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A review by cryo_guy
Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
Lotta good stuff in here, but I'll go over my thoughts briefly. I've been trying to get through her Hainish Cycle books and now here we are. It was good to have that "first books" experience with these three novels and gives me some new light to view the books I have read (dispossessed and left hand).
Compiling these 3 together was smart as they all have an anthropological or sociological angle. They share other features too like a journey through unknown peoples, romance subplot, and some details of the bigger picture of things. And, not to sell them short, they dwell on some big themes like legacy and honor, technology, behavior and decision-making in groups of various organization, historical forces on young planets, and in the last book-probably the most vivid-there's serious telepathy, a contest of the wills, lying and truth. It's all pretty cool. Le Guin has a real way of presenting a character to you and how they overcome obstacles that pulls you in. And she has a real imagination for earth-like planets.
If I were to say anything bad, I'd say at times the romances felt a bit cliched, but who cares?
Definitely worth a read for those who like scifi with big ideas, but also put in Le Guin's unique way.
Compiling these 3 together was smart as they all have an anthropological or sociological angle. They share other features too like a journey through unknown peoples, romance subplot, and some details of the bigger picture of things. And, not to sell them short, they dwell on some big themes like legacy and honor, technology, behavior and decision-making in groups of various organization, historical forces on young planets, and in the last book-probably the most vivid-there's serious telepathy, a contest of the wills, lying and truth. It's all pretty cool. Le Guin has a real way of presenting a character to you and how they overcome obstacles that pulls you in. And she has a real imagination for earth-like planets.
If I were to say anything bad, I'd say at times the romances felt a bit cliched, but who cares?
Definitely worth a read for those who like scifi with big ideas, but also put in Le Guin's unique way.