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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Den fangede mig aldrig rigtig. Jeg værdsætter hendes world building, men selve fortællingen var ikke særlig stærk.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my third foray in to Le Guin’s Hanish Cycle. Planet of Exile is set on planet Werel where an earth colony had been established amidst two other humanoid races already inhabiting the planet. The earth folks co-exist peacefully with hilfs, who do not trust and are technologically behind the earthers. There is tension between the two groups but they tolerate each other and there has even been some paring off between the two groups. Werel is fairly earth-like; however, the seasons are fifteen years long.
As the novel opens WINTER IS COMING (where have I heard that before?) and unfortunately the onset of winter means that the gaals, a barbarian race from the north, migrate south through the land the earth folks and hilfs live on. The gaals are savages and rape and pillage everything on their way south, surviving on the stolen food stores from the settlements they come across on their way south. Since the seasons are so long, only the hilf elders remember the encounters with the gaals and the subsequent struggle to survive fifteen years of winter. Adding to the drama is the fact that the human population on Werel is dwindling as they are having problems producing viable offspring.
The plot centers on the actions and experiences of a hilf woman Rolery and human Agat, who during the novel develop a relationship which is not accepted. What will happen with their relationship and their relative settlements with the dangers of winter approaching? This is a short book and it flies right by. Despite its brevity the main characters are well developed. Le Guin’s writing is flows right along, she’s just and excellent writer. There isn’t much to the world building as the planet is pretty earth-like, and the original inhabitants of Werel pretty human-like overall. Written in 1966, this is one of Le Guin’s earlier novels. I liked it but think it would’ve been better had it been given more words. An epilogue (or sequel) would’ve been great, too, as I would love to know what happened to the dwindling human population and ready-for-winter hilfs during the long cold spell.
As the novel opens WINTER IS COMING (where have I heard that before?) and unfortunately the onset of winter means that the gaals, a barbarian race from the north, migrate south through the land the earth folks and hilfs live on. The gaals are savages and rape and pillage everything on their way south, surviving on the stolen food stores from the settlements they come across on their way south. Since the seasons are so long, only the hilf elders remember the encounters with the gaals and the subsequent struggle to survive fifteen years of winter. Adding to the drama is the fact that the human population on Werel is dwindling as they are having problems producing viable offspring.
The plot centers on the actions and experiences of a hilf woman Rolery and human Agat, who during the novel develop a relationship which is not accepted. What will happen with their relationship and their relative settlements with the dangers of winter approaching? This is a short book and it flies right by. Despite its brevity the main characters are well developed. Le Guin’s writing is flows right along, she’s just and excellent writer. There isn’t much to the world building as the planet is pretty earth-like, and the original inhabitants of Werel pretty human-like overall. Written in 1966, this is one of Le Guin’s earlier novels. I liked it but think it would’ve been better had it been given more words. An epilogue (or sequel) would’ve been great, too, as I would love to know what happened to the dwindling human population and ready-for-winter hilfs during the long cold spell.
Winter is coming. It will last 15 years (by our reckoning), and Rolery and her nomadic kin-group are building their Winter city and preparing to shelter for the duration. Only now, in Winter, do they ever come this close to the beleaguered city of the farborn, the abandoned and forgotten colony of the star-travelers, now dwindling and diminished. But when both Rolery's people and the farborn are menaced by an uncommonly united force of marauding raiders called Gaal, they will have to consider bridging their differences if they want to have a hope of survival. And Rolery will meet Jakob, one of the farborn leaders, who speaks inside her head...
Another thoughtful, sweeping gem from the Hainish cycle! As always, I adore Le Guin's worldbuilding. She is simply the master. Her worlds live and sing.
At first I was dubious of the instalove romance, but it's not really instalove. It's loneliness and a reach for connection, that starts as something fleeting but becomes a foundation for something fragile that could become more in time. I really liked the way she spun this out - soft, delicate, tenuous, and yet at the same time growing like a living tendril amongst the fight and ash.
Truly, though, to read Le Guin is to dive headfirst into the richness of her worlds. I absolutely adore her scifi work and the anthropological way she looks at cultures. Just exquisite.
Another thoughtful, sweeping gem from the Hainish cycle! As always, I adore Le Guin's worldbuilding. She is simply the master. Her worlds live and sing.
At first I was dubious of the instalove romance, but it's not really instalove. It's loneliness and a reach for connection, that starts as something fleeting but becomes a foundation for something fragile that could become more in time. I really liked the way she spun this out - soft, delicate, tenuous, and yet at the same time growing like a living tendril amongst the fight and ash.
Truly, though, to read Le Guin is to dive headfirst into the richness of her worlds. I absolutely adore her scifi work and the anthropological way she looks at cultures. Just exquisite.
I don't know what I have expected from this book but it didn't meet up to what I "thought" it would be.
Science fiction with a profoundly anthropological bent. Colonists from the stars have lived alongside the stone-age oral-culture natives for 600 years on a world where the cycle of seasons lasts two generations. The interactions between the two cultures is carefully drawn and artfully dramatized. Le Guin’s writing is, as always, beautiful and thought provoking. It is a little surprising how traditional the gender roles are here, but this is one of her early novels and it’s not too many books before she’s taking apart and examining gender.
3.5 -- I liked this, didn't love it. It's vintage Le Guin. There's the signature narrative: 2 people's are wet different, but really they're the same, and race is a shallow means of separating humans. This one just didn't have the same level of interpersonal connections between characters as some of her better novels. I still really enjoyed her world building, and the overall narrative was cool. Agat was just too distant/boring and Rorely felt under developed. Wold was awesome though, just a grumpy old man/war chief.
This book was totally fine, nothing special. I probobly wouldn’t have finished had the book been longer, but at its length it was a fun read.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes