quite a bit, but all were pretty short. The noteworthy short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" was only a few pages, but definitely worth reading. Overall, this is for fans of Ursula Le Guin who want a little bit more. Probably not a good entry point to her works, though.

22 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A lovely read

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

It has been a long while (much too long) since I have had the pleasure of sitting down to read and needing a dictionary handy for reference.
Ms. Le Guin's writing is not artificially "intellectual" , but far above the general run-of-the-mill offerings out there.

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J. Buss

Wonderful

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

Got this for the Earthsea-related short story in it. While Ursula can get a little encyclopedic at times, this one is fabulous cover to cover.

10 people found this helpful

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notpicky

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018

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Ursula LeGuin has always been one of my favorite authors. Her books are filled with interesting ideas, piercing insight and lovely prose. This book, her last, is no exception.

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Solomon Town

Le Guin, the master

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

Studied in schools all over the world and yet so enjoyable. It was a big surprise to find much of academia categorized a lot of her work as "young adult". Well leave it to them to get it wrong, all the success of self publishing on Amazon is further proof of that. I contend Wizard of Earthsea was the precursor of Harry Potter. However the latter was pleasantly and uniquely expanded to a hugely wider audience. Like all of her work originality drips from each page. A must read primary source. Delightful. ☺☺☺☺☺

5 people found this helpful

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Michael Campbell

From one of the best authors of all time!

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

I have to trust an author a lot to pick up a collection of short stories. Generally, I'm not much for them. Ursula K. Le Guin is one of my favorite authors, so I bought this book at a used bookstore without even reading the description. The name of the author was all I went on, and it proved to be a wise choice. As there's no real overarching theme, I've decided to review the short stories separately.

Semley's Necklace
The only story I had already read before starting this novel. It was put in the beginning of Rocannon's World, probably her weakest novel I've read but not a bad read. Like the book it was placed in, this story is fun and inventive. It's a neat mix of Fantasy and Science Fiction concepts and an entertaining although not worthwhile read.

April in Paris
Cute and endearing, not really something I would have expected from Le Guin, but it's a pleasant story. There's a bit of romanticism in many of her works I've read, but it's never been this blatant. It's about loneliness and finding happiness in a place you'd have never expected.

The Masters
A dystopian tale where something unexpected is the subject of a society's disdain. Computations are taboo and punishable by death. While this didn't immediately inspire the same fear in me that let's say books being outlawed would have, it's interesting to think about what could be made unavailable to keep a society stagnant.

Darkness Box
Haunting and straight forward, the passing of time is the subject here and whether or not we'd be better off without it.

The Word of Unbinding
A trip to Earthsea and an exploration of aspects of it's magic. I adore the world of Earthsea, and it's always nice to have a visit, even if it's not a particularly memorable one.

The Rule of Names
Now this is better, a proper trip to Earthsea. A remote island, a battle of wizards, and a tale of ancient civilizations and dragons. That's what I signed up for when I want to go the this fantastical archipelago.

Winter's King
A lot of thought provoking concepts are thrown around in this novel that takes place in one of her most original worlds. Somewhat genre bending, it adds a good deal of depth to the world of The Left Hand of Darkness, generally considered one of her best novels. It doesn't broach the same topics, but it's got the same feel of being completely original.

The Good Trip
Honestly, kind of a miss for me, the weakest story in here by far. I understood what she was trying to do here, and she did it well. It just didn't hold much interest for me, and I found myself skimming even though it was one of the shorter stories.

Nine Lives
The first short story in here that really wowed me. Concepts of cloning and an almost hive mind like state of being are taken apart and shown in a harsh light. She takes a popular science fiction concept and gives it her own unique twist.

Things
About how we all try to survive in our own way, this story accurately weighs the kindness and selfishness of humanity.

A Trip to the Head
A bit esoteric, we are made to think about the meaning of consciousness and how it affects our views of reality.

Vaster than Empires and More Slow
Now we're cooking with butter, this is a jaw dropping story about how we perceive the alien both in others and in an unknown environment. How you need to take a step back and try your best to put yourself in someone(or something) else's shoes before you jump to your natural fear and anger at the unknowable. While we may never be able to fully understand the alien, it's the trying that matters.

The Stars Below
An interesting history lesson and look at how one can find beauty in even the most unexpected places.

The Field of Vision
If not for the story after next, this would be the best story in this collection. Three men are made to face the vastness of reality and are given their own unique and complete window into the complete truth of the universe. The way each of them reacts and how this shapes them as humans takes us through a wild ride and makes us wonder if we'd really want to know everything.

Direction of the Road
Ever driven past a tree and wondered what it would be like to experience life as that tree? Well, Ursula K. Le Guin did and wrote a short story about it.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
In the little foreword she wrote for this short story, Le Guin credits William James for the concept, and she mentions that a lot of readers wonder why she didn't credit Dostoevsky. I must admit that after reading the story, I'd have done the same without the foreword to explain why to me. The most thought provoking question for me posed by The Brother's Karamazov is seemingly ripped right out of it's pages and given a new life here.

She accurately and completely asks the one question that haunts me more than any other I've read, even better than Dostoevsky himself did. This may be the best short story I've ever read. I've never experienced a story as impactful as this one in so few pages. Even though I've already been asked the question once before, this story makes it twist it's way deeper into my soul and realize more how I may already have answered the question.

The Day Before the Revolution
An old revolutionary grows old and reflects on her life and life in general. How she is no longer thought of as a person but a figure, a concept. A bit of backstory for The Dispossessed, another of her all time greats.

Okay so how does one rate a collection of short stories? Do I give it five stars for giving me three of the best Science Fiction short stories I've ever read? Perhaps it's the weakest link that defines it, and two stars is all it deserves? I've decided to use a mean average and round it up to the nearest star, so here we have a four star read. Although, I still feel like it's as worthwhile as many five star reads.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer David Gardner.

Gifts for humankind.

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

She wrote of who we are and who we might be rather than the imaginary gadgets of some future. Her works are gifts for humankind, for those who will think and try to understand. Thank you Ms. Le Guin.

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