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A review by tani
Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
I enjoyed Rocannon's World enough that I thought I would immediately move on to this one. It's set in the same universe, but stands alone. There's one passing mention of Rocannon's World, but you could easily read it with no knowledge at all. This one follows a group of humans who have been stranded on the planet of Landin for something like 600 Earth years. This planet has extremely long years, with seasons lasting decades of our time. So, you can imagine the fact that winter is coming is a pretty big deal. Add in a group of marauders who seem intent on conquering everyone as they head south, and there's your story.
This one almost immediately felt more sure than Rocannon's World did. I'm not sure what kind of time gap there was between the two books, but I could feel an improvement in Le Guin's writing. I found it much more easy to get drawn in. Actually, if I'd been feeling better, I probably would have finished this in a matter of days, rather than weeks. I really liked the two main characters, and their relationship was very interesting for me. Although there's still the feeling of distance I've come to associate with Le Guin in my limited experience of her writing, I was actually able to grasp the emotional connection, which was a big improvement for me.
In terms of the plot, this also felt much more focused. The main issue at stake is the invaders and how to fight against them while also trying to forge some kind of alliance between the humans, who are limited in number but have some technological advantage, and the natives of this world, who are far superior in number, but quite limited in their technology. It's the kind of interaction between aliens and humans that I really enjoy, which is probably part of what made this book work for me.
I'd like to continue on to the 3rd book, but I actually need to reading The Left Hand of Darkness for a bookclub, so I'll be skipping to that one for the moment. I definitely intend to read this whole series, though. It feels like perfect reading for me at the moment.
This one almost immediately felt more sure than Rocannon's World did. I'm not sure what kind of time gap there was between the two books, but I could feel an improvement in Le Guin's writing. I found it much more easy to get drawn in. Actually, if I'd been feeling better, I probably would have finished this in a matter of days, rather than weeks. I really liked the two main characters, and their relationship was very interesting for me. Although there's still the feeling of distance I've come to associate with Le Guin in my limited experience of her writing, I was actually able to grasp the emotional connection, which was a big improvement for me.
In terms of the plot, this also felt much more focused. The main issue at stake is the invaders and how to fight against them while also trying to forge some kind of alliance between the humans, who are limited in number but have some technological advantage, and the natives of this world, who are far superior in number, but quite limited in their technology. It's the kind of interaction between aliens and humans that I really enjoy, which is probably part of what made this book work for me.
I'd like to continue on to the 3rd book, but I actually need to reading The Left Hand of Darkness for a bookclub, so I'll be skipping to that one for the moment. I definitely intend to read this whole series, though. It feels like perfect reading for me at the moment.