Julia Beiker (Children's Literature)
In this overwhelming novel, a boy named Gavir and his older sister are abducted at a young age and sold into slavery. As a slave, Gavir is raised to do as bidden and not to question the authority of his ruling family, who give him comfort and educate him. His sister, meanwhile, is given as a mistress to the kind and generous son of the family. Although Gavir sees shadows of bad things to come in their lives, nothing prepares him for the tragic day when he must bury his sister and leave the only home that he knows. On his own, this bewildered child grows into manhood as his life’s path takes him back to where he began. Tragedy and deception become his bedfellows as he ventures into one camp after another. Then he finds the secret behind his powers. As young Gavir changes, so does his views about life and family. Author Ursula Le Guin weaves an interesting fantasy as she spins many colorful threads into this powerful book that requires a reader’s complete focus. At times, the story fell flat as too many obstacles were presented for our young hero to conquer. Readers may wish to come to this book only after they have finished Gifts and Voices, the other two books from “The Annals of the Western Shore” series. This novel has disturbing and mature themes not acceptable for readers under 14 years old. 2007, Harcourt, $17.00. Ages 14 to 18.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 16))
Reared in slavery, Gavir knows and understands his place in the world. He has confidence that his family's older son will continue the benign rule that has allowed free and slave children to associate freely and that has encouraged the education of slaves. But with war comes chaos, and when the brutal younger son rapes and kills his beloved older sister, Gav's beliefs are rocked off their foundation and he escapes to find a more just society. Le Guin tells her story in languid fashion, accreting detail upon detail as Gav tells his tale. His powers are twofold: He can "remember" the future, although he cannot change it, and he can memorize instantly what he reads and hears. It is the latter power that sustains him, as he grows to understand the critical importance of storytelling in the lives of humans. Billed as a "companion" to Gifts (2004) and Voices (2006), in its musing on this power of story, it complements them beautifully, though readers hoping to reacquaint themselves with characters met in the first two novels will find themselves disappointed until the very end. 2007, Harcourt, 512p, $17.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 5))
In Powers, the third book of this fantasy trilogy, Gavir is a slave at the beginning of the story, educated with the children of the ruling family of a medieval-like city state, a gifted student with a powerful memory, who sometimes sees glimpses of events in his past and in his future. Gav is prepared to accept what he is taught: that tradition is necessary and that yearning for freedom may only cause anarchy and suffering. He is young. As he becomes an older adolescent, events force him to question these lessons. When his beloved sister is destroyed, all within so-called traditional boundaries of behavior, he is horrified by grief and escapes the city state he has known his whole life and goes out to the larger world, not knowing what he is seeking. Le Guin then uses all her skills at creating interesting societies as Gav goes from one community to the next, almost like a young Candide, trusting in the goodness of people, only to be appalled later by human wickedness. One long sojourn is with the people of his own tribe in which he discovers people like him, but not like him because they don’t share his experience of being a slave, nor his fine education. His aunt, who also sees visions in the future, sees him crossing the second river, carrying a child, and sure enough, this comes true as Gav rescues a small child and journeys with her far away to a place of learning, where people are free. It is in this university setting that he meets the poet Caspro and Memer, from the previous two books of the trilogy. Le Guin’s powerful storytelling skills hold readers fast through the 500 pages of this story. Her world is the creation of her imagination, but it seems like it could have been real in some distant past (rather like The Thief trilogy). Readers will, with Gav, think about what freedom means in a person’s life and in a society, but mostly they will be thrilled by an outstanding story. (Companion volume to Gifts and Voices) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2007, Harcourt, 502p. maps., $17.00. Ages 12 to 18.

April Spisak (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, December 2007 (Vol. 61, No. 4).)
In this companion novel to the author’s Gifts (BCCB 10/04) and Voices (BCCB 11/06), the richly developed Western Shore is explored anew through the first-person narration of a brilliant but oppressed slave, Gavir. Although the pace is as languid as Gavir is complacent in the early chapters, the murder of his sister sparks a rapidly unfolding series of events that leads Gavir stumbling away from all he has ever known and towards a home from which he was stolen years before. He is seeking not only to lose the painful memories of his sister but also to gain understanding of his psychic ability to see into the future, a trait he has heard his people have. Of course, personal growth and freedom come at a heavy price, and for much of the novel, Gavir meanders, emotionally and physically lost, through groups of people who are friends and foes (sometimes simultaneously). His ultimate peace is satisfyingly hard won, and it is realistically tinged with the mix of fragility and tenacity that marks memorable characters who have undergone tribulations and emerged scathed but undefeated. Le Guin’s storytelling prowess transforms small moments into beautiful, poignantly narrated events, perfect given Gavir’s own fleeting instants of true happiness and his determination to avoid focusing on the large-scale horrors around him. Although the three novels draw from the same haunting alternative world, this third outing could work equally well as a standalone story. Fantasy readers seeking an intricate and thoughtful examination of a life that is as much endured as enjoyed will find Gavir to be unforgettable and his gorgeous but dangerous surroundings engaging. Two maps aid in tracking the protagonist’s long journey Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2007, Harcourt, 502p., $17.00. Grades 7-10.