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A review by acaskoftroutwine
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I'm reading this book as part of the Library of America collection of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish novels and short stories. I decided that because these are full length novels, and the volume I'm reading includes short stories and a few drafts, that it made the most sense to divide these up and review the individual books first and then the volume as a whole. This is probably the first Le Guin that I've read since I read A Wizard of Earthsea years ago in college.
I think that as a first novel this book is strikingly good and enjoyable. Le Guin's writing even at this point has a poetic tinge to it that elevates the on-page action, and is able to capture the feeling of fantasy that this book is in the mode of. Seeing how Rocannon basically becomes the archetypal wizard to the people of this quasi-medieval world was interesting, especially because Le Guin knew to keep away from aggrandizing. Instead she keeps us in the dirt and grit of what Rocannon is dealing with, but we can see how these details match up with our own mythic tropes and realize how these feats will be remembered and retold. We get to see the contrasts between reality and mythic remembrance, which serves as the central focus of the book.
And to Le Guin's credit, while most of the book is full of these scientific or mundane reinventions of high fantasy tropes (the different fantasy races, the quest journey, magic, etc.), it never really feels bogged down in describing them. Le Guin's writing is mostly focused on character emotions and story, and she never really lets the book feel didactic belabored. The point of the book isn't just the fantasy reworkings, so you don't necessarily feel bored once you get what she's doing.
My only real complaint is that it felt a bit dragged out by the end. While I did enjoy the way that Le Guin focuses on the sheer exhaustion and the difficulties that Rocannon's group had to face on their journey to save the planet's self-determination, unfortunately it did have the effect that during the last few chapters I started to feel a bit exhausted myself. By the end it I did feel that everything the book does was better served by the short story "The Dowry of Angyar" that was made into the novel's prologue.
Also, just a personal caveat, I did feel that the reveal at the end of the novel that the up-till-then nameless planet was named Rocannon by the League of All Worlds has a certain hint of cultural imperialism to it, rather than what I took to be the intended heartwarming feeling of a fitting remembrance.
Overall, I think this is a good 4/10 or so.
I think that as a first novel this book is strikingly good and enjoyable. Le Guin's writing even at this point has a poetic tinge to it that elevates the on-page action, and is able to capture the feeling of fantasy that this book is in the mode of. Seeing how Rocannon basically becomes the archetypal wizard to the people of this quasi-medieval world was interesting, especially because Le Guin knew to keep away from aggrandizing. Instead she keeps us in the dirt and grit of what Rocannon is dealing with, but we can see how these details match up with our own mythic tropes and realize how these feats will be remembered and retold. We get to see the contrasts between reality and mythic remembrance, which serves as the central focus of the book.
And to Le Guin's credit, while most of the book is full of these scientific or mundane reinventions of high fantasy tropes (the different fantasy races, the quest journey, magic, etc.), it never really feels bogged down in describing them. Le Guin's writing is mostly focused on character emotions and story, and she never really lets the book feel didactic belabored. The point of the book isn't just the fantasy reworkings, so you don't necessarily feel bored once you get what she's doing.
My only real complaint is that it felt a bit dragged out by the end. While I did enjoy the way that Le Guin focuses on the sheer exhaustion and the difficulties that Rocannon's group had to face on their journey to save the planet's self-determination, unfortunately it did have the effect that during the last few chapters I started to feel a bit exhausted myself. By the end it I did feel that everything the book does was better served by the short story "The Dowry of Angyar" that was made into the novel's prologue.
Also, just a personal caveat, I did feel that the reveal at the end of the novel that the up-till-then nameless planet was named Rocannon by the League of All Worlds has a certain hint of cultural imperialism to it, rather than what I took to be the intended heartwarming feeling of a fitting remembrance.
Overall, I think this is a good 4/10 or so.