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A review by wcrobi
Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.0
Le Guin took this book in a different direction than Rocannon's World... whereas Rocannon's world sets up the story for how humankind began to obtain telepathic powers, in Planet of Exile, we are thrown into the middle of, essentially, inter-cultural disputes between two groups that self-identify as "men". This is a grand SF spectacle for its treatment of inter-cultural issues, treatment of taboo in different culture, the role of men and women in a society, imagining racial inversions (the technologically advanced people of Alterra are Black, and the "backwards" hilfs are white), and tracing inter-cultural communication, understandings, and animosities.
While this tale is technically impressive, it didn't ring for me in ways that other SF novels have in the past. There is a lot of intrigue and narrative, but the ending is abrupt, framing this book as a snapshot rather than a whole picture. This, in and of itself, does not bother me in the slightest, but definitionally takes it down a notch from some of the SF greats.
This book is worth it to read, however, even if just as set-up for City of Illusions. While that book isn't a masterpiece either, it certainly sets the course clearly for what Le Guin envisioned with the (apocryphally labelled) Hainish cycle. And that, on its own, is a great journey to be traversed in a bite-sized trilogy.
While this tale is technically impressive, it didn't ring for me in ways that other SF novels have in the past. There is a lot of intrigue and narrative, but the ending is abrupt, framing this book as a snapshot rather than a whole picture. This, in and of itself, does not bother me in the slightest, but definitionally takes it down a notch from some of the SF greats.
This book is worth it to read, however, even if just as set-up for City of Illusions. While that book isn't a masterpiece either, it certainly sets the course clearly for what Le Guin envisioned with the (apocryphally labelled) Hainish cycle. And that, on its own, is a great journey to be traversed in a bite-sized trilogy.