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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Le Guinn's Hannish Cycle is special - it reads like high fantasy, but it's science fiction. Really special writing that transports you to a simple story.
That said this book, is the least memorable of the Hannish Cycle - and also there is a weird amount of old man horniness - the kind that would make uncomfortable if this was written Heinlein, but is kind of Ok for Le Guinn.
To be clear you can't skip this book - it is important to the Hannish Cycle - and I clearly found it engaging enough to finish in a day.
That said this book, is the least memorable of the Hannish Cycle - and also there is a weird amount of old man horniness - the kind that would make uncomfortable if this was written Heinlein, but is kind of Ok for Le Guinn.
To be clear you can't skip this book - it is important to the Hannish Cycle - and I clearly found it engaging enough to finish in a day.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not really anything particularly outstanding about this story, but Ursula’s writing is like comfort food for me. I enjoy her thoughtful, quiet tone.
Planet of Exile and it gave me some hardcore emotions. I was not prepared. For the war between the people?? Ready for that. For the heartwrenching emotional tidbits between Rolery and Jakob. Even so, this novel didn't feel as polished as I've come to expect from LeGuin...though that makes sense given how early in her career this was written. There were moments I loved, but overall I didn't feel incredibly invested in the plot. I cared about Rolery's fate, both physical and romantic (tehehe) and I enjoyed the worldbuilding. All in all, probably a 3 star read.
This is, realistically, how a Prime Directive might play out if it were seriously adhered to, over centuries and not 42 minute stretches. It was published the same year that TOS premiered and presumably partakes of a similar zeitgeist.
It's interesting as a period piece and as very early Le Guin. Her introduction teases out the kind of sexism that happens when you say you don't care if your characters are male or female and you just happen to reinforce a pile of sexual stereotypes, but I was surprised by just how much casual sexism pervades throughout -- when Jakob in his POV makes a disgusted reference to "male hysteria", for instance. Sharp contrast to the last book I read that was published in 1966 ([b:Babel-17/Empire Star|145356|Babel-17/Empire Star|Samuel R. Delany|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283034602s/145356.jpg|2911120]).
It's interesting as a period piece and as very early Le Guin. Her introduction teases out the kind of sexism that happens when you say you don't care if your characters are male or female and you just happen to reinforce a pile of sexual stereotypes, but I was surprised by just how much casual sexism pervades throughout -- when Jakob in his POV makes a disgusted reference to "male hysteria", for instance. Sharp contrast to the last book I read that was published in 1966 ([b:Babel-17/Empire Star|145356|Babel-17/Empire Star|Samuel R. Delany|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283034602s/145356.jpg|2911120]).
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
reflective
fast-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:
N/A
- brilliant early take on "othering"
- (narrative) gaze is shifting and shifting again
- constantly asking who are the "aliens" here?
- and directly addressing the readers with that question.
- early stance in Le Guin's career on hierarchy, norms, power and domination
- also: "winter is coming"
FIRST LINE REVIEW: "In the last days of the last moonphase of Autumn a wind blew from the northern ranges through the dying forests of Askatevar, a cold wind that smelled of smoke and snow." An opening sentence that's a great example of this genre, carried out so well by Le Guin. A tightly-written, very short novel that carried me back to the sci-fi I used to love reading as a young boy. Good, intelligent stuff!
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes