A review by jaina8851
The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was such an incredible collection of stories! I read Left Hand of Darkness a few years ago and distinctly remember feeling so lost for a large portion of the book because I was just dropped into a world without any context and had to pick up how the society works slowly through context clues. Each of these stories felt like a small version of that experience (except the first one, I was pleased at how quickly I remembered the details of life on Karhide). The last story in the collection was far and away my favorite one. I feel like most "ship leaving Earth for a new planet" stories that I've seen and read involve hibernation rather than a real time journey and the detailed exploration of how a society might shift and develop in that environment was absolutely fascinating. It reminded me of the game Dialect where you have to work together to develop language in isolation, and the moment in the story where they figure out what a "chensa" is delighted me. I definitely want to keep reading more of Ursula K LeGuin's work.