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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After our experience with Left Hand of Darkness, I knew I wanted to read more Ursula K. Le Guin. We ordered the American Heritage collection of Le Guin’s Hainish novels the day she passed. As much as I enjoyed Ann Leckie’s trilogy, it is nice to return to an author with so much poetry in her prose. Le Guin’s language is rich while always remaining easy to read, even allowed, which is how we are working through the novels in this collection.
Rocannon’s World is Le Guin’s first published novel, and it is a charming one. It doesn’t have the depth and insight of Left Hand of Darkness, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a short novel (116 pages in our edition), that combines science fiction with swords and sorcery fantasy. Yeah, there are overtones of the pale outsider who comes to the world as its savior. And yeah, there is a certain coming-of-age flavor in which the bookish scientist comes into his manhood as a warrior. And yeah, there are a lot of stately blonde and beautiful women whose value seems to primarily be their stately blonde beauty. I could see any one of those causing a problem for some readers. But for some reason, I took those elements with a grain of salt. I suspect that it’s because I trust and like the author, which goes a long way to influencing how we read a text.
There are a ton of cool world-building moments in the novel. The preface in which Semley retrieves her necklace and describes space travel through the eyes of a fantasty character is way cool. The vampiric Winged Ones and their city of horrors are awesome, as are the Keimhrir who help Rocannon escape with his friends. The windsteeds are fantastic. The standoff with the strangers who want the necklace and are willing to kill to get it is intense. The novel is a bit episodic, but each episode is interesting with something unique to offer.
And it’s almost outrageous how many classic story arcs Le Guin piles on in the narrative. We have a coming of age (or coming into manhood) story. We have the journey home. We have the capital-Q-Quest. We have the savior narrative. Any one of those can serve as the spine for a narrative, but here we find them all layered on top of one another—and surprisingly, the story is the better for it.
I think one of the things that I love about the novel—the thing that raises it beyond issues of masculinity and white-saviordom—is the pervading sense of melancholy that lingers at the edges. There is a sorrow at the center of Rocannon and all he does that lends a sweetness to the story. In many ways, it’s a story of loss, the loss of home, the loss of one’s people, the loss of innocence. Rocannon stops the “bad guys,” but his heroism is one of sacrifice, and he never relishes anything that has to be done. He is a reluctant hero without any of the handwringing that makes such heroes intolerable. It’s a fine line to walk, but in my eyes, Le Guin walks it deftly and gracefully.
As an endnote, if you have an edition with Le Guin’s own introduction to the novel (our copy has the introduction as an appendix), I highly recommend reading it. Le Guin is very smart in thinking and writing about what she has created, and the introduction, while short, is funny and enjoyable.
Rocannon’s World is Le Guin’s first published novel, and it is a charming one. It doesn’t have the depth and insight of Left Hand of Darkness, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a short novel (116 pages in our edition), that combines science fiction with swords and sorcery fantasy. Yeah, there are overtones of the pale outsider who comes to the world as its savior. And yeah, there is a certain coming-of-age flavor in which the bookish scientist comes into his manhood as a warrior. And yeah, there are a lot of stately blonde and beautiful women whose value seems to primarily be their stately blonde beauty. I could see any one of those causing a problem for some readers. But for some reason, I took those elements with a grain of salt. I suspect that it’s because I trust and like the author, which goes a long way to influencing how we read a text.
There are a ton of cool world-building moments in the novel. The preface in which Semley retrieves her necklace and describes space travel through the eyes of a fantasty character is way cool. The vampiric Winged Ones and their city of horrors are awesome, as are the Keimhrir who help Rocannon escape with his friends. The windsteeds are fantastic. The standoff with the strangers who want the necklace and are willing to kill to get it is intense. The novel is a bit episodic, but each episode is interesting with something unique to offer.
And it’s almost outrageous how many classic story arcs Le Guin piles on in the narrative. We have a coming of age (or coming into manhood) story. We have the journey home. We have the capital-Q-Quest. We have the savior narrative. Any one of those can serve as the spine for a narrative, but here we find them all layered on top of one another—and surprisingly, the story is the better for it.
I think one of the things that I love about the novel—the thing that raises it beyond issues of masculinity and white-saviordom—is the pervading sense of melancholy that lingers at the edges. There is a sorrow at the center of Rocannon and all he does that lends a sweetness to the story. In many ways, it’s a story of loss, the loss of home, the loss of one’s people, the loss of innocence. Rocannon stops the “bad guys,” but his heroism is one of sacrifice, and he never relishes anything that has to be done. He is a reluctant hero without any of the handwringing that makes such heroes intolerable. It’s a fine line to walk, but in my eyes, Le Guin walks it deftly and gracefully.
As an endnote, if you have an edition with Le Guin’s own introduction to the novel (our copy has the introduction as an appendix), I highly recommend reading it. Le Guin is very smart in thinking and writing about what she has created, and the introduction, while short, is funny and enjoyable.
It was okay. I can see why it's not reprinted that often.
Great book! Stefan Rudnicki did an incredible job narrating this!
An interplanetary researcher is stranded on his planet of study during a galactic war. In concept, this is more explicitly speculative and diversely alien than I expected based on my experience with the other early Hainish novels. Unfortunately, it's mainly engaging in premise; the plot is less successful. It begins well with a view from the surface: a sort of "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" which contextualizes the scope and nature of this series's premise and plays to Le Guin's strengths--the personal ramification of profound speculative worldbuilding. But the researcher PoV is less interesting, and his journey is the sort of rambling travelogue that Le Guin frequently falls back on in these books, which functions to show off the world but makes for a disjointed narrative with minimal personal investment. This is my least favorite of the early Hainish novels, but I'm not sorry to've read it.
4.5 Stars
What a beautiful epic tale told in so few pages. I am rather astonished by how much I was into this. I'm starting the Hainish Cycle, which has been on my list since I read [b:The Left Hand of Darkness|18423|The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488213612l/18423._SY75_.jpg|817527] for the first time. This is a great start and is more the blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy that I wanted from the Darkover series. Not to put that series down, but it's love at first (well, second... well, first too) sight with this series. The idea of the damage that higher technology can have on lower tech cultures is well realized, and the fantasy elements are well-realized and in the best lineage of Tolkien.
What a beautiful epic tale told in so few pages. I am rather astonished by how much I was into this. I'm starting the Hainish Cycle, which has been on my list since I read [b:The Left Hand of Darkness|18423|The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488213612l/18423._SY75_.jpg|817527] for the first time. This is a great start and is more the blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy that I wanted from the Darkover series. Not to put that series down, but it's love at first (well, second... well, first too) sight with this series. The idea of the damage that higher technology can have on lower tech cultures is well realized, and the fantasy elements are well-realized and in the best lineage of Tolkien.
Este libro es su primera novela de ciencia ficción y se nota, más que nada porque hay elementos (especialmente descripciones de tecnología) que más adelante no aparecen en sus otros libros.
Pero si está del comienzo la forma de dar importancia a las relaciones entre seres y razas como eje central, el papel de les científiques en el rumbo de las vidas de cada planeta.
Sentí que el final estuvo un poco apresurado, que faltaron páginas, pero aún así lo disfruté y es muy buen libro para iniciarse en las lecturas de la soa Ursula.
Pero si está del comienzo la forma de dar importancia a las relaciones entre seres y razas como eje central, el papel de les científiques en el rumbo de las vidas de cada planeta.
Sentí que el final estuvo un poco apresurado, que faltaron páginas, pero aún así lo disfruté y es muy buen libro para iniciarse en las lecturas de la soa Ursula.
I thought this was a fun read and tbh better paced than [b:The Left Hand of Darkness|18423|The Left Hand of Darkness|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488213612l/18423._SY75_.jpg|817527]. Although I think this book is less unique and explores the world less. I liked learning more about the history, and I agree with other reviews likening this to fantasy-in-a-sci-fi since the adventure with swords was totally here.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated