Planet Of Exile

I started reading the Three Hainish Novels on a lark, thinking I'd get some kicks out of seeing what world building here spawned "Left Hand of Darkness". If Rocannon's World was a colt finding out it had four legs, then Planet of Exile is a full grown dog unleashed bolting after a squirrel. This novel was incredibley focused. The characters, though from 3 fictional cultures, were truer than some literary fiction I've read. While I found her depictions of her male heroes be a little...well..heroic? sometimes...infused with too much NPR like soul...the male hero of this was downright arrogant and flawed. A bravura depiction for LeGuin..The world building was subtley executed, and logistically true- a nomadic people preparing their winter harvest,and an exiled group of wordly galactic citizens must defend themselves against a planet's lengthy winter and the resulting barbarian hordes. A love story between members of the two groups threads LeGuin's main sci-fi element: telepathy. I find her recurrent use of these pretty intriguing, and so would anybody else who repeatedly picks up their cell phone one second before the phone rings. I haven't read many serious reviews of LeGuin's works but a really notable factor here is that time and time again the heros are Earth descendants with black skin. Right on LeGuin. I love when an author takes a second to tweak the details like that, to twist it away from our normal ethnocentric assumptions, espescially when its science fiction. It's just shocking that this is her EARLY work. It's so spot on. Definite recommendation.

The Planet of Exile is a masterful piece of fantasy/science fiction world building for Ursula LeGuin spins her story, worlds, cultures, and animosities in flawless fashion. The planet of Werel has 15 year winters and a 60 earth year year. The planets inhabitants are called Hilfs (Highly intelligent life forms) by the humans stranded on the planet (their ship had left in a struggle with mysterious invaders). The Hilfs, before every 15 year winter collect food and build Winter Cities on the ruins of previous cities and prepare to defend themselves from the nomadic raiders who migrate south to avoid the winter and who live by the pillaging and raiding. The humans' population, who have been on the planet for 600 years, is declining and no longer can defend themselves and because of this attempt to enter into an alliance with the Hilfs against the nomads from the north who have without precedent banded together to capture the region. Rolery, a Hilf women, falls in love with the leader of the humans, Agat, and this brings massive tension to the alliance. What I have always found so amazing about all of LeGuin's work is her world building skills. The culture of both sides can be inferred from gestures, word phrases, actions, and description. She also employs delicately the racial animosities between the groups, again to illustrates the concepts and ideals of each culture, who have remained different despite living in close proximity for 600 years. Without giving away important aspects of the story many ideas of the League (the organization humans that accidentally left the men stranded on the planet)in contacting less technologically progressed races is similar to the rules of first contact in Star Trek. This is primarily a fantasy novel with a science fiction backdrop. The reader is immediately drawn into both societies struggles and deep melancholy befalls you when tragedy strikes. LeGuin's human characters are artfully created and feel and act as humans and her created cultures fill her created worlds perfectly. I can think of no higher praise in the writing of social science fiction.