Read Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books
Read Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books
Download As PDF : Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books
Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the greatest science fiction writers and many times the winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Her career as a novelist was launched by the three novels contained in Worlds of Exile and Illusion. These novels, Rocannon's world, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions, are set in the same universe as Le Guin's groundbreaking classic, The Left hand of Darkness.
Tor is pleased to return these previously unavailable works to print in this attractive new edition.
Read Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books
"I know that Ursula Le Guin is a well respected science fiction writer. So, I can only guess that I just picked a weak example of her writing. But, I couldn't finish these stories. The character development was so shallow that I just didn't care what happened next.
In the middle story, Planet of Exile, there was a battle between the Tevarans and the Gaals. I couldn't bring myself to care who won. I am sure the Gaals had families, friends, struggles, and joys, just like the Tevarans. Why should we favor the Tevarans, just because they were the main characters of the story. It was like watching a college sporting event on TV, when you don't have an attachment to either school, and it is a sport you don't know much about. It is hard to be excited.
Many reviewers mention that Left Hand of Darkness is a lot better. So, to be fair, I might try to read that book. But, I don't recommend reading these stories."
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Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books Reviews :
Worlds of Exile and Illusion Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One VolumeRocannon World Planet of Exile City of Illusions Ursula K Le Guin 9780312862114 Books Reviews
- Ursula Le Guin's writing in these first three books was pure wonderful adventure. What an amazing story-teller she was! She gives you only the details that you need, right when you need them. She had the kind of writing that seems at first to be, on the surface, simple and concise. But, as things unfold, you realize how purposeful and well-crafted everything is. It's brilliant that way, like a folk tale. Le Guin had an amazing imagination for inventing new cultures, new worlds, etc, all based on interesting premises. The science is GOOD, aside from some misconceptions about how evolution works. The rest of the physics/chemistry/biology is all top notch and really well thought out (or, if something is totally fiction, she does a good job of not over-explaining, and avoids digging herself into a hole like some sci fi writers do). And her plots charge forward and unfold so perfectly. Every page you turn, you're turning a corner of adventure, discovery, and intrigue.
These are the first three books of the Hainish Cycle. They're an amazing combination of science fiction and fantasy. The first book, Rocannon's World, was Le Guin's first big book. It is perfectly distilled fantasy adventure; every paragraph is fast-moving amazing fun. The second book, Planet of Exile, is the source from which George RR Martin stole half of his ideas for the setting of Game of Thrones a world where each season lasts for way longer than they do on earth, and Winter is Coming. Le Guin's original world is complete with wildlings and ghouls that come down from the north when winter comes. Yeah, Le Guin imagined all that in the 1960s, but of course she doesn't get any credit on HBO's Game of Thrones TV show. P And, City of Illusions, the third book, is great too, bringing her world-inventing imagination back to a post-apocalyptic earth. Connections among the books in the Hainish Cycle are mysterious but real, because they're sometimes separated by thousands, or tens of thousands, of years, which is really fascinating as well. I'm reading her 4th Hainish Cycle book, Left Hand of Darkness, now (the most acclaimed one), and I'd recommend reading these three first if you want the full sci fi perspective on her universe before going on to Left Hand of Darkness.
The only thing that doesn't hold up to modern times is the hetero-male-normative attitudes and social structures of the 1960s. But, if you recognize while reading these books that Le Guin wrote them in the 1960s, you can appreciate the things that she does include in order to push back against sexism while still creating a book that the hetero-male-normative people of the 1960s would feel comfortable reading. Compared to ANY of Le Guin's peers of the 60s, she was leaps and bounds ahead; at least she wrote characters who were women. It's just so hard, now in 2018, to read science fiction books about a future that has outdated Leave It To Beaver gender roles, written none the less by an author who was noted for her feminist themes. - I know that Ursula Le Guin is a well respected science fiction writer. So, I can only guess that I just picked a weak example of her writing. But, I couldn't finish these stories. The character development was so shallow that I just didn't care what happened next.
In the middle story, Planet of Exile, there was a battle between the Tevarans and the Gaals. I couldn't bring myself to care who won. I am sure the Gaals had families, friends, struggles, and joys, just like the Tevarans. Why should we favor the Tevarans, just because they were the main characters of the story. It was like watching a college sporting event on TV, when you don't have an attachment to either school, and it is a sport you don't know much about. It is hard to be excited.
Many reviewers mention that Left Hand of Darkness is a lot better. So, to be fair, I might try to read that book. But, I don't recommend reading these stories. - In the mid-70s I happened to read "City of Illusion" -- the first Le Guin I had stumbled across. It pulled me in the story itself, the puzzle, the long trip across what had been the US, bits from "Walden" and "The Tao", and a looming question how can you face lies? I was hooked. Read "Planet of Exile" and then "Rocannon's World"...yes, in reverse order, but it was fine. I was hooked on Le Guin.
If you have not read these, get them. I think "City" is the best of the three, but read them all. See Le Guin improve. Even in her first novel -- a fantasy work with flying lions and feudal lords and faster-than-light bombs -- Le Guin is pretty good. - I should have read Le Guin years ago. Due to all the sci fi since, which probably took some direction from her imagination, these books seem less imaginative now. I feel like the student who found Shakespeare 'trite' because of all the work Shakespeare had inspired. Good read, but, at this late date, not spectacular.
- I've been a LeGuin fan for many years, so I've long been skeptical about reading this, a collection of her first three novels. (They form a loosely-connected trilogy and should be read in order for best effect.) I was worried that they might not live up to the standard of her later works, that they might somehow spoil my appreciation of what I've come to regard as one of the greatest bodies of work of any author.
My hesitation was misplaced. These stories bring LeGuin's anthropologist's eye; deft hand for character; and talent to create unknown, fully detailed worlds together as well as any of her other novels. The opener, Rocannon's World, shows what happens when an anthropological expedition to a new planet gets tangled in bureaucracy before going suddenly wrong. Planet in Exile, set 600 years later, follows a tale of two cultures - one alien, one human - forced to meld into one. Finally, World of Illusion closes the circle, showing us the final confrontation between humankind and the mysterious race variously known as the Shing, the Lords of Es Toch, the Enemy, and the Liars of Earth.
Like all LeGuin's work, the thrill-ride is subtle; some of the themes hit you late, sort of like the heat from a chipotle pepper that's been simmering in soup for a couple hours. The reward of reading LeGuin is a pleasure not to be missed and I'd recommend this book for any SF fan. - The book contains three of the best science fiction novels ever written by a true master of human psychology and a possessor of a truly masterful writing style. Everything Le Guin publishes, whether fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, is amongst the best of American writing and is always both entertaining and deeply informative. Michael Dirda, reviewer for the Washington Post, wrote an impassioned essay during 2016 recommending Le Guin for the Nobel Prize in literature, but, in what I suspect was a swipe at U.S. culture, the Nobel Committee chose Bob Dylan's mindless drivel instead. Le Guin should have gotten it.
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