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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Another great tale from Ursula Le Guin's Hainish Cycle. A group of Terrans are trapped upon Werel, a faraway planet, and they have lost contact with the League of All Worlds. They must accept that Werel is now their home, but that presents its own challenges--there is cyclical conflict between the two main groups of native HILFs (high-intelligence life forms), and the Terrans are losing their ability to reproduce. Their survival will require that they make alliances, and maybe even break some of the sacrosanct League laws.
An adventure story. A love story. Read this before City of Illusions, but read them both!!
An adventure story. A love story. Read this before City of Illusions, but read them both!!
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
slow-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
medium-paced
One of Le Guin's early Hainish Cycle novels, Planet of Exile is an exciting ethnography/drama/action novel with a strong world building to back it. this planet's "year" is around 60 Earth years, and each season about 15 Earth years, which really lends itself to Le Guin's ability to craft civilizations that she thinks would come out of such a harsh environment. Winter plays an important part, as surviving over a decade of harsh, unrelenting snow and ice is no light task. You go the entire book hearing about dreaded Winter, and when it arrives, it plays a significant role in the action. I particularly love the snowghouls, which I imagine would be terrifying to see, let alone in dark, icy places.
I would give this book a 5, but I feel that this book is still a part of Le Guin's early tendency to downplay the roles of female characters. They are in the book, and they are important, but ultimately the narrative is male dominated in a way that I felt could have benefited from more attention to Rolery and Seiko Esmit.
I would give this book a 5, but I feel that this book is still a part of Le Guin's early tendency to downplay the roles of female characters. They are in the book, and they are important, but ultimately the narrative is male dominated in a way that I felt could have benefited from more attention to Rolery and Seiko Esmit.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
No science fiction fantasy book captures my imagination quite like Ursula K Le Guin's Hainish novels. You can tell from the first page that she writes these books to convey an important message about what it means to be human and the bonds that we have with one another, and I think she transcended that original message from Rocannon's World and expanded it to ask, what would it mean if you were not human in the way that someone else is? Le Guin accomplishes this by having alien species that are unfamiliar to us, and also a human race that is multiple generations ahead of us (as well as having been nurtured on an entirely different planet and time). The resulting affect is that there is no perfect similar human for us as the reader to side with, and I think this book is so important to read in today's times because it shows the struggle that we all have in finding out we have more in common with people than not, to our own disgust and embarrassment and eventually, joy. Very bold for 1966 (and perhaps even today), the cast of characters included LGBTQ+ representation as well as a beautiful interracial couple who share such a pure love for each other despite the hatred from their families. I really love how Le Guin has imagined a future for all people in her books, all of which is the result of fighting for what is right and holding onto hope (and each other).
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An epic story of survival and a blooming relationship between to groups. LeGuin is a master at having such a detailed story in 150 pages that many modern fantasy/sci-fi authors can't pull off in 500 pages. I can't wait to read the next one!
I was a little surprised at how sexist both societies were in this book, one much more so than the other but still. I guess in the 60s even a female SF writer couldn't conceive of a different way of being. This novella would have been better if it had been a full-length novel, with characters that were better developed and a world that was more fully fleshed out.
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
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