Reviews

Rocannon's World

Starfleet (- the prime directive) + Lord of the Rings + flying cats

I’d read Semley's Necklace in a short story collection already which sets the scene nicely for this sci-fi meets fantasy world mash up. I really enjoyed Rocannon's journey across the planet and you could see the roots of similar journeys in both Earthsea and Left Hand of Darkness in this. The whole war business is very lightly skimmed over and the enemy barely features at all, but the prose is lovely and I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

Planet of Exile

What might have happened after the end of Battlestar Galactica (at least, if they hadn’t been so determined to leave all their tech behind.) Really interesting look at how two cultures, each alien to each other (if only one actually alien) might combine and find strength to move forward together. You can really see Le Guins anthropological background in this one, the Neolithic characters were great. And the love story, while super simple, was incredibly sweet.

City of Illusions

I enjoyed the first half of this a lot, as our main character journeyed across a post apocalyptic, far future America, encountering many different sorts of societies and individuals. Some of them seemed quite attractive actually (and some really didn’t!) Once the mystery of the characters identity is resolved and the narrative changes, I enjoyed it less. I’m glad Le Guin dropped the war and enemy from her later Hainish novels as they’re the weakest part of these stories and not very convincing. But that’s partly why I don’t read much old school sci-fi - I’m just not interested in interstellar wars.

Overall I’m glad I read these, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy them as much as I did, but even early Le Guin learning her craft is worth reading.

newcombe74's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.5

drewhelm's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

mdpenguin's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This trilogy is a little uneven and the books could stand well on their own. The second book has only a slight reference to the first and although the third is directly derived from things that happened in the second, it's not a continuous tale and the details are filled in quickly and effectively in-story. Below are my thoughts on each novel in the set.

Rocannon's World – 4.5 stars – Though science fiction and featuring a xenoanthropologist as the protagonist, this was much more like a fantasy adventure story. I thought that the characters were likable and that the world it was set in was really interesting. The adventure was believable and I really liked the bittersweet ending.

Planet of Exile – 3.25 stars – Sometimes this felt a little contrived and it took me a while to get into it, but the world-building was good and the culture of the Farborn and the way that the seasons worked on the planet with a revolution of 80 years was really interesting. I think it worked really well as a story about adaptation and cohabitation, but it didn't feel focused enough in the beginning and then became a little too focused on the conflict in the end for my tastes.

City of Illusions – 5 – This was the best of the three. It was interesting to see a far-future Earth and its cultures reduced under foreign occupation. The story only takes part across the geography of the US, but it explored how different cultures might rise up in the different ecological zones, all somewhat united by a past that they vaguely remember but completely different in how much of that past they choose to retain and how they use it. The outcome for Falk when he finds the city of the occupiers was a really interesting bit of intrigue and I like how it played out, leaving so much open for later exploration (which never really happened, but still was stimulating).

etste's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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