The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Volume 1

The Wind's Twelve Quarters #1

by Ursula K. Le Guin, Peter Elson (Illustrator)

1st edition paperback, vg++

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Anthologies, Dragons

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[Mafalda Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Semley's Necklace (1964) - 4*
- April in Paris (1962) - 4*
- The Masters (1963) - 3.5*
- Darkness Box (1963) - 3*
- The Word of Unbinding (1964) Earthsea - 4*
- The Rule of Names (1964) Earthsea - 5*
- Winter's King (1969) The Left Hand of Darkness - 4*
- The Good Trip (1970) - 2.5*
- Nine Lives (1969) - 4*

[charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in her early stories, Le Guin's writing is illustrative and graceful without excessive description. Reading her is always an exercise is learning how to better write. However, I found the plots and characterization in some of the stories somewhat wanting, compared to other Le Guin works. Many read like interesting what-if meditations that didn't quite come to a satisfying point, which is admittedly not my preference for short genre fiction. That said, of the nine included short stories, "The Rule of Names," "Winter's King," and "Nine Lives" were phenomenal, and the others were all eminently readable if not hugely impressive. I also particularly enjoyed the forward at the beginning, and the little commentary paragraphs Le Guin included before each story. Her thoughts on writing and publishing--her own and in general--are always so arresting. So while this wasn't a The Left Hand of Darkness experience, I am still glad to have read the collection.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very tiny and old short story collection consisting of Le Guin's older stories.

It shows that these are some of the first of her published stories. The styles are varied (which is not a bad thing, necessarily), and some of these are a bit childish in a sense (not that I could do any better), but the interesting ideas are there already. The fantasy mixed with science fiction, the questions of self, gender, not belonging...

Like with most of her stuff, I enjoy the ideas a lot more than her actual writing. Which is not bad, but it is not really my thing either. It is easy to read, easy to enjoy, but what leaves a lasting impression is the actual idea. Which, I guess, is more or less the point. I just wish the writing style would make an impression on me, too, since it has done so for oh so many generations of writers. And I do understand why, I just find it slightly pretentious at times. Especially so in these older short stories.

Interesting, and definitely worth the euro or so I paid for this collection on a flea market. And yet it will go back to the flea market so that someone else will have a chance to enjoy it.

[Max Urai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not so much a book of short stories as just a selection of all the short stories Le Guin published during her lifetime, selected by the authors. So it's a pretty incoherent bunch, thematically. What I really liked about it is that it shows a great writer coming into her own: the stories are arranged chronologically, and they all have pithy little forewords by Le Guin, with stuff like "this was the first story I ever got paid for" and "This was the first time I wrote a story about this world that I would later write novels about". They strike a nice balance between having a sense of perspective and humour about her own writing and mocking them. She clearly still likes the stories, even if she can see their flaws. This was, to me, the most valuable part of the book. I love writers looking back at their own early stuff (although the first story here was written in Le Guins thirties, so it's not exactly juvenalia) and this provided a nice look back at the beginning of one of my favorite writers. The stories are a little disjointed and weird, but none of them were boring, at least.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you rate a collection of stories? (Or a single story for that matter?)

All stories here are worth reading, but it is the last one, Nine Lives, had the biggest affect on me. This story alone makes this collection worth reading in my eyes.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating for the Rule of Names, a fine and amusing short story with magic and trickery.

[Julia R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas and themes behind the stories stick more to the mind than the storys themselves. Still an enjoyable read.

[Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting this soon. It's the first part of a collection of short stories from the first 10 years of Ursula K. Leguin's career.

Foreword - 2⭐
Le Guin considers these fantasy or science fiction "future history" stories.

Semley's Necklace - 4⭐
Prologue to Rocannon's World. Semley, descended from rulers of Formalhaut II (Rocannon's world), married to a lord, decides to return pride to her new family by finding the family heirloom rare gold necklace and returning it to her husband as a rich dowry.

