Book One: The House of PowerPortrait of the EmperorThe Two Hands The End of a Dynasty, or The Natural History of FerretsThe Siege, Battle, and Victory of SelimmagudConcerning the Unchecked Growth of CitiesBook Two: The Greatest EmpirePortrait of the Empress And the Streets DesertedThe PoolBasic Weapons“Down There in the South”The Old Incense Road

“The history of an imaginary empire in a series of tales that adopt the voice of a marketplace storyteller. . . . While the point of each tale eludes paraphrase, the cumulative burden is the imperfectibility of human society . . . Le Guin’s translation, which ranges from blunt to elegant to oracular, seems like the ideal medium for this grim if inescapable message.” — New York Times Book Review “A novel that evokes weighty matters lightly and speaks of self-evident wisdom while itself remaining mysterious.” — Washington Post"The dreamy, ancient voice is not unlike Le Guin's, and this collection should appeal to her fans as well as to those of literary fantasy and Latin American fiction."
—Library Journal (starred review)"There's a very modern undercurrent to the Kalpa empire, with tales focusing on power (in a political sense) rather than generic moral lessons. Her mythology is consistent—wide in scope, yet not overwhelming. The myriad names of places and people can be confusing, almost Tolkeinesque in their linguistic originality. But the stories constantly move and keep the book from becoming overwhelming. Gorodischer has a sizeable body of work to be discovered, with eighteen books yet to reach English readers, and this is an impressive introduction."
—Review of Contemporary Fiction"Borges and Cortázar are alive and well."
—Bridge Magazine"Those looking for offbeat literary fantasy will welcome Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was, by Argentinean writer Angélica Gorodischer. Translated from the Spanish by Ursula Le Guin, this is the first appearance in English of this prize-winning South American fantasist."
—Publishers Weekly"It's always difficult to wrap up a rave review without babbling redundant praises. This time I'll simply say 'Buy this Book!'"
—Locus"The elaborate history of an imaginary country...is Nabokovian in its accretion of strange and rich detail, making the story seem at once scientific and dreamlike."
—Time Out New York