Malafrena

Malafrena is a novel published in 1979 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Although she is best known for science fiction and fantasy, the only unusual element of this novel is that it takes place in the imaginary Central European country of Orsinia, which is also the setting of her collection Orsinian Tales.

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The story takes place from 1825 to 1830, when Orsinia is ruled by the Austrian empire. The hero is Itale Sorde, the son of the owner of an estate on a lake called Malafrena in a valley of the same name. Itale leaves the estate, against his father's will, to engage in nationalistic and revolutionary politics in the capital.

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In many ways, Malafrena reads like a nineteenth-century novel, with its many detailed characters, its political movement and love-story subplots, its lack of the supernatural, and its settings that range from the mansions of the aristocracy to slums and prisons.

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Ursula K. Le Guin: Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (born October 21, 1929), is an American author. Although she has written novels, poetry, children's books, and essays, she is best known for her science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Le Guin has lived in Portland, Oregon since 1958. The daughter of the anthropo...

Science fiction: Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology upon society and persons as individuals. In common with most fiction, science fiction is written mainly to entertain people. The borders of this genre are not well defined, and the...

Fantasy: Fantasy is a genre of art, literature, film, television, and music that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of either plot, theme, setting, or all three. The genre is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by overall look, feel, and theme of the individual ...