Reviews

Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin

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stuffedonion's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

narobertson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

whisperfox's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

[Rocannon's World - 5.8/10]

This was my first foray into Ursula LeGuin's writing. I chose to shake hands with her work via the Hainish Chronicles rather than Earthsea, and I tried to read them in some kind of logical order, and this was the first on that somewhat ambiguous and slightly arbitrary list. So reading this one was mostly me finding my feet in the Hainish universe.

This was really a novella, included with two others in an ebook collection. Despite the short format, it spans several generations of characters and several stages of story. I knew going in that these books would be non-linear and only sparsely connected, made up of various lengths and formats, but even so I did find it a little hard to get over that initial oddness, of the isolation of the story coupled with the event-driven plot.

Nevertheless the style was really interesting and engaging. It doesn't feel like a typical story arc, not a traditional storytelling technique. This series doesn't shy away from hard hits. The narration here and elsewhere in the series feels like it wants you to feel like a foreigner. The story addresses you, indirectly (and sometimes directly, too), makes you sit in the strange and the unfamiliar, invites you to examine it and yourself in the light of it.

LeGuin accomplishes that beautifully here, while still providing touch point opportunities to emotionally connect to the characters or events. This almost felt like a utilitarian folk retelling of an old legend, something that was meant to be spoken aloud, to teach a lesson to a generation entirely disconnected from the events. It doesn't feel complete; there are loose ends, and red herrings, perspective failures (on purpose, the narrator takes things for granted). It's just a glimpse. But it was a very intriguing glimpse, and it made me want to read more.

[Planet of Exile - 7.7/10]

A smaller scale, lower stakes novella in comparison with the other two stories in the collection I read (Rocannon's World and City of Illusion), this book delighted me with its relative simplicity and the clearly defined conflicts it addressed. It was easy to slip into this world, and I looked forward to reading this every day.

This one breaks what I later discovered to be a mold of LeGuin's -- her romances tend to be less monogamous and committed than is my personal preference, and are usually written about in matter-of-fact, dispassionate (emotionally) tones. In this book, the romance is much more present and bridges gaps with its devotion, which is very much to my taste. It helped that I was very invested in both the main characters, enjoying their genuine personalities and pure intentions.

This was also written in a more comfortable narrative style. Linguistically and culturally, this book was very rich. There was just enough intra-planet and inter-species conflict occurring simultaneously, with overlap that made sense. And the world was just different enough from our earth to be interesting, without being so alien as to be intimidating. It was also quite character-driven, which I liked very much.

One thing that stood out for me about this book was LeGuin's use of the word "human." Each species in this book thought of themselves as "human," and of the other species they shared space with as "alien." This goes on to be a common thing -- every thinking species in the Hainish universe calls themself "human." At first this threw me for a loop, but it quickly became a, "Well, of course they're going to think of themselves as human. Don't I?" kind of weird epiphany. I couldn't help but compare it to Orson Scott Card's Ender-verse, where the use of an invented term for aliens considered of equal moral and thinking intelligence now retrospectively seems to still be othering and alienating. I thought it was a small genius of LeGuin to leave that connotation in our familiar term of "human," pointing out how much we load that word beyond our biology and wind it into our very self-identity on a philosophical level. And why shouldn't a similar species of non-earth origin do the same?

Overall this was a lovely and relaxing read, and it stands out in my memory for leaving more of a sweet little happily-ever-after buzz than most of the others I would go on to read in this universe.

[City of Illusions - 4.15/10]

The last of the novellas in the Hainish Cycle collection I started with. This was an engaging book, and a very complex one, dealing with extremely high-concept themes and world-building. I felt that the writing was quite good, and it was technically and objectively a good and significant installment in the larger universe. However, it fell flat for me.

I think I had two main problems here. One is purely a me-issue: I didn't like the main character. I kind of rooted for him, but I think only because I was in his head. He made choices that really left a bad taste in my mouth early on, and it soured the rest of the book for me. The other issue is a problem of characters and their agency. Recent movies like Beau Is Afraid and Poor Things have really made it apparent to me that I need to believe characters are competent and able to affect their own life path. Otherwise a story is just happening to them, they are helpless against the force of the plot, and it makes me so deeply uncomfortable that I can't enjoy the story. This book suffered from that in my eyes.

The other major thing I took away from the book was the sense of deep mistrust it instilled. I felt that everyone in the book (not just the narrator), and every event, and every relationship, was completely unreliable. It was very effective for putting me in the shoes of the protagonist, but was very off-putting in so many ways. I felt completely unstable reading it.

There were themes I really enjoyed here, though. What it means to be alien, to seek and find connection. It explored a deep, almost biological need for identity and belonging. But also the feeling that that can't be handed to you or dictated to you. It has to be made and built and believed. I felt the betrayal of a new connection, and the suspicion that caused. I marveled at the struggle of feeling you should have connection and familiarity with someone, but having it feel hollow and false. These things made the book worthwhile to me, they were what got me across the finish line.

Even though it was not really my cup of tea, I appreciate how it contributed to the overall universe it took place in. I'm happy to have read it.