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A review by mattharaja
Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.0
This isn't Le Guin's best but even with that, it's still better than 90% of everything else I read.
The book is extremely well written. The pacing is impeccable, the character development, impeccable. Like so many Le Guin stories, there's no huge, culminating climax, it has no giant impact, there are no messianic figures. It's not like The Dispossessed where it's implied that Shevek might have upended his entire society. It's just a bunch of people trying to survive a siege at the hands of invaders.
All I had a problem with is the initial "courtship" of Rolery and Agat, which seems a little short and there's not much to it. One minute they're snapping at each other, the next minute ... bowchikabowow!
After that, the book flies and Le Guin masterfully keeps us guessing about what's going to happen. There's suspense where these characters, which I quite frankly had grown fond of, are imperiled and we're not sure what's going to happen to them.
Great book! Loved it! 4.5 star!
The book is extremely well written. The pacing is impeccable, the character development, impeccable. Like so many Le Guin stories, there's no huge, culminating climax, it has no giant impact, there are no messianic figures. It's not like The Dispossessed where it's implied that Shevek might have upended his entire society. It's just a bunch of people trying to survive a siege at the hands of invaders.
All I had a problem with is the initial "courtship" of Rolery and Agat, which seems a little short and there's not much to it. One minute they're snapping at each other, the next minute ... bowchikabowow!
After that, the book flies and Le Guin masterfully keeps us guessing about what's going to happen. There's suspense where these characters, which I quite frankly had grown fond of, are imperiled and we're not sure what's going to happen to them.
Spoiler
So many books end in tragedy, as if there always has to be some huge sacrifice. There's none of that here, and Le Guin captures the better emotions that we all feel, which is always a nice change of pace.Great book! Loved it! 4.5 star!