Ursula K. Le Guin 📚 log(book)

I'm currently behind on reviews, so don't be surprised if the recent reviews are a bit sparse.

Books by Ursula K. Le Guin

Cover of The Dispossessed.

The Dispossessed

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1974 · read 2018-02-12

★★★★★

Anarchist SciFi by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a bit slow, but the content made me forget all about that.

Cover of The Word for World is Forest.

The Word for World is Forest

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1972 · read 2018-02-21

★★★★☆

I enjoyed it a lot. While I would have liked to get to know the alien culture (and its language!) even better, I was given a lot of context. Also, the story is told as seen by an alien, a nice human anthropologist, and a horrible, vicious, self-righteous human soldier, which was well done.

Cover of The Farthest Shore.

The Farthest Shore

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1972 · read 2018-02-22

★★★★☆

4.5 stars, really.

Cover of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1973 · read 2018-02-02

★★★★☆

Infinitely referenced.

Cover of The Other Wind.

The Other Wind

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2001 · read 2018-04-29

★★★★☆

A good end to the series. The different roles and characters were great, and the explanations of humans vs dragons explained previous plots.

Cover of The Left Hand of Darkness.

The Left Hand of Darkness

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1969 · read 2017-03-01

★★★★☆

Wow! This is a fantastic, clever, wonderful scifi book. I loved the explicitly humanoid species (that are probably expanded on, especially their origin, in other parts of the series). I loved the mostly-androgynous species, their peculiarities, the mechanics of it all, the implications. I loved the protagonist and the carefully spun story arch - but I loved most that the narrator/protagonist was both clever, relatable, and fallible - there were several instances where, in the middle of narration, you started to think "Hold up, I'm sure that's not quite …" or "Isn't that just your weird bisexual bias …?"

Cover of City of Illusions.

City of Illusions

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1967 · read 2018-08-20

★★★★☆

City of Illusions is part of the Heinish Cycle, and a good one at that! This book starts out slow, and then meanders, and then reaches a good ending – that is cut way too short, in my opinion. As is common with Ursula K. le Guin, we see the protagonist on a not-quite-intentional journey. The large time gaps in the beginning helped to keep the story moving, and made me feel invested in the protagonist's search for his past, without feeling that I was just seeing a common trope. The resolution was typical of le Guin, who rarely shies away from difficult discussions and decisions. If only the ending hadn't been so short! I'd love to read a book on the last 20% of the story plus what came after.

Cover of The Telling.

The Telling

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2000 · read 2019-04-02

★★★★☆

And yet again, Ursula K. Le Guin makes me happy. In The Telling she explores a society changing following first contact with a wider galactical (pan-human) civilisation. Part of her Hainish Cycle, we see a world desparate to catch up with other civilisation in the galaxy, and to this end abandons all of its culture in favor of a burocracy, ruthlessly suppression its previous religion for its culturally dangerous superstition and conservative love for the past. It's clear from the get-go that this isn't a good thing, but through the eyes of our protagonist, who escaped an Earth dominated by religious fanatics, the story explains the motivations of all parties concerned, and humanises this decision (all the while building on glimpses into the previous/repressed culture).

Cover of A Wizard of Earthsea.

A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1968 · read 2017-02-27

★★★★☆

It's real fantasy, it's great, and in some ways it reminds me of The Name of the Wind. Loved it a lot - Ged really grows on you, and the story is quite dense, and there as much story in this book as many others would fit in a trilogy (growing up, mastering school, mastering the antagonist, for example?). I clearly need to read more books by Ursula K. Le Guin!

Cover of The Daughter of Odren.

The Daughter of Odren

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2014 · read 2018-09-30

★★★★☆

With The Daughter of Odren, a novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, I've now finished the Earthsea Cycle. This novella is very bittersweet – predictable only in parts, only because it recalls fairytales, but still very human and very real. A good ending to my Earthsea experience.

Cover of A Fisherman of the Inland Sea.

