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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Last year I listened to the audiobook of Ursula K Le Guin's [b:Rocannon's World|1367537|Rocannon's World|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1295271496s/1367537.jpg|1357368] thinking that it might start a reread of the Ekumen/Hainish novels. As I started listening to City of Exile a year to the day after I started listening to Rocannon's World, it seems pretty clear that it didn't. But after reading an article about the Hainish Cycle by [a:Charlie Jane Anders|4918514|Charlie Jane Anders|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1532450668p2/4918514.jpg] on Tor.com, I decided to go back to these early novels and give them another shot.
There's certainly things that I find interesting in Planet of Exile that I had forgotten about. There's the long, slow cycle of the planet around its star that makes the years last a lifetime and the seasons last years. There's the fact that the Terrans have been on Werel for so long that they are barely aliens - none of them has been to Earth for many generations; they were born and raised here and the League of All Worlds is a myth to them. There's the way Le Guin uses this detail, and the Law of Cultural Embargo, to blend the science fictional premise with the more fantasy elements of her narrative - although here 'fantasy' simply means a civilization of limited technological development, rather than many of the actual tropes of fantasy.
I think re-reading this book does it no favours: the first time I read it, back in 2010, I didn't know how the Hainish/Ekumen Cycle was going to develop; I hadn't read [b:The Left Hand of Darkness|6425272|The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1257028344s/6425272.jpg|817527] or any of the subsequent novels (I think I had read "Coming of Age in Karhide", which did not work for me without context), in which Le Guin does much more interesting things with this universe and setting. Nevertheless there's some interesting stuff in here, and it is worth a read alongside all of the other, mostly better, Hainish novels.
There's certainly things that I find interesting in Planet of Exile that I had forgotten about. There's the long, slow cycle of the planet around its star that makes the years last a lifetime and the seasons last years. There's the fact that the Terrans have been on Werel for so long that they are barely aliens - none of them has been to Earth for many generations; they were born and raised here and the League of All Worlds is a myth to them. There's the way Le Guin uses this detail, and the Law of Cultural Embargo, to blend the science fictional premise with the more fantasy elements of her narrative - although here 'fantasy' simply means a civilization of limited technological development, rather than many of the actual tropes of fantasy.
I think re-reading this book does it no favours: the first time I read it, back in 2010, I didn't know how the Hainish/Ekumen Cycle was going to develop; I hadn't read [b:The Left Hand of Darkness|6425272|The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1257028344s/6425272.jpg|817527] or any of the subsequent novels (I think I had read "Coming of Age in Karhide", which did not work for me without context), in which Le Guin does much more interesting things with this universe and setting. Nevertheless there's some interesting stuff in here, and it is worth a read alongside all of the other, mostly better, Hainish novels.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
See combined review of this, 'Rocannon's World', and 'City of Illusions' in 'Three Hainish Novels'
Hainish Cycle
Next: 'City of Illusions'
Previous: 'Rocannon's World'
Hainish Cycle
Next: 'City of Illusions'
Previous: 'Rocannon's World'
Very similar to the first book in the series. We get a bit more information on the universe, but this is another short novel exploring one of the many worlds in the universe. The love story between Rolery and Agat doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, and kind of messes up the whole book for me, as everything depends on it. It sort of comes out of nowhere and has extreme consequences. It was still interesting to learn about this world and her writing is still good.
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
This was an unbelievably rich read.