Rocannon’s World is an adventure story – a journey-based book. The two of which I cover in this review are very different in tone and approach. Le Guin’s reflections on her own work are worth carrying into readings of these books, as she both offers a reflection on the stories’ failures as well as a confident insistence on their value.Īlthough we miss out on these introductions, what we find in this collection is, of course, Le Guin’s first three books. She admits her books are not the most progressive, a confession that creates a different kind of reading experience for those working through the book today. In the Planet of Exile introduction, she confronts the gender politics of her books head-on, explaining how they were written prior to the women’s liberation movement. If one is the color red, the other is blue, but she admits that Rocannon’s World is “purple,” a mixing of the two that might have been a bad idea, especially when it comes to the inclusion of magical details alongside advanced technology like the space suits the characters wear. In the Rocannon’s World introduction, she defines the differences and the “spectrum” upon which fantasy and science fiction exist. It would be easy to use the introduction to give a thin account of Le Guin’s life and her process of writing the books, but El-Mohtar’s personal history with the works yields a compelling example of how individual readers interact with and make sense of the author’s work across the years.Īlthough this collection has a lovely introduction, it’s a shame it’s missing Le Guin’s own prefaces to her 1970s editions of Rocannon’s World and Planet of Exile. She admits she imagined that one day she would be able to meet the author and discuss her life with her, only to realize at the time of Le Guin’s death, she hadn’t read her most famous books.
El-Mohtar was unacquainted with Le Guin’s work until after the author’s passing.
She tells a personal story of her relationship to Le Guin’s work that many can relate to. One of the best things about this new 2022 version of the collection is Amal El-Mohtar’s earnest and heartfelt introduction. In Tor’s new collection, these first three overlooked books comprise Worlds of Exile and Illusion. The lesser-known books of the series, and the first published, are Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions. The latter two belong to the Hainish Cycle, a series of five books that explore far-flung planets. She is best known for her fantasy work A Wizard of Earthsea and the science fiction novels The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Le Guin left an indelible mark on speculative fiction. Across a nearly 60-year career, Ursula K.
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