April in Paris - 3⭐
Professor Barry, wallowing in self pity over his wasted life, alone in his room is "summoned" into the same room, in the past, by Lenoire, a failed chemist. Beautiful story, with elegant purple prose, evoking the characters and transporting us to Paris.

The Masters - 3⭐
In some societies even the act of having an original thought, is considered a sin, because religion, when perverted, is bad.

Darkness Box - 3⭐
A child finds a box, that contains "Darkness" and gifts it to Prince Rickard who is caught in a repeating time loop in his bright, shining, shadow-less Kingdom. He is told what it contains and not to open it but welp ... what would you do?


The Word of Unbinding - The Earthsea Cycle - 5⭐
The first story set in Earthsea begins with Wizard Festin frantically trying to escape from imprisonment by an enemy wizard, Voll The Fell. It's fantastic, touching and left me with a tear in my eye and made a strong impression. If this is the first I'd definitely become an Earthsea fan.


The Rule of Names - The Earthsea Cycle - 5⭐
A small, bucolic island village is tended to by a bumbling but kindly wizard. Until a rival wizard arrives hunting for treasure only to figure out he may have inadvertently miscalculated.

Winter's King - 3⭐
A thought provoking short story sequel to The Left Hand of Darkness, set on a planet where everyone is an androgen.

The Good Trip - 2⭐
An allegory on the addictive nature of psychedelic drugs and how they both enhance and impair the perceptions of our protagonist, Lewis.

Nine Lives - 4⭐
This hard science fiction story was a Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novelette (1969). A group of 10 clones of a brilliant man sent to help mine a deposit found by 2 men on a distant planet giving the reader ample opportunity to consider the philosophical and real ramifications of cloning.

[Mark Cheverton (scifipraxis) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much of this collection is Le Guin's less engaging early short stories. There's also a strong dose of fantasy that borders on the fairytale, which isn't my jam. Overall, I'd recommend skipping this collection - the story set in the world of Winter is the only one worth seeking out.

Semley's Necklace (1964) ⭐⭐⭐

A young bride seeks to turn around the decline of her ancient house by retrieving a valuable heirloom that was lost long ago. The prose leans towards fairytale, reinforced by its moralistic twist denouement.

April in Paris (1962) ⭐⭐

A tale of black magic bringing people together across time. Short, sweet, but no depth.

The Masters (1963) ⭐⭐⭐

Long after the apocalypse, science and mathematics are forbidden, but knowledge is passed down in secret by the curious few who pay a high price for their transgression.

Darkness box (1963) ⭐⭐

A land is trapped in a timelessness, but a box is found that could break the spell. Another simple story that has a fairytale feel.

The Word of Unbinding (1964) ⭐⭐⭐

A wizard is caught and no matter how many times he tries to escape, is re-captured. Well written, but let down by the ending. 

The Rule of Names (1964) ⭐⭐⭐

An innocuous wizard turns out to be not what he seems when he's confronted by another in search of his treasure. Saccharine in places, but entertaining. 

Winter's King (1969) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set on Winter, the world of The Left Hand of Darkness, a king is forced to abdicate. When she returns from her time-dilated trip, her world is very changed. While echoing the novum of the first story, five years later Le Guin's writing is of a totally different quality. The world of Winter is realised in all its frozen glory, with its familiar feudal politics, intrigue, and a king bound by duty. A worthy companion tale.

The Good Trip (1970) ⭐

A guy on an acid trip. I wouldn't even call this SFF.

Nine Lives (1969) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ten identical clones join a team on a remote base, but disaster strikes and it becomes clear how psychologically different their situation makes them.

[Belinda Mellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually rate anthologies at 5* but I loved this collection. Every story was satisfying in some way. All too often, short stories tend to leave me a bit hey-ho, it was fine, but ... These were somehow more than that, even though, for the most part, they were quite short. The variety was good, too, and I had no idea what to expect with each one. The bonus of two early Earthsea stories was rather lovely, as I thought I'd read everything about that world by now – the original trilogy being my introduction to this author exactly fifty years ago!

