Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon have posted a wonderful video of author Ursula K. Le Guin reading from her fantastic new novel LAVINIA and answering questions from the audience about the book and her writing:

LAVINIA is Le Guin’s interpretation of the Virgil’s THE AENEID. It focuses on Lavinia, who appears in the poem, but never speaks.

Here’s what the reviewers are saying:

“Le Guin is famous for creating alternative worlds (as in Left Hand of Darkness), and she approaches Lavinia’s world, from which Western civilization took its course, as unique and strange as any fantasy. It’s a novel that deserves to be ranked with Robert Graves’s I, Claudius.”—Publishers’ Weekly (starred review)

“Le Guin has researched this ancient world assiduously, and her measured, understated prose captures with equal skill the permutations of established ritual and ceremony and the sensations of the battlefield ... Arguably her best novel, and an altogether worthy companion volume to one of the Western world’s greatest stories.“—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[A]pproaching a new book by Le Guin is like discovering a new Rembrandt. In some ways, the quality of the work is irrelevant, as it’s sure to be declared a new masterpiece—which it will be by most standards. The only thing to do is to judge the work against its creator’s own rigorous standards. Even in comparison to the rest of Le Guin’s body of work, Lavinia stands very high.“—The Winnipeg Free Press

“In one of the more impressive displays of feminist reconstruction since Margaret Atwood wrested Penelope out of the hands of Homer, National Book Award-winner Le Guin has rewritten the last six books of Vergil’s epic poem to create a rich life of the mind for the Latin princess. Unlike Atwood’s “Penelopiad,” the novel, as Le Guin writes in an afterword, is a “love offering,” and she writes with great affection for both the poet and his hero.“—The Christian Science Monitor

“This is a powerful and rewarding novel, a intricately layered narrative that weaves many themes into its rich tapestry, and touches on subjects that remain urgent in our own time.“—The Globe and Mail

“Le Guin does a fantastic job of bringing a tertiary character to life… Trojan horses, Vergil’s The Aeneid, ancient Italy, prophecies and quick witted maidens: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin offers a lot to like. I give it a 4 out of 5. High entertainment value.“—So Misguided

“Well-researched with epic battles and many interwoven threads, Le Guin has captured the spirit of Virgil’s work and presented it faithfully in her own measured, lyric prose. Le Guin’s Lavinia is a strong, fascinating woman, with a tale to rival any hero of old.”—Eclectic Closet