A review by erasmios
Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin

4.0

The last and longest book of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy tells the story of a slave boy and his journey into manhood. Although all three books share same or similar themes (literature, religion, slavery), Powers was in my opinion by far the heaviest to read and offered the most profound view of those themes. I can only guess, but I feel like that might have been Le Guin's intention, to gradually lessen the fantasy elements (e.g. magical powers) or shifting the focus away from them, while deepening the real-world ones (like slavery) over the course of the three books. In any case Powers is definitely the darkest book of the trilogy. Everything I wrote about Gifts and Voices holds true here as well. Powers is an incredible journey every fantasy reader should experience and learn from.