The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Stories

Written by Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by Amy Landon, Grover Gardner and Will Watt

“Splendidly intricate and hugely imaginative tales.” —Newsweek 

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects seventeen powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future.

Including an insightful foreword by Le Guin, describing her experience, her inspirations, and her approach to writing, this stunning collection explores human values, relationships, and survival, and showcases the myriad talents of one of the most provocative writers of our time.

The stories included in the collection are:

• Semley's Necklace
• April in Paris
• The Masters
• Darkness Box
• The Word of Unbinding
• The Rule of Names
• Winter's King
• The Good Trip
• Nine Lives
• Things
• A Trip to the Head
• Vaster than Empires and More Slow
• The Stars Below
• The Field of Vision
• Direction of the Road
• The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
• The Day Before the Revolution

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063143418

Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was the celebrated author of twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. Her acclaimed books received the Hugo, Nebula, Endeavor, Locus, Otherwise, Theodore Sturgeon, PEN/Malamud, and National Book Awards; a Newbery Honor; and the Pushcart and Janet Heidinger Kafka Prizes, among others. In 2014, she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America. Le Guin was also the recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children’s May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. She received lifetime achievement awards from the World Fantasy Convention, Los Angeles Times, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, and Willamette Writers, as well as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award and the Library of Congress Living Legend Award. Her website is UrsulaKLeGuin.com.

[xiaomarlo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many of the stories in this collection are excellent, while some are only good. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" totally deserved the Hugo award it won. Reading "The Rule of Names" made me want to go back and read the Earthsea books again. "The Stars Below" reminded me of Germinal. Overall, it's a very good collection, and also shows Le Guin's progression as a writer, since there are some early stories of hers at the beginning.

[andersonden · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A collection of older Le Guin stories. More excellent fantasy/science fiction. Been some time since I read this so I can't comment more specifically.

[jorgearanda_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Le Guin shines far brighter in her novels than in these short stories, though some of them do capture that same magic.

[cypher2048 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is always hard to rate a collection of stories as a whole. Most of the stories were good, a few I really liked, and a few others I just skipped ahead to the next story after a couple pages. So it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Usually when she stuck to science fiction settings or ideas I enjoyed them the most. The more contemporary stories often felt rambling or uninteresting. I did like the author's introductions to each story. They usually gave interesting context to the stories.

[bostonian71 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just stunning. Some stories in this collection (particularly "April in Paris") speak more to me than others, but the language is so precise and dazzling that even the darker tales are a pleasure to read. The premises are imaginative too, especially since LeGuin, as she says in her introduction and headnotes, doesn't do typical fantasy and science fiction, and thankfully she cares more about characters and relationships than fancy spells and spiffy gadgets. As with Ray Bradbury, the only reason I won't rush off and read more is because I can only digest so much rich prose at a time.

[kevinashley_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I re-read this in 2005 and had forgotten just how impressive a writer she could be. I think I tried to read this book when a teenager and found it hard going, but returning to it now I just wanted to drink it all at once. They are wonderful, well-crafted and understated stories. For anyone who doubts that SF can be literature, and vice versa, Ursula Le Guin is sufficient disproof.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Le Guin's writing tranfers well to short stories. The last few stories were wek but passable. She definitely has a vision and the universe that evolved under her pen expreses it well. Not afraid of the darkness but always looking toward the light.

[elenaj-147457 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Four stars might be generous - many of these stories are dated in various ways, and I didn't enjoy them as much as, for example, the stories in Birthday of the World. But there's a certain quality of storytelling from Le Guin that is present even in stories where she's clearly limited by boxing herself into the constraints of what science fiction was as a genre in the 60s and 70s. Her thinking is expansive, and her touch with language is subtle and remarkable.

[wirkman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing collection, almost uniformly great stories. The two that stick strongest in memory are "Vaster Than Empire and More Slow" and "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas." Try these, if you are skeptical. If you don't like them, walk away.

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was on my list because I had read that there was a short story connected to her novel, the Dispossessed. There were some lovely science fiction stories with some phrases that made me smile. Her "psychomyths" I didn't enjoy as much. I like how she consistently uses the device of time loss that comes with space travel. I probably read this book of short stories years ago and forgot them all, but now they seem more meaningful to me. More Ursula, please. (June 01, 2004)

[satyridae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Probably my favorite Le Guin short story collection. The Darkness Box and most especially The Direction of the Road which had a profound effect on me in my youth.