Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There was nothing I hated in this book, it gets the two star rating because there was also nothing really exciting or memorable.
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was more impressed with the direction and coherence of this story than I was with Rocannon's World, which was only published a few years earlier. There's definitely growth between them in style and substance.
However, this was simply too short to accomplish all it was trying to do. Jakob Agat goes from feeling like an exiled human on an alien planet, to becoming a true man of the world and its people, over the course of one extremely brief war. By which I mean a few days of battle, which he and his "army" didn't even win, they simply outlasted the patience of their numerous but unorganized attackers.
As a bare-bones plot, I'm good with this idea. Intense experiences can forge those kinds of bonds, and change a person drastically.
But the marriage? I can't even call it a love story, or a romance, because those elements simply aren't there. We the reader are meant to accept that Jakob and Rolery fall into bed together for little obvious reason, after knowing each other for a few days and having two or three real conversations. And then he marries her offscreen--it's presented as fact, after the fact, without the reader witnessing what ceremony (or lack thereof) was performed.
I mean, marriage is one way to create an alliance between two peoples, but that's not why they did it. They slept together because they wanted to--that much I believe, even if I don't understand why exactly--and then the marriage was...to spare her shame and punishment from her people? Several times prior to that, mention is made of harsh rules that some of the tribes have concerning unchaperoned women, but it's not made clear whether Rolery's tribe subscribes to those rules. If we don't know that, how or why does Jakob? Did Rolery suggest the arrangement or merely agree to it? I'm not satisfied with what we're told.
Which leads to my other criticism, which is the biology of the situation. It's clear from several sources in the text that the human colony is dwindling due to low successful birth rates, which is linked to being alien to the planet, enough that they have to take enzyme supplements to be able to digest native food.
But in a mere six hundred years, which (assuming parenthood in at least the twenties and not younger) is at most thirty generations. That's not a lot of time for an organism as complex as a human being to adapt (in the strict evolutionary sense) to an entirely foreign ecosystem. First the mutations have to occur (and the different spectrum of radiation from the sun could certainly do that, no quibbles there) but then IT ALSO HAS TO PROVIDE A BENEFIT WHICH ALLOWS FOR RELATIVE SUCCESS IN REPRODUCTION OVER UNMUTATED PEERS.
The situation described doesn't match that. Human babies are either miscarried frequently or brought to term deformed and incapable of survival. It's not a strict issue of the environment rendering the adults sterile somehow--they're still conceiving. And yes, simply being born viable is a reproductive advantage over being stillborn or miscarried. And if that's the mutation, fine, but I'm doubtful that's what Le Guin intended, because what does digestion of the native food have to do with that? It doesn't.
And even if we accept that the youngest generation of humans present on the planet are adapted for it, able to survive more successfully, that doesn't suddenly cause the ability to interbreed successfully with the native species, as is implied by the hopeful ending Rolery envisions of being able to bear Jakob's children.
So I see a lot of potential in the basic plot, but I feel the novel I read didn't live up to that goal.
However, this was simply too short to accomplish all it was trying to do. Jakob Agat goes from feeling like an exiled human on an alien planet, to becoming a true man of the world and its people, over the course of one extremely brief war. By which I mean a few days of battle, which he and his "army" didn't even win, they simply outlasted the patience of their numerous but unorganized attackers.
As a bare-bones plot, I'm good with this idea. Intense experiences can forge those kinds of bonds, and change a person drastically.
But the marriage? I can't even call it a love story, or a romance, because those elements simply aren't there. We the reader are meant to accept that Jakob and Rolery fall into bed together for little obvious reason, after knowing each other for a few days and having two or three real conversations. And then he marries her offscreen--it's presented as fact, after the fact, without the reader witnessing what ceremony (or lack thereof) was performed.
I mean, marriage is one way to create an alliance between two peoples, but that's not why they did it. They slept together because they wanted to--that much I believe, even if I don't understand why exactly--and then the marriage was...to spare her shame and punishment from her people? Several times prior to that, mention is made of harsh rules that some of the tribes have concerning unchaperoned women, but it's not made clear whether Rolery's tribe subscribes to those rules. If we don't know that, how or why does Jakob? Did Rolery suggest the arrangement or merely agree to it? I'm not satisfied with what we're told.
Which leads to my other criticism, which is the biology of the situation. It's clear from several sources in the text that the human colony is dwindling due to low successful birth rates, which is linked to being alien to the planet, enough that they have to take enzyme supplements to be able to digest native food.
But in a mere six hundred years, which (assuming parenthood in at least the twenties and not younger) is at most thirty generations. That's not a lot of time for an organism as complex as a human being to adapt (in the strict evolutionary sense) to an entirely foreign ecosystem. First the mutations have to occur (and the different spectrum of radiation from the sun could certainly do that, no quibbles there) but then IT ALSO HAS TO PROVIDE A BENEFIT WHICH ALLOWS FOR RELATIVE SUCCESS IN REPRODUCTION OVER UNMUTATED PEERS.
The situation described doesn't match that. Human babies are either miscarried frequently or brought to term deformed and incapable of survival. It's not a strict issue of the environment rendering the adults sterile somehow--they're still conceiving. And yes, simply being born viable is a reproductive advantage over being stillborn or miscarried. And if that's the mutation, fine, but I'm doubtful that's what Le Guin intended, because what does digestion of the native food have to do with that? It doesn't.
And even if we accept that the youngest generation of humans present on the planet are adapted for it, able to survive more successfully, that doesn't suddenly cause the ability to interbreed successfully with the native species, as is implied by the hopeful ending Rolery envisions of being able to bear Jakob's children.
So I see a lot of potential in the basic plot, but I feel the novel I read didn't live up to that goal.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think I am having to come to terms with Le Guin's writing style just not being for me. I mean, I am basing this mostly off her two earliest novels (and a vague recollection of another that to be fair may not even have been hers), but it's just not grabbing me. It's not even the writing style in terms of language, per se; I found this quite easy to read and flowing well, and I enjoyed the multiple POVs she used. But I think the story is structured as a part of a larger whole, and thus it doesn't really land as complete on its own, with a climax and a satisfying conclusion. It just feels flat. And as she has said these novels can be read in any order, I don't have a lot of hope that they build to a larger whole in context; this book was almost entirely divorced from Rocannon's World, other than a brief mention that placed that novel far in the past from this one.
I am debating whether I want to try again with her, because I do recognize she is a pioneer of the genre, one whom many writers look up to. But I don't think she's an author I can go through their whole body of work, much as I would like to say I did. I am just. So bored, honestly.
I am debating whether I want to try again with her, because I do recognize she is a pioneer of the genre, one whom many writers look up to. But I don't think she's an author I can go through their whole body of work, much as I would like to say I did. I am just. So bored, honestly.
Didn’t get much out of this one. Had to force my way through it, thankfully it was very short. There was probably a decent story here but it didn’t compel me in any way for some reason. Decent world-building as usual for Le Guin, but the plot seemed to be a pretty basic warring tribe/battle ordeal. I can at least always appreciate that Le Guin’s main characters are often black, and in this case the more advanced earth-originating people were black, which is certainly uncommon for 60s science fiction.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Kitabın sunuşunu kendisinden daha fazla beğendim açıkçası, ileride dönüp yeniden okumayı düşünüyorum. Kitabın kendisinin de kötü olduğunu düşünmüyorum asla ama kitabın geçtiği evrenle ilgili meseleler falan haricinde beni kışkırtan, bende çeşitli duygu ve düşünceler uyandıran pek bir yanı olmadı.