A review by kivt
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin

4.0

I started this book after abandoning Tanith Lee's The Birthgrave, so I probably made more comparisons between the two than they warrants. This was the more interesting "planet full of curious societies with varying levels of technology, explored by a mysterious and powerful outsider" story to me, though I liked The Birthgrave's nameless protagonist more than Rocannon for about half of Rocannon's World. I felt LeGuin's exploration of fantasy trope masculinity was more thoughtful, though possibly I just mean less bleak. I appreciated how she handled Rocannon's relationships with the community he forms on-planet, his colonial government, & his role as an ethnologist. All that given, it still wasn't a very interesting book to me til about 3/4 through. Doubt I'll read it again, but worth reading once.