[Anthony Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nine short stories published between 1964 and 1970. Some are precursors to early novels, and some stand alone. All demand leaps of imagination from the reader to enter alternative possible worlds inhabited by human or, at least, intelligent life with recognizably human characteristics.

[Ayshwarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le Guin is as amazing as ever. But many of the stories in this book are already presented in the short story series "The real and the unreal". So it was a bit disappointing for me. Two stories stand out in this collection - "Vaster than empires and more slow" and "The field of vision".

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool little insight into her early work

[Adriano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lo primero que leo de Úrsula y no me ha gustado nada. Seguiré probando.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wind's first six quarters.

***** Semley's Necklace (1964)
**** April in Paris (1962)
**** The Masters (1963)
**** Darkness Box (1963)
**** The Word of Unbinding (1964)
***** The Rule of Names (1964)
***** Winter's King (1969)
**** The Good Trip (1970)
**** Nine Lives (1969)

[Chris Sudall]

Hmmmmmm, I bought this book purely because I wanted to read the Earthsea stories.
I have a minor issue with science fiction short stories in that a lot of them seem to be the efforts of an author desperate to appear clever, but able to make this unpalatable as it is only a short story. Some anthologies are full of this kind of shit. Opaque stories that make little sense as the author attempts to imbue some deeper message hidden beneath ambiguous text/tries to delve into mentally disturbing places/walks a tight line against what is decent etc etc.
Anyway, this isn't (totally) the case here.
Semley's necklace is a pleasant enough tale of seeking.
April in Paris is a fascinating tale of time travel and friendship.
The Masters is an interesting look into the underground in a cult.
The Darkness box is a vaguely annoying tale of releasing the unknown.
The Word of Unbinding was Le Guin's first Earthsea story. It's ok, but clearly the precursor to some of Ged's battles.
The Rule of Names was worth waiting for, a classic Earthsea tale of wizardry and dragons.
Winter's King is a confusing ramble that by the time you've understood what is going on it's over.
The Good Trip is a waste of words. Drugs and tedium.
Nine Lives is a worthwhile read about love cloning and isolation.
OK, so 5 hits 1 ok and 3 misses.
Not a bad return. And the little intros are interesting too.
Worth a read and I have just started volume 2 (which has at least 1 AWFUL story!)

[Teagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing.

These stories were amazing

Ursula Le Guin is amazing.*

*can be replaced with similar adjectives such as 'phenomenal,' 'excellent,' and 'simply fantastic'.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of some Le Guin's earliest stories is a nice compilation, but lacks much of the sophistication of her later works, and longer works. Two of the stories included are kind of proto-Earthsea tales that do not necessarily jive with the Earthsea material, but they still offer fascinating glimpses at the process of world-building and storytelling. Two are also prequels to a couple of the Hainish Cycle novels, and are interesting on the own as vignettes of themes from that larger tapestry. My favorite though was "Nine Lives." This one really felt like Le Guin gave herself enough room to flesh out the material; although I must admit I became so interested in the characters I would love to read more about them. A good anthology, but not really illustrative or truly representative of Le Guin's talents and capabilities.

[BiblioBtown · Rating 3 out of 5]

fascinating, really. There is something about science fiction that just makes you think more than other types of fiction. More assumptions and imagination involved. This was my fist exposure to LeGuin but it was simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and creepy. April in Paris was my favourite and Nine Lives was the made me stop and reconsider my life. I read this with my book club.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

During a quick re-read of these stories, I soon realised that although I have read them before, it is so long ago that I only had vague feelings of déjà vu.

Nine good stories, my favourites being "Semley's Necklace", "April in Paris", "Darkness Box" and "Winter's King".

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only got it for the two Earthsea stories. Those two, anyway, were excellent. Get a load of the terrible 70's sexploitation cover art!

[Andy]

BOTH VOLUMES AVAILABLE FROM PANTER.

[Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have missed many of the links with the novels (this is my first Le Guin). However, I liked how she didn't seem to take helself too seriously.

[Stelios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favourite stories: "Semley's necklace", "April in Paris" and the two Earthsea stories "The Word of Unbinding" and "The Rule of Names".