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1994 · read 2018-11-30

★★★★☆

I'm not a huge fan of short story collections – they're hard to rate, I don't like reading stories bunched together all that much, it's just not for me. So giving A Fisherman of the Inland Sea 4/5 stars means a lot – Ursula Le Guin always manages to show deeply familiar human sides to technological developments. Here I was impressed with her ability to show groups (families and other groups) interact and evolve. The deep understanding of individuals growing older, away from home or at home, was touching too, and terribly well executed. Oh, the humanity, you know?

Cover of Four Ways to Forgiveness.

Four Ways to Forgiveness

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1994 · read 2018-10-02

★★★★☆

Four Ways to Forgiveness is part of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, and gives us a bit of a backstory on the Hainish themselves, how the Ekumen was founded, and how worlds may come to join the Ekumen. The story is told in four parts, a character apiece. The characters do interact, but they form their own narratives. From the perspective of a slave, a military slave owner, an envoy, and a historian, we gain a perspective on the world of Werel, and the rebellion of the slaves against their owners.

Cover of The Tombs of Atuan.

The Tombs of Atuan

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1970 · read 2018-02-12

★★★★☆

Oh wow. This touched me, and the ending was perfect. It didn't follow all the fantasy rules, it followed Earthsea rules. ❤

Cover of Tehanu.

Tehanu

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1990 · read 2018-03-04

★★★☆☆

I liked the non-male focus on regular lives a lot! Tenar and Tenahu are both really cool. But the story was weird … pacing, content, it felt irregular and all over the place for me. Story 2/5, setting 4/5.

Cover of Gifts.

Gifts

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2004 · read 2019-11-15

★★★☆☆

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin is one of the books that I will be able to remember clearly for its atmosphere for a long time, but I didn't actually particularly like it. It's good Fantasy, with a ton of character building and world building. The atmosphere is oppressive at times. Wish I could say more, but the slow pace of the book would turn most things into spoilers. I think I'll switch to Le Guin's nonfiction at this point.

Cover of The Lathe of Heaven.

The Lathe of Heaven

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1971 · read 2018-02-27

★★★☆☆

I liked the premise of one person (well. -ish) changing the world via dreams, inclusing heavy retroactive changes. I liked the characterisations, and the overall themes, even if the pacing was a bit off. I even agree with the (Taoist) philosophy shown behind it, but I don't like being shown philosophies forcefully in books, and this felt like it. Not even close to horrible Narnia levels, but … tending to a bit Philip-K-Dick style storytelling. Didn't enjoy the last third for that reason. A good book, for sure – but not close to my favourite Le Guin books.

Cover of Planet of Exile.

Planet of Exile

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1966 · read 2018-04-20

★★★☆☆

I definitely liked this one more than World of Rocannon. It shows us two alien cultures as seen by the other culture, and their interactions. It's short and simple, and its narrative arch is not very impressive, but it's okay or even good scifi, hands down.

Cover of Tales from Earthsea.

Tales from Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2001 · read 2018-04-03

★★★☆☆

A couple of short stories taking place in Earthsea. I enjoyed how all of them showed some characters we knew already (sometimes just in passing), but through the eyes of people who would count as "insignificant" in most stories.

Cover of Rocannon's World.

Rocannon’s World

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1966 · read 2018-03-03

★★☆☆☆

As opposed to most Le Guin books, this one did not work for me. I was distracted by the different species on the planet, and the pacing was off, and there's something I can't name. The ending nearly raised the book to 3/5, but not quite.

Cover of The Day Before the Revolution.

The Day Before the Revolution

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1974 · read 2018-02-17

★★☆☆☆

Novella: recollections of a revolutionary. Very Zen.

Cover of The Wild Girls.

The Wild Girls

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2011 · read 2018-07-13

★★☆☆☆

The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin contains a short story/novelly named like the book, two essays, a couple of poems, and an interview with the author. I liked the short story well enough, but it was like the remainder of the book: agreeable but inconsequential. The essays held opinions I liked, without anything actionable, and the interview showed a person I liked, but nothing more than that.