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schnoebs13's review against another edition
5.0
Though not one of these stories was a 5 star for me, I truly appreciate and love this bind up. I had only read the first book in Earthsea before this and was not going into this with high hopes but that quickly changed. I relate to the intro and feeling like my appreciate for Le Guin started to late now that she’s gone but I look forward to reading her backlog. I was so impressed with the writing and creativity of the worlds and experiences her characters went through. I think she’s able to tackle complex experiences but in such a simple way that doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed and not sure what’s going on in the story. I think that this is definitely a great place to start for her and I look forward to see what else I enjoy from her.
katielou25's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kylarkylar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
City of illusions was my favorite- very weird and Interesting!
fsethompson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
eicart_reads's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jamesdoyle's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
pigeomita's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
robertrivasplata's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Compendium of Ursula K. Le Guin's first three novels (novellas?): Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, & City of Illusions. The twist at the end of City of Illusions is kind of a Deus ex Machina, but I still like it. Reading these three books together really highlighted to me as never before that all of the Hainish/Ekumen stories are interrelated & can be easily positioned in a chronology in relation to one another. All three are way better than I was expecting, & I was expecting pretty good. I think the strongest books in this book are the ones that are most about a journey – Rocannon's World & City of Illusions. One of my favorite le Guin themes has to do with journeys, leavings behind, journeys not taken, often combined with the concept of relativistic time dilation. Planet of Exile has a lot of elements I like, but it didn't have much of a journey, so I like it a little less (on the other hand, Left Hand of Darkness has a very epic journey, but I don't like it as much) . All three novels are short, but they have a lot packed into them i.e. lore, adventure, loneliness, heartbreak. Overall, I rate these 3 novels a little better than Left Hand of Darkness, but not quite as good as my faves Dispossessed & Beginning Place. I have to add I was irrationally annoyed at Amal El-Mohtar's introduction, in which she admitted to not really being that familiar with le Guin's works. I kept thinking “she probably doesn't even have an opinion on the Beginning Place!!”
seb_pitch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25