The Lathe of Heaven

This book illustrates why Le Guin has become one of the most distinctive voices in American science fiction. The premise here is that some poor slob discovers that whatever he dreams becomes reality when he awakes. He's seized upon by a megalomaniacal shrink who uses him to make the world a better place. Only things keep going wrong. Susan Omallie does a mediocre job with this material. Towards the end, one occasionally hears vocal fatigue in the form of dry mouth. There's a line or two that somebody forgot to edit out. Still, the material is strong enough to carry her through all nine sides. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


George Guidall adopts an understated narration style to delivery Le Guin's sci-fi classic. George Orr has turned to drugs to deal with his fear of sleeping. It's his dreams he's afraid of. His court-ordered therapist becomes intrigued as Orr describes how his dreams affect reality--past and present. The therapist begins to direct Orr's dreaming, becoming wealthy in the process. Guidall presents both characters as generally unremarkable--in contrast to the rather remarkable effect of their meetings. Occasionally, Orr's anxiety, deftly captured by Guidall, spills over as the two main characters engage in relatively quiet discussions of his dreams and their effects. Guidall also excels in portraying the hubris at the heart of the therapist's ambition, which leads him to manipulate Orr's dreams with no apparent reservation or guilt. J.E.M. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine