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Hainish Cycle #1
Rocannon’s World
A world shared by three native humanoid races - the cavern-dwelling Gdemiar, elvish Fiia, and warrior clan, Liuar - is suddenly invaded and conquered by a fleet of ships from the stars. Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world - and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.
258 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
397 people are currently reading
40496 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
971 books29.4k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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September 10, 2017
3.5 stars. This 1966 SF novel is part of the impressive two-volume set Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories, just published on Sept. 5, 2017, which a publicist was kind enough to send me. I'm gradually working my way through that collection, which is going to take a good long while. But here's my review for the first novel in the collection, which is Le Guin's first published novel. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In her debut novel Rocannon’s World (1966), Ursula K. Le Guin blends mythic fantasy and science fiction in this appealing, if not notably original, novel. The prologue, “The Necklace,” takes place many years before the main part of the story. Semley, dark-skinned and yellow-haired like all of her people on a remote, unnamed planet (called Formalhaut II by Hainish scientists from the League of All Worlds) is a queen of her people. She and her beloved husband are poverty-stricken, but Semley remembers that once her family owned a fabulous necklace that was stolen in her great-grandmother’s day. Finding it again becomes a passion for Semley, so she leaves one night to find her lost inheritance. Her travels will take her farther than she could have imagined. “The Necklace” was originally published as a stand-alone short story, Semley's Necklace: A Story, an imaginative retelling of the myth of Freya’s necklace Brísingamen, and how her obsession with it ultimately brings her great sorrow.
In her travels, Semley met a Hainish scientist, Gaverel Rocannon, who never forgets Semley. Rocannon later travels to her planet as part of a scientific team doing cultural exploration. As the main part of this novel begins, Rocannon’s colleagues and their spaceship are blown up by galactic rebels, leaving Rocannon stranded and alone with the natives of the planet. He has no way to contact galactic authorities to warn them of the danger from these rebels, who are using this world as a secret base for their aggressive war of conquest. Rocannon determines that he needs to make the difficult journey to the rebel base, infiltrate it, and use their ansible ― an instant FTL communication device ― to send out a warning.
He and several helpful natives embark on a dangerous cross-country (and sea and mountain) trek, and Rocannon learns things about this unnamed world that he had never learned in his earlier scientific explorations. There are several different humanoid races on this planet, as well as flying windsteeds (an unlikely cross between Pegasus and a tiger) that are vital to the success of the mission.
Rocannon’s World is a little old-fashioned and derivative, vaguely Tolkienesque, with native races that are reminiscent of the elves, dwarves, and men, and including what Le Guin herself called “fragments of Norse mythology.” Not all of the science in it is believable; I had major issues swallowing the windsteeds that could carry not one but two men, as a practical matter. Le Guin also admits, in an afterword published in the 1970s, that Rocannon’s “impermasuit,” a near-invisible suit that protects against cold, heat, radioactivity, swordstrokes, and bullets (of moderate velocity) would suffocate the wearer in minutes.
But Rocannon’s World also has a reasonably solid plot, with an engaging interplay of science fiction and mythic fantasy, and there are flashes of brilliance in her writing. While Rocannon’s journey has more of a fantasy vibe to it, there are also occasional quotes from League handbooks and handy pocket guides that strengthen the SF element. My imagination was captured by the origin of the ansible in this novel, a concept so useful that it has been adopted not only by Orson Scott Card but many other SF authors.
Rocannon’s World will probably be of interest primarily to Le Guin completists and readers who love retro science fiction, but I don’t regret the time I spent in this world.
Next up: Planet of Exile.
In her debut novel Rocannon’s World (1966), Ursula K. Le Guin blends mythic fantasy and science fiction in this appealing, if not notably original, novel. The prologue, “The Necklace,” takes place many years before the main part of the story. Semley, dark-skinned and yellow-haired like all of her people on a remote, unnamed planet (called Formalhaut II by Hainish scientists from the League of All Worlds) is a queen of her people. She and her beloved husband are poverty-stricken, but Semley remembers that once her family owned a fabulous necklace that was stolen in her great-grandmother’s day. Finding it again becomes a passion for Semley, so she leaves one night to find her lost inheritance. Her travels will take her farther than she could have imagined. “The Necklace” was originally published as a stand-alone short story, Semley's Necklace: A Story, an imaginative retelling of the myth of Freya’s necklace Brísingamen, and how her obsession with it ultimately brings her great sorrow.
In her travels, Semley met a Hainish scientist, Gaverel Rocannon, who never forgets Semley. Rocannon later travels to her planet as part of a scientific team doing cultural exploration. As the main part of this novel begins, Rocannon’s colleagues and their spaceship are blown up by galactic rebels, leaving Rocannon stranded and alone with the natives of the planet. He has no way to contact galactic authorities to warn them of the danger from these rebels, who are using this world as a secret base for their aggressive war of conquest. Rocannon determines that he needs to make the difficult journey to the rebel base, infiltrate it, and use their ansible ― an instant FTL communication device ― to send out a warning.
He and several helpful natives embark on a dangerous cross-country (and sea and mountain) trek, and Rocannon learns things about this unnamed world that he had never learned in his earlier scientific explorations. There are several different humanoid races on this planet, as well as flying windsteeds (an unlikely cross between Pegasus and a tiger) that are vital to the success of the mission.
Rocannon’s World is a little old-fashioned and derivative, vaguely Tolkienesque, with native races that are reminiscent of the elves, dwarves, and men, and including what Le Guin herself called “fragments of Norse mythology.” Not all of the science in it is believable; I had major issues swallowing the windsteeds that could carry not one but two men, as a practical matter. Le Guin also admits, in an afterword published in the 1970s, that Rocannon’s “impermasuit,” a near-invisible suit that protects against cold, heat, radioactivity, swordstrokes, and bullets (of moderate velocity) would suffocate the wearer in minutes.
But Rocannon’s World also has a reasonably solid plot, with an engaging interplay of science fiction and mythic fantasy, and there are flashes of brilliance in her writing. While Rocannon’s journey has more of a fantasy vibe to it, there are also occasional quotes from League handbooks and handy pocket guides that strengthen the SF element. My imagination was captured by the origin of the ansible in this novel, a concept so useful that it has been adopted not only by Orson Scott Card but many other SF authors.
Rocannon’s World will probably be of interest primarily to Le Guin completists and readers who love retro science fiction, but I don’t regret the time I spent in this world.
Next up: Planet of Exile.
April 21, 2019
Rocannon’s World was Ursula K. Le Guin’s first published novel, by Ace Publishing in 1966.
This novel also introduced Le Guin’s brilliant Hainish Cycle, where she describes the universe as having been settled and re-discovered by a race founded on Hain (not Earth, or Terra) as she identified our planet. Le Guin also introduced her instant communicator, the ansible, that has been used in other author’s books and has proven a uniquely necessary concept in the science fiction genre.
This is fun and reveals some of the talent that Le Guin would later display in mastery. Le Guin’s description of different alien races was vaguely reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This novel also introduced Le Guin’s brilliant Hainish Cycle, where she describes the universe as having been settled and re-discovered by a race founded on Hain (not Earth, or Terra) as she identified our planet. Le Guin also introduced her instant communicator, the ansible, that has been used in other author’s books and has proven a uniquely necessary concept in the science fiction genre.
This is fun and reveals some of the talent that Le Guin would later display in mastery. Le Guin’s description of different alien races was vaguely reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
February 24, 2023
3.5/5 Estrellas
Oigan, pues pensaba que me iba a gustar mucho menos.
La lectura empieza un poco deslavazada, nos sumergimos en un mundo desconocido de sopetón, con varias especies humanas o humanoides, no sabes muy bien por donde va la historia. ¨
Pero poco a poco empiezas a comprender quien es Rocannon, qué pretende, porqué está explorando el planeta Formalhaut II, a qué organización, país o Liga de países pertenece.
Y, conjuntamente con él, descubres nuevas especies humanas, cómo se comportan, cuales son las relaciones de dominio entre ellas, todo bastante interesante. Empiezas a entender que estos libros son una especie de experimento antropológico, exploración de nuevos mundos, descubrimiento de nuevas especies inteligentes, cómo evolucionan, en que estado de civilización se encuentran.
Todo ello enmarcado en una especie de lucha o de guerra civil en el seno de la Liga de los Mundos, que empezamos a vislumbrar, ya que uno de los escenarios transcurre en el planeta que Rocannon está explorando.
Si, la verdad, hay muchos planteamientos interesantes, la narrativa deja un poco que desear, pero estoy deseando meterme con los siguientes libros. En ellos las historias cambian, pero todas ellas están enmarcadas en la Liga de los mundos. Veremos.
También hay criaturas aladas que se domestican y se cabalgan cual Pegaso redivivo.(aunque parecen más felinos, que equinos) ¿Inspiraría este libro a Cameron para su Avatar?
Oigan, pues pensaba que me iba a gustar mucho menos.
La lectura empieza un poco deslavazada, nos sumergimos en un mundo desconocido de sopetón, con varias especies humanas o humanoides, no sabes muy bien por donde va la historia. ¨
Pero poco a poco empiezas a comprender quien es Rocannon, qué pretende, porqué está explorando el planeta Formalhaut II, a qué organización, país o Liga de países pertenece.
Y, conjuntamente con él, descubres nuevas especies humanas, cómo se comportan, cuales son las relaciones de dominio entre ellas, todo bastante interesante. Empiezas a entender que estos libros son una especie de experimento antropológico, exploración de nuevos mundos, descubrimiento de nuevas especies inteligentes, cómo evolucionan, en que estado de civilización se encuentran.
Todo ello enmarcado en una especie de lucha o de guerra civil en el seno de la Liga de los Mundos, que empezamos a vislumbrar, ya que uno de los escenarios transcurre en el planeta que Rocannon está explorando.
Si, la verdad, hay muchos planteamientos interesantes, la narrativa deja un poco que desear, pero estoy deseando meterme con los siguientes libros. En ellos las historias cambian, pero todas ellas están enmarcadas en la Liga de los mundos. Veremos.
También hay criaturas aladas que se domestican y se cabalgan cual Pegaso redivivo.(aunque parecen más felinos, que equinos) ¿Inspiraría este libro a Cameron para su Avatar?
February 15, 2013
I've been teaching the beginning of Rocannon's World for many years now. I found it as the short story Semley's Necklace in a Sci-Fi anthology, and I always meant to track down its source, but whenever I remembered to look for it at used book stores it was never there. I recently discovered it had been reprinted, so I finally scored a copy and gave it a much belated read.
It started as I expected (odd that, isn't it?), and the early moments of Rocannon's time on the world that would be named for him were fascinating, then things took a strange meandering turn. Rocannon was off to destroy the ansible of a rebellious alien species who were making their base on the world he'd been studying, using it as a launching pad for war against the Hainish Federation, so he has to get from point A to point B. And that's what the book was, a journey around this world, meeting new alien races, meeting races we already knew, and generally watching Rocannon make myths for the natives with his strange looks and powerful (though simple to him) technology. It was good, I was digging the ride, but there was none of that transcendent LeGuin stamp.
Then came the denoument, and there it was -- the LeGuin greatness. Rocannon's victory. It was potent in an unexpected way. It was tainted, as it had to be, by its very effectiveness. It made me cry. It opened a whole new path of thought in my brain. I love it when she does that to me. Damn she's good. I can't say anything more for fear of wrecking the moment for anyone who decides to read Rocannon's world, but I will say this: "Wow."
It started as I expected (odd that, isn't it?), and the early moments of Rocannon's time on the world that would be named for him were fascinating, then things took a strange meandering turn. Rocannon was off to destroy the ansible of a rebellious alien species who were making their base on the world he'd been studying, using it as a launching pad for war against the Hainish Federation, so he has to get from point A to point B. And that's what the book was, a journey around this world, meeting new alien races, meeting races we already knew, and generally watching Rocannon make myths for the natives with his strange looks and powerful (though simple to him) technology. It was good, I was digging the ride, but there was none of that transcendent LeGuin stamp.
Then came the denoument, and there it was -- the LeGuin greatness. Rocannon's victory. It was potent in an unexpected way. It was tainted, as it had to be, by its very effectiveness. It made me cry. It opened a whole new path of thought in my brain. I love it when she does that to me. Damn she's good. I can't say anything more for fear of wrecking the moment for anyone who decides to read Rocannon's world, but I will say this: "Wow."
April 30, 2018
“Not all roads that lead down lead up as well.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, Rocannon's World
'Rocannon's World' is the first book in LOA's Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories, Vol. 1. It was Ursula Le Guin's first published novel (1966) and the beginning of her Hainish Cycle, 'Rocannon's World' is beautiful literature and not just poetic SciFi. It reads like a Space Opera told with Fantasy characters in the style of The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue, or some other Norse myth.
Negatives? It was a bit short, a bit light, but I can excuse most of that knowing that Le Guin is simply building a grand story and this is just one clever brick, one stone in the crown that will be Hainish.
― Ursula K. Le Guin, Rocannon's World
'Rocannon's World' is the first book in LOA's Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories, Vol. 1. It was Ursula Le Guin's first published novel (1966) and the beginning of her Hainish Cycle, 'Rocannon's World' is beautiful literature and not just poetic SciFi. It reads like a Space Opera told with Fantasy characters in the style of The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue, or some other Norse myth.
Negatives? It was a bit short, a bit light, but I can excuse most of that knowing that Le Guin is simply building a grand story and this is just one clever brick, one stone in the crown that will be Hainish.
January 11, 2021
One of my reading goals for 2021 is to the read the six main books from the Hainish cycle (including re-reading The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed - two books that are amongst my absolute favorites.) I hate to admit that I was entirely disappointed by this book which is first in the reading order recommended by Le Guin herself.
I first came to know of Le Guin through my partner who read her as a child and was thoroughly enchanted. While I tried to see for myself what the whole deal was about, I fell in love with Le Guin myself. I sincerely believe that there's no other writer like her, and to this day I am scornful of many of those literary awards that fail to recognise the merit of genre fiction. Anyone who's read Le Guin knows how unfair it is that she died without receiving a Nobel prize in literature. (Really, Bob Dylan's songs are literature, but science fiction isn't? Especially science fiction that's as nuanced and intricate as Le Guin's?)
However, what usually stuns me when it comes to Le Guin's writing was entirely missing in this book. Most of it was messy and aimless. The characters weren't as complex as the ones from her other popular books. The most admirable thing about Le Guin's writing to me is how reified her characters seem - they weave their stories around them in a way that makes them palpable. But Rocannon and his companions failed to make any memorable impression on me. In fact, I already can't recall most of the story.
I want to say that you can see the beginnings of Le Guin's brilliant literary career here. But if I have to he honest, I almost couldn't believe that it was written by her. It lacked the subtle amalgamation of profound themes and refined characters that I've come to expect from Le Guin's writing.
I first came to know of Le Guin through my partner who read her as a child and was thoroughly enchanted. While I tried to see for myself what the whole deal was about, I fell in love with Le Guin myself. I sincerely believe that there's no other writer like her, and to this day I am scornful of many of those literary awards that fail to recognise the merit of genre fiction. Anyone who's read Le Guin knows how unfair it is that she died without receiving a Nobel prize in literature. (Really, Bob Dylan's songs are literature, but science fiction isn't? Especially science fiction that's as nuanced and intricate as Le Guin's?)
However, what usually stuns me when it comes to Le Guin's writing was entirely missing in this book. Most of it was messy and aimless. The characters weren't as complex as the ones from her other popular books. The most admirable thing about Le Guin's writing to me is how reified her characters seem - they weave their stories around them in a way that makes them palpable. But Rocannon and his companions failed to make any memorable impression on me. In fact, I already can't recall most of the story.
I want to say that you can see the beginnings of Le Guin's brilliant literary career here. But if I have to he honest, I almost couldn't believe that it was written by her. It lacked the subtle amalgamation of profound themes and refined characters that I've come to expect from Le Guin's writing.
December 30, 2020
”In trying to tell the story of a man, an ordinary League scientist, who went to such a nameless half-known world not many years ago, one feels like an archeologist amid millennial ruins, now struggling through choked tangles of leaf, flower, branch and vine to the sudden bright geometry of a wheel or a polished cornerstone, and now entering some commonplace, sunlit doorway to find inside it the darkness, the impossible flicker of a flame, the glitter of a jewel, the half-glimpsed movement of a woman’s arm.”
Gaverel Rocannon, ethnologist, finds himself stranded on the very planet he came to explore. His crew unfortunately stumbled upon a base of the enemy of his people, and they destroyed his ship as well as his colleagues. Rocannon is a man of the stars, and he must learn as quickly as possible how to survive in the Bronze Age culture.
Unlike Earth, there are five species of highly intelligent life forms. There are elves, dwarfs, rodent-like creatures, a culture that most closely resembles man, and a creepy winged species. ”They were very tall, very thin, semi-humanoid, hard and delicate, moving rather awkwardly and slowly on the ground which was not their element. Narrow chests projected between the shoulder muscles of long, soft wings that fell curving down their backs like gray capes. The legs were thin and short, and the dark, noble heads seemed stooped forward by the upward jut of the wingblades. Eyes of clear gold looked out between wide, lashless lids.”
In the introduction, Ursula Le Guin talks about the difficulty she has had with world building, and the Hainish series probably suffered the most from her inexperience. ”Any timeline for the books of the Hainish descent would resemble the web of a spider on LSD. Some stories connect, others contradict. Irresponsible as a tourist, I wandered around in my universe forgetting what I’d said about it the last time, and then trying to conceal discrepancies with implausibilities, or with silence, If, as some think, God is no longer speaking maybe it’s because he looked at what he’d made and found himself unable to believe it.”
Semley’s Story, at the beginning of the book, feels like an attachment, like a kayak strapped to the top of a Jeep. I discovered, with some research, that it had been published as a short story before the novel was written. Le Guin then added it to this novel as she expanded on the themes of the universe first introduced in the short story. It is imperative that this short story be included in the novel because the actions in the story have consequences for the rest of the plot. The other issue or added joy that readers may have with this novel is that it is heavily influenced by Icelandic Sagas. I love Sagas and have enjoyed several. After starting this book, I descended into the bowels of my library to fetch a pair of Sagas that I haven’t had a chance to read yet…The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki and The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason’s Tale. I will be queuing these up in my reading list very soon. The Saga influence lends some elements that are prevalent in the Conan the Barbarian books. The race most resembling men are sword wielders and ride winged cats called Windsteeds. I want one, but I’m afraid it would eat my dog, no matter how fierce she thinks she is.
The Saga influence inspires such lines as: ”May your enemies die without sons.” It is never prudent to kill the father and leave your enemy’s sons to wreak vengeance upon you. To die without sons to sustain your legacy is an eternal death.
Rocannon must come up with a plan to alert his world to the presence of the enemy camp on this planet. He goes on a quest accompanied by guides who prove invaluable in helping him navigate the terrain and the pitfalls of diplomacy. His walkabout takes him through the five regions of the planet species, who offer a variety of welcomes from hostile to jovial. To arrive alive at his destination proves to be an arduous task. Rocannon’s people in his world have the ability to send weapons anywhere instantaneously, but not the ability to send soldiers, but weapons are all that is needed to wipe out the enemy base. If he can complete his quest and get in touch with his people, it will take eight years for them to reach him. He does not expect to be rescued. He is one man, alone, trying to stop a war.
It was almost impossible to write any book in the 1960s without dealing with the Vietnam War raging in the real world. The themes that Le Guin hoped to explore were: Why do we make war? Why is war necessary? And is testosterone solely to blame for war?
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book. I didn’t anticipate the format to be so reminiscent of those great Icelandic Sagas, and certainly, I experienced some awkward moments as Le Guin tried to lead me along, at times, blindfolded, but after I started getting into the flow of the novel, I was disappointed to discover that I was being booted off the planet after only 116 pages. If I’d known my departure was so imminent, I would have certainly taken one more ride on a windsteed. Planet of Exile is the next novel in the Hainish Cycle, and I must move forward and see what Le Guin intends to do with me next.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
Gaverel Rocannon, ethnologist, finds himself stranded on the very planet he came to explore. His crew unfortunately stumbled upon a base of the enemy of his people, and they destroyed his ship as well as his colleagues. Rocannon is a man of the stars, and he must learn as quickly as possible how to survive in the Bronze Age culture.
Unlike Earth, there are five species of highly intelligent life forms. There are elves, dwarfs, rodent-like creatures, a culture that most closely resembles man, and a creepy winged species. ”They were very tall, very thin, semi-humanoid, hard and delicate, moving rather awkwardly and slowly on the ground which was not their element. Narrow chests projected between the shoulder muscles of long, soft wings that fell curving down their backs like gray capes. The legs were thin and short, and the dark, noble heads seemed stooped forward by the upward jut of the wingblades. Eyes of clear gold looked out between wide, lashless lids.”
In the introduction, Ursula Le Guin talks about the difficulty she has had with world building, and the Hainish series probably suffered the most from her inexperience. ”Any timeline for the books of the Hainish descent would resemble the web of a spider on LSD. Some stories connect, others contradict. Irresponsible as a tourist, I wandered around in my universe forgetting what I’d said about it the last time, and then trying to conceal discrepancies with implausibilities, or with silence, If, as some think, God is no longer speaking maybe it’s because he looked at what he’d made and found himself unable to believe it.”
Semley’s Story, at the beginning of the book, feels like an attachment, like a kayak strapped to the top of a Jeep. I discovered, with some research, that it had been published as a short story before the novel was written. Le Guin then added it to this novel as she expanded on the themes of the universe first introduced in the short story. It is imperative that this short story be included in the novel because the actions in the story have consequences for the rest of the plot. The other issue or added joy that readers may have with this novel is that it is heavily influenced by Icelandic Sagas. I love Sagas and have enjoyed several. After starting this book, I descended into the bowels of my library to fetch a pair of Sagas that I haven’t had a chance to read yet…The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki and The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason’s Tale. I will be queuing these up in my reading list very soon. The Saga influence lends some elements that are prevalent in the Conan the Barbarian books. The race most resembling men are sword wielders and ride winged cats called Windsteeds. I want one, but I’m afraid it would eat my dog, no matter how fierce she thinks she is.
The Saga influence inspires such lines as: ”May your enemies die without sons.” It is never prudent to kill the father and leave your enemy’s sons to wreak vengeance upon you. To die without sons to sustain your legacy is an eternal death.
Rocannon must come up with a plan to alert his world to the presence of the enemy camp on this planet. He goes on a quest accompanied by guides who prove invaluable in helping him navigate the terrain and the pitfalls of diplomacy. His walkabout takes him through the five regions of the planet species, who offer a variety of welcomes from hostile to jovial. To arrive alive at his destination proves to be an arduous task. Rocannon’s people in his world have the ability to send weapons anywhere instantaneously, but not the ability to send soldiers, but weapons are all that is needed to wipe out the enemy base. If he can complete his quest and get in touch with his people, it will take eight years for them to reach him. He does not expect to be rescued. He is one man, alone, trying to stop a war.
It was almost impossible to write any book in the 1960s without dealing with the Vietnam War raging in the real world. The themes that Le Guin hoped to explore were: Why do we make war? Why is war necessary? And is testosterone solely to blame for war?
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book. I didn’t anticipate the format to be so reminiscent of those great Icelandic Sagas, and certainly, I experienced some awkward moments as Le Guin tried to lead me along, at times, blindfolded, but after I started getting into the flow of the novel, I was disappointed to discover that I was being booted off the planet after only 116 pages. If I’d known my departure was so imminent, I would have certainly taken one more ride on a windsteed. Planet of Exile is the next novel in the Hainish Cycle, and I must move forward and see what Le Guin intends to do with me next.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
June 10, 2016
Ekumen scientist Rocannon is interrupted in his mission on a primitive world by an attack from the League's enemies. All of a sudden he finds himself fighting with and leading the natives in the struggle, and grows into a revered legend.
Rocannon's World is the first published novel of Ursula K. Le Guin, and the first instalment in the so-called Hainish cycle. It is unfortunately also definitely the weakest book I've read by her, but that hardly means that it was disappointing. Only that it didn't reach the remarkably high standards set by her later books.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read with gorgeous writing.
Rocannon's World is the first published novel of Ursula K. Le Guin, and the first instalment in the so-called Hainish cycle. It is unfortunately also definitely the weakest book I've read by her, but that hardly means that it was disappointing. Only that it didn't reach the remarkably high standards set by her later books.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read with gorgeous writing.
October 21, 2024
„Светът на Роканон“ се оказа много симпатична приключенска фантастика! В нея се разказва за перипетиите на междузвездният пътешественик и учен Роканон, който е единственият оцелял от своя екипаж и е попаднал на доста мистична и изпълнена с опасности планета... Историята по сладкодумен начин поставя началото на „Хейнски цикъл“ на Урсула Ле Гуин, определено бих прочел и останалите части от поредицата.
„Агресивните цивилизации се интересуват единствено от техниката.“
„Приятелю на хората, ела с мене. Аз не умея да разговарям с тебе с мисли както твоите съплеменници, но и думите, дето се произнасят на глас, невинаги са просто празен звук.“
„Това, че един от господарите е захвърлил с лека ръка скъпоценност, струваща цяло кралство, за да спаси живота на своя слуга, преобръщаше из основи мирогледа му, стоварвайки върху плещите му бремето на непосилна отговорност.“
„Клетвите губят силата си, когато изчезнат имената.“
„Агресивните цивилизации се интересуват единствено от техниката.“
„Приятелю на хората, ела с мене. Аз не умея да разговарям с тебе с мисли както твоите съплеменници, но и думите, дето се произнасят на глас, невинаги са просто празен звук.“
„Това, че един от господарите е захвърлил с лека ръка скъпоценност, струваща цяло кралство, за да спаси живота на своя слуга, преобръщаше из основи мирогледа му, стоварвайки върху плещите му бремето на непосилна отговорност.“
„Клетвите губят силата си, когато изчезнат имената.“
August 8, 2025
I’m hardly a scholar of speculative fiction, my occasional forays are haphazard. Most of my experience in the classic aspect of the genre is from the 1970s and 80s, paranoid rumination on OPEC and Operation Paperclip amidst so many High Castles and Dhalgrens. This was vastly different.
This is a fantasy tale viewed from the perspective of an interstellar anthropologist. It is also a lesson in empathy alongside thoughts on environmentalism and linguistics. Loan words and the sine wave of predation figure large in this early, opening novel of a grand series.
I thought some of the shifts were painfully abrupt but I appreciated the sidelong lyric, one which echoed the space where lost technology becomes lore. I will continue with the series.
3.8 stars
This is a fantasy tale viewed from the perspective of an interstellar anthropologist. It is also a lesson in empathy alongside thoughts on environmentalism and linguistics. Loan words and the sine wave of predation figure large in this early, opening novel of a grand series.
I thought some of the shifts were painfully abrupt but I appreciated the sidelong lyric, one which echoed the space where lost technology becomes lore. I will continue with the series.
3.8 stars
May 27, 2023
لگویین برای من نویسنده ای نسبتا ناشناخته بود و تنها چیزی که ازش میدونستم این بود که نویسنده مجموعه دریای زمین هست هیچ اطلاعات دیگه ای ازش نداشتم پس بدون هیچ توقعی و بدون اینکه بدونم سیاره روکانون چه کتابیه رفتم سراغ این نویسنده( البته داستان دریای زمین هم نمیدونم چیه😅)
سیاره روکانون با یک داستان کوتاه که مدت ها قبل از داستان اصلی منتشر شده آغاز میشه، و خواننده با تموم کردن این داستان احتمالا میخکوب بشه و با امید زیاد کتاب رو ادامه و از این ایده جذاب بسی لذت ببره( حداقل این حسی بود که من از این داستان کوتاه گرفتم ) اما متاسفانه در ادامه داستان و پایان دیباچه ( داستان کوتاه ) خبری از این اتفاقات هسجان انگیز نیست و ما روادید رو پس از چندین سال از واقیع داستان کوتاه دنبال میکنیم.
شاید سوال بشه براتون که چرا این دیباچه انقدر جذاب بود؟ شخصیتی به نام سملی از خانواده ای که در دوران کهن دارای نام و رسمی بودند به ازدواج با فرمانروایی در آمده، حال نیز این زن به دنبال دادن جهیزیه از سوی خویش به این مرد میباشد، پس سوار مرکب پرنده خود شده و راهی سفری برای به دست آوردن جواهر گمشده خاندان خود میشود. در ادامه و پس از جستجو مطلع میشود که این جواهر در سیاره ای دیگر است و دوباره راهی سفری کوتاه ولی طولانی میشود (معنی این جمله رو تو داستان میفهمید)، وقتی سملی جواهر خود را باز مییابد با خوشحالی با مرکب خود به قصر بازمیگردد تا با همسر و فرزند خود دیدار کند و جواهر گرانبهای خود را هدیه دهد. اما با پا گذاشتن بر قصر و صدا کردن خدمتکاران همگی هاج و واج به او نگریسته و چهره اورا به جا نمیآورند …
ادامه ماجرا رو بنظرم بهتره مخاطب خودش بخونه تا راز پشت این ماجرا رو خودش پیدا کنه😅
اما در خصوص المان های کتاب: این کتاب ترکیبی از دو ژانر علمی تخیلی و فانتزی است. هرچند بخوایم مقایسه کنیم باید به حضورتون اعلام کنم که المان فانتزی اون بیشتره و جنبه علمی تخیلی اون مربوط به چندی سفر و مقداری سفینه است.
سیاره ای که داستان در اون میگذره دارای سه گونه نژادی است که اوایل کتاب من رو یاد نژادهای ارباب حلقه ها مینداخت، شاید بگید چرا ارباب حلقه ها؟ . اول باید ذکر کنم اینجا خبری از گونهذهاس مثل دورف و الف نیست و با نام های دیگه و حتی کمی تفاوت ظاهری و نژادی معرفی میشند اما اگر به زندگی و سبک زیستی اون ها دقت کنیم میبینیم که چقدر نزدیک به نژادهای تالیکنی میباشند. موضوع دوم نیز تاریخ منتشر شدن کتاب هست که به سال ۱۹۶۶ برمیگرده و نزدیک ترین منبع الهام نیز تالکین هست.
شخصیت اصلی روکانون نام داره و یک گونه شناس و رفتار شناس منظومه ای هست و کارش مطالعه و بررسی گونه ها در سطح کیهان هست.
کتاب از نظر توصیفات نسبت به حجمی که داره باید بگم خوب عمل کرده و اون چند جایی که داستان درشون میگذره توصیفات خوبی میگرند.
بنظرم بخش فانتزی کتاب هم جنبهای اساطیر گونه و کهن داشت .
شخصیت پردازی خوبی نداشت و حتی با شخصیت اصلی هم نتونستم ارتباط خاصی بگیرم و گاها دیالوگ ها حوصله سر بر میشدند.
اگر هم اشتباه نکنم اولین کتاب نویسنده باید باشه پس نمیشه خیلی خرده گرفت.
و حین خوندن کتاب متوجه قدرت و دید لگویین راجع برخی مسائل میشیم که بخوام تو این موضوع هم دقیق شم باید کلمات بیشتری رو پیاده کنم که متاسفانه حسش نیست😅
کتاب هم حجمی هست. درکل کتاب جالبی بود
همچنین کتاب جز مجموعه ای به اسم هاینیش هست. جلدهای بعدی رو حتما میخونم که گویا بسی بهتر میشند👌
سیاره روکانون با یک داستان کوتاه که مدت ها قبل از داستان اصلی منتشر شده آغاز میشه، و خواننده با تموم کردن این داستان احتمالا میخکوب بشه و با امید زیاد کتاب رو ادامه و از این ایده جذاب بسی لذت ببره( حداقل این حسی بود که من از این داستان کوتاه گرفتم ) اما متاسفانه در ادامه داستان و پایان دیباچه ( داستان کوتاه ) خبری از این اتفاقات هسجان انگیز نیست و ما روادید رو پس از چندین سال از واقیع داستان کوتاه دنبال میکنیم.
شاید سوال بشه براتون که چرا این دیباچه انقدر جذاب بود؟ شخصیتی به نام سملی از خانواده ای که در دوران کهن دارای نام و رسمی بودند به ازدواج با فرمانروایی در آمده، حال نیز این زن به دنبال دادن جهیزیه از سوی خویش به این مرد میباشد، پس سوار مرکب پرنده خود شده و راهی سفری برای به دست آوردن جواهر گمشده خاندان خود میشود. در ادامه و پس از جستجو مطلع میشود که این جواهر در سیاره ای دیگر است و دوباره راهی سفری کوتاه ولی طولانی میشود (معنی این جمله رو تو داستان میفهمید)، وقتی سملی جواهر خود را باز مییابد با خوشحالی با مرکب خود به قصر بازمیگردد تا با همسر و فرزند خود دیدار کند و جواهر گرانبهای خود را هدیه دهد. اما با پا گذاشتن بر قصر و صدا کردن خدمتکاران همگی هاج و واج به او نگریسته و چهره اورا به جا نمیآورند …
ادامه ماجرا رو بنظرم بهتره مخاطب خودش بخونه تا راز پشت این ماجرا رو خودش پیدا کنه😅
اما در خصوص المان های کتاب: این کتاب ترکیبی از دو ژانر علمی تخیلی و فانتزی است. هرچند بخوایم مقایسه کنیم باید به حضورتون اعلام کنم که المان فانتزی اون بیشتره و جنبه علمی تخیلی اون مربوط به چندی سفر و مقداری سفینه است.
سیاره ای که داستان در اون میگذره دارای سه گونه نژادی است که اوایل کتاب من رو یاد نژادهای ارباب حلقه ها مینداخت، شاید بگید چرا ارباب حلقه ها؟ . اول باید ذکر کنم اینجا خبری از گونهذهاس مثل دورف و الف نیست و با نام های دیگه و حتی کمی تفاوت ظاهری و نژادی معرفی میشند اما اگر به زندگی و سبک زیستی اون ها دقت کنیم میبینیم که چقدر نزدیک به نژادهای تالیکنی میباشند. موضوع دوم نیز تاریخ منتشر شدن کتاب هست که به سال ۱۹۶۶ برمیگرده و نزدیک ترین منبع الهام نیز تالکین هست.
شخصیت اصلی روکانون نام داره و یک گونه شناس و رفتار شناس منظومه ای هست و کارش مطالعه و بررسی گونه ها در سطح کیهان هست.
کتاب از نظر توصیفات نسبت به حجمی که داره باید بگم خوب عمل کرده و اون چند جایی که داستان درشون میگذره توصیفات خوبی میگرند.
بنظرم بخش فانتزی کتاب هم جنبهای اساطیر گونه و کهن داشت .
شخصیت پردازی خوبی نداشت و حتی با شخصیت اصلی هم نتونستم ارتباط خاصی بگیرم و گاها دیالوگ ها حوصله سر بر میشدند.
اگر هم اشتباه نکنم اولین کتاب نویسنده باید باشه پس نمیشه خیلی خرده گرفت.
و حین خوندن کتاب متوجه قدرت و دید لگویین راجع برخی مسائل میشیم که بخوام تو این موضوع هم دقیق شم باید کلمات بیشتری رو پیاده کنم که متاسفانه حسش نیست😅
کتاب هم حجمی هست. درکل کتاب جالبی بود
همچنین کتاب جز مجموعه ای به اسم هاینیش هست. جلدهای بعدی رو حتما میخونم که گویا بسی بهتر میشند👌
December 9, 2023
"Ekumen" es una de esas lindas palabras de origen griego que se ha utilizado para referirse al mundo que una civilización conoce. En este caso, el Ekumen o Liga es algo así como un conjunto de planetas habitados por seres provenientes de una raza misteriosa, los hainitas, unos humanos o humanoides que se adaptaron genéticamente a las condiciones reinantes en cada mundo. "El mundo de Rocannon" es la primera novela publicada de este ciclo (aunque no es la primera en orden cronológico) y narra el viaje del héroe, Rocannon, por distintos mundos intentando advertir a la Liga de un peligro inminente. La bella prosa de Le Guin explora temas como la pérdida y la redención siempre en el contexto de esa creatividad que la haría célebre. Le Guin fue una inagotable creadora de especies, mundos y culturas diversas. Aunque utiliza la fantasía para timonear la historia, la construcción completa descansa sobre la ciencia ficción y sobre una asombrosa diversidad antropológica.
El inicio de una saga legendaria y, aunque sea por eso, vale la pena.
El inicio de una saga legendaria y, aunque sea por eso, vale la pena.
April 22, 2019
Interesting to see this early Le Guin. In it I hear her words so much more loudly than in some of her later works. It's sort of like this book has a stronger accent. This is an interesting blend of all sorts of things Le Guin seems to have spent her career pondering and the sort of action adventure story so popular in the '60s.
CONTENT WARNING: (no actual spoilers, just a list of topics)
Things to love:
-The Le Guin-iness of it. Even though I would say this is not her most polished work, it has all the seeds of what I have come to associate with her--the poetry of the words, the inability to have a character show up "on stage" without giving us something to see in them and connect with.
-The seeds of later ideas. I feel a lot of Ged in this, and the ideas that became Wizard of Earthsea. Of course it's the first Hainish novel, too, so there's a lot of background into how all of that business got started.
-The genre-bending elements. This is a classic example of two great tastes that taste great together. Like scifi? Awesome, we've got space ships and laser guns and alien species and telepathy! Like fantasy? Cool, the aliens are basically analogs for elves, dwarves, gnomes, fairies and gryphons!
-Fast paced. There's always fights and ladies and mystical beings just dropping out of the sky!
Things that weren't my favorite:
-Scifi travelogue. This felt very Andre Norton-y to me. I liked it more because it's still got Le Guin's trademark style, but it is very much that 60's "explorer man goes to unknown world;has adventures" sort of story that's just...I dunno. I haven't ever felt a strong appeal for it.
-A bit trope-y. While this idea was likely a bit fresher then, it's stale now, and the concepts of the races and so on are dated. Not as problematically as many of her peers, but still, it's hard to rekindle that feeling of finding a new idea for the first time, and this wasn't my favorite of its sort.
It's still a strong story and a quick one. I definitely recommend this for completion's sake and also as an enjoyable jaunt into a neat world with a brilliant wordsmith as our guide.
Note on the audio: It was decent but make sure you can speed it up because this guy talks sloooowly.
CONTENT WARNING: (no actual spoilers, just a list of topics)
Things to love:
-The Le Guin-iness of it. Even though I would say this is not her most polished work, it has all the seeds of what I have come to associate with her--the poetry of the words, the inability to have a character show up "on stage" without giving us something to see in them and connect with.
-The seeds of later ideas. I feel a lot of Ged in this, and the ideas that became Wizard of Earthsea. Of course it's the first Hainish novel, too, so there's a lot of background into how all of that business got started.
-The genre-bending elements. This is a classic example of two great tastes that taste great together. Like scifi? Awesome, we've got space ships and laser guns and alien species and telepathy! Like fantasy? Cool, the aliens are basically analogs for elves, dwarves, gnomes, fairies and gryphons!
-Fast paced. There's always fights and ladies and mystical beings just dropping out of the sky!
Things that weren't my favorite:
-Scifi travelogue. This felt very Andre Norton-y to me. I liked it more because it's still got Le Guin's trademark style, but it is very much that 60's "explorer man goes to unknown world;has adventures" sort of story that's just...I dunno. I haven't ever felt a strong appeal for it.
-A bit trope-y. While this idea was likely a bit fresher then, it's stale now, and the concepts of the races and so on are dated. Not as problematically as many of her peers, but still, it's hard to rekindle that feeling of finding a new idea for the first time, and this wasn't my favorite of its sort.
It's still a strong story and a quick one. I definitely recommend this for completion's sake and also as an enjoyable jaunt into a neat world with a brilliant wordsmith as our guide.
Note on the audio: It was decent but make sure you can speed it up because this guy talks sloooowly.
June 3, 2024
Le Guin's first science fiction novel reads more as a 'sword and planet' adventure than the deep, sociological speculative fiction she became known for later in her career, yet I see many hints of that here as well. Le Guin first foray into the Hainish cycle; Rocannon's World, along with Planet of Exile and City of Illusions would later be known as the Hainish trilogy, all published in the late 1960s. I first read all these several decades ago (yeah, I'm an old fart) and am happy to say rereading them again did not take much away from their charm
Our titular Rocannon works as something like a cultural liaison between the 'League', which consists of many races from many planets, and newly discovered intelligences on planets. When this novel starts, the League had been on what later became known as Rocannon's world for decades, helping one of the intelligent hominid species their prepare for a massive war they know is coming from the stars. Rocannon himself leads a new cultural mission designed to further understand the various peoples on the planet; the first survey was rather hasty and incomplete. Well, an uprising among the League worlds led the rebels to seek a new base and they decided upon Rocannon's world; before Rocannon can even report back, the rebels slag their spaceships, leaving only Rocannon alive. He travels to a keep where he once met one of the leaders off planet, and decides he must figure out a way to warn the League and/or disrupt the rebels, turning this quickly into something of a quest novel...
Again, unlike her later works, this has a definite Tolkien vibe, with a quasi feudal 'empire' in the North, short, fairylike peoples living among them, with telepathic powers, and the 'trogs' or 'clay people' who live underground in vast cities. There are orts and scraps of anthropological/sociological analysis here as Le Guin depicts the various races and civilizations here, but nothing elaborate. Good sword and planet adventure nonetheless; who could have predicted Le Guin would go on to such greatness? 3 sharp stars!
Our titular Rocannon works as something like a cultural liaison between the 'League', which consists of many races from many planets, and newly discovered intelligences on planets. When this novel starts, the League had been on what later became known as Rocannon's world for decades, helping one of the intelligent hominid species their prepare for a massive war they know is coming from the stars. Rocannon himself leads a new cultural mission designed to further understand the various peoples on the planet; the first survey was rather hasty and incomplete. Well, an uprising among the League worlds led the rebels to seek a new base and they decided upon Rocannon's world; before Rocannon can even report back, the rebels slag their spaceships, leaving only Rocannon alive. He travels to a keep where he once met one of the leaders off planet, and decides he must figure out a way to warn the League and/or disrupt the rebels, turning this quickly into something of a quest novel...
Again, unlike her later works, this has a definite Tolkien vibe, with a quasi feudal 'empire' in the North, short, fairylike peoples living among them, with telepathic powers, and the 'trogs' or 'clay people' who live underground in vast cities. There are orts and scraps of anthropological/sociological analysis here as Le Guin depicts the various races and civilizations here, but nothing elaborate. Good sword and planet adventure nonetheless; who could have predicted Le Guin would go on to such greatness? 3 sharp stars!
July 3, 2022
I have to thank Ursula Le Guin and her early Hainish Cycle novels for restoring my ability to read, my desire to read voraciously.
The book itself showcases the imaginative powers of a great writer to be. Ursula is not yet at her best in this debut novel but already her story is gripping, the questions that she raises transcend the limits of her invented world and creep into our own. Gently the question of race is hinted at and the role of history in a racial divide. This is not a central issue in the book, just a footnote, just a preview of what is to come in Le Guin's later works
The book itself showcases the imaginative powers of a great writer to be. Ursula is not yet at her best in this debut novel but already her story is gripping, the questions that she raises transcend the limits of her invented world and creep into our own. Gently the question of race is hinted at and the role of history in a racial divide. This is not a central issue in the book, just a footnote, just a preview of what is to come in Le Guin's later works
August 28, 2011
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of Scientific Prediction
It is easy to point to certain works and state 'this is sci fi' or 'this is fantasy', but this has more to do with traditions and habits than with strict definitions. Fantastical works ostensibly look the the past, science fiction to the future, but both operate around grand myths, social meanings, and items of inexplicable power. Often, these items act as tangible moral forces, metaphors-made-real.
Each subgenre has pilfered from the other, so we have seen the tales of John Carter of Mars and Star Wars, fantasy stories with sci fi trappings, and also fantasy stories where magic becomes a replacement for technology, operating by a system of rules as thoroughly described as any technophile digression.
But there has always been room for stories which work between these genres, which use the concepts of both in conjunction, producing from the combination of things familiar a story which feels novel. Lovecraft played often with this line, indicating that every superstitious fear had a rational explanation--a system--even if we, as lowly humans, could never really understand it.
And some modern authors have taken this idea more literally, creating worlds which seem in every way to be magical fantasies, but which actually operate on far-advanced technologies. This was the twist of a certain author's famous series, but I found his execution much less interesting than LeGuin's take.
This story is anchored by an impresive prologue which rewrites a recognizable English fairy myth, seamlessly combining it with the corresponding sci fi tropes. Thus each instance of superstition or impossibility becomes something forward-looking and inevitable.
The story takes some cues from Lovecraft, showing how the disparate knowldege of the interacting cultures becomes the myth of one and the politics of the other. The reader is, of course, from a culture that lies somewhere between mythic past and star-spanning future, but still finds mutual sympathy with both despite the great distances involved.
LeGuin's knowledge and use of the tropes of each genre sets her apart as a conscientious, clever writer, and her ability to weave them together into a single story is even more impressive. Unfortunately, as she expands from the prologue to the story itself, she loses some of the drive of the shorter form.
The story is interesting, thoughtful, and continues to display those little gems of insight which tie the myths of magic to the myths of technology, but she does not take advantage of the longer form's strengths. She seems to feel the need for more and deeper character interactions, but never quite manages to demonstrate them.
As in Left Hand of Darkness, I felt a need for more: for her to plunge deeper, to take more risks, and to give us more of the moments she only hinted at. We also get a similar story of an alien lost in a strange world, traveling ever on with a specific but impersonal mission. He makes friends, but always distantly, and in the end, must give them up to achieve his ends. This method would have been more effective if those relationships had been more developed.
Likewise, we get a bit of telepathy here and there, but yet again, it is not important to the story, nor does she use it as an opportunity to explore something difficult. Even as she cleverly turns magic into technology, she fails to do much with the bits of sci fi magic that remain.
I appreciated what she achieved, but she extended the story to a length which exceeded its depth. Everything is laid out so exquisitely in the opening chapter that nothing after quite measures up to it.
-Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of Scientific Prediction
It is easy to point to certain works and state 'this is sci fi' or 'this is fantasy', but this has more to do with traditions and habits than with strict definitions. Fantastical works ostensibly look the the past, science fiction to the future, but both operate around grand myths, social meanings, and items of inexplicable power. Often, these items act as tangible moral forces, metaphors-made-real.
Each subgenre has pilfered from the other, so we have seen the tales of John Carter of Mars and Star Wars, fantasy stories with sci fi trappings, and also fantasy stories where magic becomes a replacement for technology, operating by a system of rules as thoroughly described as any technophile digression.
But there has always been room for stories which work between these genres, which use the concepts of both in conjunction, producing from the combination of things familiar a story which feels novel. Lovecraft played often with this line, indicating that every superstitious fear had a rational explanation--a system--even if we, as lowly humans, could never really understand it.
And some modern authors have taken this idea more literally, creating worlds which seem in every way to be magical fantasies, but which actually operate on far-advanced technologies. This was the twist of a certain author's famous series, but I found his execution much less interesting than LeGuin's take.
This story is anchored by an impresive prologue which rewrites a recognizable English fairy myth, seamlessly combining it with the corresponding sci fi tropes. Thus each instance of superstition or impossibility becomes something forward-looking and inevitable.
The story takes some cues from Lovecraft, showing how the disparate knowldege of the interacting cultures becomes the myth of one and the politics of the other. The reader is, of course, from a culture that lies somewhere between mythic past and star-spanning future, but still finds mutual sympathy with both despite the great distances involved.
LeGuin's knowledge and use of the tropes of each genre sets her apart as a conscientious, clever writer, and her ability to weave them together into a single story is even more impressive. Unfortunately, as she expands from the prologue to the story itself, she loses some of the drive of the shorter form.
The story is interesting, thoughtful, and continues to display those little gems of insight which tie the myths of magic to the myths of technology, but she does not take advantage of the longer form's strengths. She seems to feel the need for more and deeper character interactions, but never quite manages to demonstrate them.
As in Left Hand of Darkness, I felt a need for more: for her to plunge deeper, to take more risks, and to give us more of the moments she only hinted at. We also get a similar story of an alien lost in a strange world, traveling ever on with a specific but impersonal mission. He makes friends, but always distantly, and in the end, must give them up to achieve his ends. This method would have been more effective if those relationships had been more developed.
Likewise, we get a bit of telepathy here and there, but yet again, it is not important to the story, nor does she use it as an opportunity to explore something difficult. Even as she cleverly turns magic into technology, she fails to do much with the bits of sci fi magic that remain.
I appreciated what she achieved, but she extended the story to a length which exceeded its depth. Everything is laid out so exquisitely in the opening chapter that nothing after quite measures up to it.
November 10, 2023
Para satisfacción de todos y sorpresa de nadie, la opera prima de una titán de las letras como fue Ursula K. Le Guin no podía ser sino excelente. Hay fallos, por supuesto, pero los propios de la inexperiencia. Le Guin logra en su primera entrega del Ekumen, o ciclo de Hainish, encontrar el tono que la caracterizaría su obra fantástica, ese que le permitía narrar como si de una leyenda se tratara. Una capacidad fabuladora, de cuentacuentos itinerante, que comparte con otros rapsodas de la ciencia ficción como Cordwainer Smith o Angélica Gorodischer. Los defectos de El mundo de Rocannon no están en la escritura de Le Guin, solo en sus personajes, que quedan apenas esbozados en esta historia, cuando el desarrollo de la psicología de los mismos luego se convertiría en su sello de identidad. Pero, ¿de qué va El mundo de Rocannon y qué es, si es que es algo, ese Ciclo de Hainish?
Esta historia es una aventura clásica, sencilla, una que si no fuera por la aparición de naves espaciales y algo de tecnojerga podría aparecer en una recopilación de mitos imaginarios a lo Lord Dunsany -pero con menos bardos, reyes, sacerdotes y, por supuesto, sin dioses-. Estamos en un planeta recién descubierto por el Ekumen, una federación intergaláctica que representa a la totalidad de la vida humana en el universo cuya misión es contactar y estudiar sociedades inteligentes. En este planeta, un poco más pequeño que la Tierra y, por tanto, con menos gravedad, con una órbita de traslación tan excéntrica que hace que solo haya dos estaciones marcadas y de carácter anual, cohabitan en aparente armonía tres razas autóctonas: los señores angyar, altos, morenos y de cabellos dorados, que gobiernan en sus castillos; sus servidores olgyor, de piel clara y pelo oscuro; y los iluar, escindidos a su vez en dos subrazas, los subterráneos e industriosos gdemiar y los risueños habitantes de la superficie, los fiia. Como decía, todas estas razas conviven en armonía y son estudiadas desde cierta distancia por los etnólogos destinado al planeta por el Ekumen. De entre ellos destaca Rocannon, que entabla mayor amistad con los angyar y busca que haya una relativa concordia entre la liga y el mundo en que habitan, pues el Ekumen está en guerra contra una amenaza extraterrestre y exige recursos a cualquier nuevo planeta para sufragarla. Las consecuencias de este enfrentamiento terminaran por afectar al mundo, y Rocannon, tras quedar destruida su nave y ver morir sus compañeros expedicionarios, tendrá que unir fuerza con el heredero al señorio de Hallan, Mogien, para lograr hacerse con una nave espacial con la que poder contactar con el Ekumen.
Como os digo, una aventura clásica de espada y planeta con un escenario original contada con el ritmo y la frescura de un relato oral. Este aura legendaria nace, en parte, de la propia aplicación de la ley de Clarke, que dice que cualquier tecnología lo suficientemente avanzada es indistinguible de la ciencia, y el concepto vertebrador del ciclo de Hainish. Ursula K. Le Guin en el prólogo de su antología El cumpleaños del mundo nos confiesa que nunca concibió el Ekumen como una saga ex profeso, de ahí que en las distintas entregas que se ambientan en este universo no haya una línea temporal clara o aparezcan numerosas inexactitudes (por ejemplo, hay dos planetas, Werel, que se llaman igual aunque no comparten ninguna similitud). Me gusta como lo define ella: su universo es un ovillo que hubiera sacado un gatito para jugar con el, enrevesado y lleno de agujeros. Hablar de ciclo, por tanto, es más una conveniencia que una necesidad, aunque sí hay, como he dicho, un concepto que vertebra a todas las historias adscritas al universo ecuménico. Para empezar, su origen. Hubo un momento indeterminado en el pasado de este universo -en nuestro futuro- en que la humanidad abandonó la Tierra y se dispersó por toda la galaxia, colonizando en el proceso de expansión numerosos planetas. Un evento desconocido hizo que esta primera humanidad se fragmentara y quedara aislada en los distintos planetas descubiertos, sin posibilidad para comunicarse con el resto de planetas en busca de auxilio. Esta desintegración de la humanidad se prolongó durante siglos, obligando a los colonos a adaptarse a sus nuevos planetas y formar nuevas sociedades, sin posibilidad de utilizar o replicar la tecnología que los llevó a sus nuevos hogares y ahora cárceles. Este aislamiento provocó que, con el nacimiento de estas nuevas sociedades, nacieran mitos cosmogónicos y fundacionales que explicaran su origen y dieran sentido a su nueva realidad. El ciclo del Ekumen se ambienta luego de que los Hainish alcancen el punto tecnológico previo a la desintegración y vuelvan a poner en contacto a las humanidades dispersas en una nueva federación, el Ekumen, cuya misión es recoger y preservar el conocimiento de milenios de aislamiento.
Este eje vertebrador del ciclo de Hainish del que os he hablado sirve de excusa a Le Guin para desarrollar numerosos temas desde su disciplina, la antropología. En los mundos de Le Guin no hay dos humanidades iguales, todas han debido adaptarse a las condiciones de sus mundos, algunos benévolos y otros rigurosos. Algunas de estas sociedades pueden recordar a la nuestra o a otras sociedades pretéritas de nuestro planeta, y otras nos pueden resultar totalmente ajenas y extraterrestres. He ahí dónde reside la belleza de este ciclo, el sentido de la maravilla de la ciencia ficción de Le Guin, más mítica que prospectiva, más centrada en nosotros mismos, en nuestra historia y conciencia colectiva, que en nuestra inventiva y logros. Abrir un libro del ciclo de Hainish es abrir una ventana a otras posibilidades, a otros senderos que podríamos haber recorrido si los hechos contingentes que rigen la evolución de las especies hubieran sido otros. Una vez creado el marco social en el que se desarrollará la historia, Le Guin la puebla con sus personajes y los hace regirse por estas costumbres y normas, a veces subordinándose por completo a estas, en otras confrontándolas y, en algunos casos extremos, rebelándose contra este sistema. En ocasiones, el lector seguirá la perspectiva etnográfica de un funcionario del Ekumen, en otras seguiremos a miembros de estas sociedades extraterrestres. En esta novela ocurre lo primero, y sí es cierto que por su carácter primerizo no vamos a encontrar la profundidad y la carga sociológica, antropológica, filosófica y religiosa que caracterizará a obras posteriores del ciclo, como Los desposeídos o La mano izquierda de la oscuridad.
Como conclusión, no es ni de lejos la mejor historia de este ciclo, pero si es un excelente debut, una aventura muy entretenida por mundos imaginarios más fantásticos que científicos. Quizá guste más a aquellos amantes de la ciencia ficción más clásica y pulp, a aquellos que se les atragante las obras de ciencia ficción de Le Guin y disfruten más de su producción fantástica, como la saga de Terramar. Aún así, es muy recomendable.
Esta historia es una aventura clásica, sencilla, una que si no fuera por la aparición de naves espaciales y algo de tecnojerga podría aparecer en una recopilación de mitos imaginarios a lo Lord Dunsany -pero con menos bardos, reyes, sacerdotes y, por supuesto, sin dioses-. Estamos en un planeta recién descubierto por el Ekumen, una federación intergaláctica que representa a la totalidad de la vida humana en el universo cuya misión es contactar y estudiar sociedades inteligentes. En este planeta, un poco más pequeño que la Tierra y, por tanto, con menos gravedad, con una órbita de traslación tan excéntrica que hace que solo haya dos estaciones marcadas y de carácter anual, cohabitan en aparente armonía tres razas autóctonas: los señores angyar, altos, morenos y de cabellos dorados, que gobiernan en sus castillos; sus servidores olgyor, de piel clara y pelo oscuro; y los iluar, escindidos a su vez en dos subrazas, los subterráneos e industriosos gdemiar y los risueños habitantes de la superficie, los fiia. Como decía, todas estas razas conviven en armonía y son estudiadas desde cierta distancia por los etnólogos destinado al planeta por el Ekumen. De entre ellos destaca Rocannon, que entabla mayor amistad con los angyar y busca que haya una relativa concordia entre la liga y el mundo en que habitan, pues el Ekumen está en guerra contra una amenaza extraterrestre y exige recursos a cualquier nuevo planeta para sufragarla. Las consecuencias de este enfrentamiento terminaran por afectar al mundo, y Rocannon, tras quedar destruida su nave y ver morir sus compañeros expedicionarios, tendrá que unir fuerza con el heredero al señorio de Hallan, Mogien, para lograr hacerse con una nave espacial con la que poder contactar con el Ekumen.
Como os digo, una aventura clásica de espada y planeta con un escenario original contada con el ritmo y la frescura de un relato oral. Este aura legendaria nace, en parte, de la propia aplicación de la ley de Clarke, que dice que cualquier tecnología lo suficientemente avanzada es indistinguible de la ciencia, y el concepto vertebrador del ciclo de Hainish. Ursula K. Le Guin en el prólogo de su antología El cumpleaños del mundo nos confiesa que nunca concibió el Ekumen como una saga ex profeso, de ahí que en las distintas entregas que se ambientan en este universo no haya una línea temporal clara o aparezcan numerosas inexactitudes (por ejemplo, hay dos planetas, Werel, que se llaman igual aunque no comparten ninguna similitud). Me gusta como lo define ella: su universo es un ovillo que hubiera sacado un gatito para jugar con el, enrevesado y lleno de agujeros. Hablar de ciclo, por tanto, es más una conveniencia que una necesidad, aunque sí hay, como he dicho, un concepto que vertebra a todas las historias adscritas al universo ecuménico. Para empezar, su origen. Hubo un momento indeterminado en el pasado de este universo -en nuestro futuro- en que la humanidad abandonó la Tierra y se dispersó por toda la galaxia, colonizando en el proceso de expansión numerosos planetas. Un evento desconocido hizo que esta primera humanidad se fragmentara y quedara aislada en los distintos planetas descubiertos, sin posibilidad para comunicarse con el resto de planetas en busca de auxilio. Esta desintegración de la humanidad se prolongó durante siglos, obligando a los colonos a adaptarse a sus nuevos planetas y formar nuevas sociedades, sin posibilidad de utilizar o replicar la tecnología que los llevó a sus nuevos hogares y ahora cárceles. Este aislamiento provocó que, con el nacimiento de estas nuevas sociedades, nacieran mitos cosmogónicos y fundacionales que explicaran su origen y dieran sentido a su nueva realidad. El ciclo del Ekumen se ambienta luego de que los Hainish alcancen el punto tecnológico previo a la desintegración y vuelvan a poner en contacto a las humanidades dispersas en una nueva federación, el Ekumen, cuya misión es recoger y preservar el conocimiento de milenios de aislamiento.
Este eje vertebrador del ciclo de Hainish del que os he hablado sirve de excusa a Le Guin para desarrollar numerosos temas desde su disciplina, la antropología. En los mundos de Le Guin no hay dos humanidades iguales, todas han debido adaptarse a las condiciones de sus mundos, algunos benévolos y otros rigurosos. Algunas de estas sociedades pueden recordar a la nuestra o a otras sociedades pretéritas de nuestro planeta, y otras nos pueden resultar totalmente ajenas y extraterrestres. He ahí dónde reside la belleza de este ciclo, el sentido de la maravilla de la ciencia ficción de Le Guin, más mítica que prospectiva, más centrada en nosotros mismos, en nuestra historia y conciencia colectiva, que en nuestra inventiva y logros. Abrir un libro del ciclo de Hainish es abrir una ventana a otras posibilidades, a otros senderos que podríamos haber recorrido si los hechos contingentes que rigen la evolución de las especies hubieran sido otros. Una vez creado el marco social en el que se desarrollará la historia, Le Guin la puebla con sus personajes y los hace regirse por estas costumbres y normas, a veces subordinándose por completo a estas, en otras confrontándolas y, en algunos casos extremos, rebelándose contra este sistema. En ocasiones, el lector seguirá la perspectiva etnográfica de un funcionario del Ekumen, en otras seguiremos a miembros de estas sociedades extraterrestres. En esta novela ocurre lo primero, y sí es cierto que por su carácter primerizo no vamos a encontrar la profundidad y la carga sociológica, antropológica, filosófica y religiosa que caracterizará a obras posteriores del ciclo, como Los desposeídos o La mano izquierda de la oscuridad.
Como conclusión, no es ni de lejos la mejor historia de este ciclo, pero si es un excelente debut, una aventura muy entretenida por mundos imaginarios más fantásticos que científicos. Quizá guste más a aquellos amantes de la ciencia ficción más clásica y pulp, a aquellos que se les atragante las obras de ciencia ficción de Le Guin y disfruten más de su producción fantástica, como la saga de Terramar. Aún así, es muy recomendable.
February 19, 2023
Crossing Genre Boundaries
I’d better begin by saying that fantasy has always been a genre I found it hard to warm up to: Dwarfs, Orcs, pseudo-medieval spiel, swords that have a name; all of this had its time, in my opinion, but when writers still insist on creating worlds like that, they could not possibly expect me to take any interest in it – even though, in the case of Tolkien, I take off my hat out of respect for the intricate world-building while I still think that I can invest my reading time into something more adult. That is why it took me some time to start my first reading adventure with Ursula K. Le Guin.
Although I knew there were large flying cats in Rocannon’s World - I do frown on large flying cats –, I also knew that this is the first novel of the Hainish books, in which Le Guin unfolds a future history of humanoid civilizations establishing contact with each other, and this is a subject-matter that intrigues me a lot more than fantasy. Consequently, I accompanied Gaverel Rocannon on his quest to find the ansible – a means of communication that allows the immediate exchange of information – in order to warn his people that the unnamed planet he found himself stranded on is being invaded by the common enemy and that destructive counter-measures must be taken. The planet itself is on the level of Bronze Age civilization and it is inhabited by at least five different “races”, amongst which the humans live in two classes, the lords and the midmen, according to a strict code of honour and behaviour. Apart from them, there are the so-called Gdemiar, who seem to be modelled on the dwarfs in Norse mythology, and the Fiia, who are clearly like hobbits, and there is also a mysterious people of apathetic angel-like creatures, whom you’d better give a wide berth. Some of the challenges Rocannon has to meet are gleaned from Norse mythology, and the fact that the book is not much longer than roughly 100 pages ensures that Le Guin cannot have her heroes waste about three pages on a conversation whether or not to leave their weapons outside a royal hall, as Tolkien did.
The style is absolutely beautiful, as the following passage may show:
The name-dropping of Durholde of Hallan, the prisoners of Korhalt, the Red Lord and the marshes of Born did provoke my inclination to sarcasm and ridicule, and I’d have liked to add the Mountain of Bonkers, Him of the Hunkering Haunches, and the marshes of Boring, which lie next to those of Born, but I could not help noticing that not only was the passage written in magical prose but it also denoted the change going on in Rocannon, who is finding himself more and more drawn into this world to which he has been a mere observer hitherto, and in that he resembles a reader, whose love for the fictional worlds he enters grows more and more into a passion the deeper he wanders into the author’s imagination. Rocannon invests his blood and, by and by, most of the technological gadgets he brought with him from his own planet, whereas the reader invests his time, his empathy and his readiness to leave himself to the author’s imagination. In short, I found this passage incredibly moving – as I found the beginning of the story, Semley and the necklace, absolutely brilliant in the way it intertwined the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
I am looking forward to some of the more philosophical novels of the Hainish books and I think that Rocannon’s World gives us a good impression of what we may be heading for.
I’d better begin by saying that fantasy has always been a genre I found it hard to warm up to: Dwarfs, Orcs, pseudo-medieval spiel, swords that have a name; all of this had its time, in my opinion, but when writers still insist on creating worlds like that, they could not possibly expect me to take any interest in it – even though, in the case of Tolkien, I take off my hat out of respect for the intricate world-building while I still think that I can invest my reading time into something more adult. That is why it took me some time to start my first reading adventure with Ursula K. Le Guin.
Although I knew there were large flying cats in Rocannon’s World - I do frown on large flying cats –, I also knew that this is the first novel of the Hainish books, in which Le Guin unfolds a future history of humanoid civilizations establishing contact with each other, and this is a subject-matter that intrigues me a lot more than fantasy. Consequently, I accompanied Gaverel Rocannon on his quest to find the ansible – a means of communication that allows the immediate exchange of information – in order to warn his people that the unnamed planet he found himself stranded on is being invaded by the common enemy and that destructive counter-measures must be taken. The planet itself is on the level of Bronze Age civilization and it is inhabited by at least five different “races”, amongst which the humans live in two classes, the lords and the midmen, according to a strict code of honour and behaviour. Apart from them, there are the so-called Gdemiar, who seem to be modelled on the dwarfs in Norse mythology, and the Fiia, who are clearly like hobbits, and there is also a mysterious people of apathetic angel-like creatures, whom you’d better give a wide berth. Some of the challenges Rocannon has to meet are gleaned from Norse mythology, and the fact that the book is not much longer than roughly 100 pages ensures that Le Guin cannot have her heroes waste about three pages on a conversation whether or not to leave their weapons outside a royal hall, as Tolkien did.
The style is absolutely beautiful, as the following passage may show:
”He sang of Durholde of Hallan who set free the prisoners of Korhalt, in the days of the Red Lord, by the marshes of Born; and when he had sung the lineage of every warrior in that battle and every stroke he struck, he sang straight on the freeing of the Tolenfolk and the burning of Plenot Tower, of the Wanderer’s torch blazing through a rain of arrows, of the great stroke struck by Mogien Halla’s heir, the lance cast across the wind finding its mark like the unerring lance of Hendin in the days of old. Rocannon sat drunk and contented, riding the river of song, feeling himself now wholly committed, sealed by his shed of blood to this world to which he had come a stranger across the gulfs of night.”
The name-dropping of Durholde of Hallan, the prisoners of Korhalt, the Red Lord and the marshes of Born did provoke my inclination to sarcasm and ridicule, and I’d have liked to add the Mountain of Bonkers, Him of the Hunkering Haunches, and the marshes of Boring, which lie next to those of Born, but I could not help noticing that not only was the passage written in magical prose but it also denoted the change going on in Rocannon, who is finding himself more and more drawn into this world to which he has been a mere observer hitherto, and in that he resembles a reader, whose love for the fictional worlds he enters grows more and more into a passion the deeper he wanders into the author’s imagination. Rocannon invests his blood and, by and by, most of the technological gadgets he brought with him from his own planet, whereas the reader invests his time, his empathy and his readiness to leave himself to the author’s imagination. In short, I found this passage incredibly moving – as I found the beginning of the story, Semley and the necklace, absolutely brilliant in the way it intertwined the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
I am looking forward to some of the more philosophical novels of the Hainish books and I think that Rocannon’s World gives us a good impression of what we may be heading for.
June 16, 2023
هیچ برنامهای واسه خوندنش اونم الان نداشتم
به لطف یه نفر کاملا یهویی خوندمش
و دوستش داشتم
به لطف یه نفر کاملا یهویی خوندمش
و دوستش داشتم
February 28, 2025
I’m probably in the minority on this but so far I’ve enjoyed leguin’s shorter novels more than here acknowledged masterwork: the left hand of darkness.
Rocannon’s world is a science-fantasy quest tale. It’s her first novel and part of the hanish cycle. Rocannon, a surveyor from the league of worlds is the only survivor of an attack by enemies of the league. He must quest across the strange world with companions from several of its different sentient races. Together they fly on feline-steeds and have adventures that make rocannon a legend on the planet as he tries to save it.
Her short books are still really well written and have great imagination but they feel more brisk and fun than her heavy hitters. Maybe it’s all the expectations around some of her famous stuff vs knowing nothing of the other hain books but there’s definitely some John Carter of mars whimsy in this.
Rocannon’s world is a science-fantasy quest tale. It’s her first novel and part of the hanish cycle. Rocannon, a surveyor from the league of worlds is the only survivor of an attack by enemies of the league. He must quest across the strange world with companions from several of its different sentient races. Together they fly on feline-steeds and have adventures that make rocannon a legend on the planet as he tries to save it.
Her short books are still really well written and have great imagination but they feel more brisk and fun than her heavy hitters. Maybe it’s all the expectations around some of her famous stuff vs knowing nothing of the other hain books but there’s definitely some John Carter of mars whimsy in this.
June 13, 2020
It is indisputable that Ursula Le Guin is a founding master of the fantasy genre. With the exception of Tolkien who came before her and McDonald who came before Tolkien, she was integral in establishing high fantasy writing in a literary sense.
Part of the Hainish cycle, Rocannon, penned in 1966, is her debut novel. A bit like Northanger Abbey for Austen, it is an example of the burgeoning of a writer. Similarly, it is far from her best – her Earthsea quartet is in my opinion, among her greatest works. However, it clearly indicates her natural skill and early development, the breadth of her imagination and the scope of her language skills.
The story line is a bit disjointed, particularly at the beginning. Marks of classic Le Guin are evident – exemplary world building and exploration of alien cultures – indicative of her passion for anthropology.
Ultimately, this is an adventure story – a rescue mission to recover a long lost necklace. To mirror the story, her writing is energetic but also romantic, though never ‘over done’ with the all too common fantasy whimsy. The story is quite violent, tragic in parts and suspenseful throughout. It is a real quest to ‘right wrongs’.
While I didn’t enjoy it as much as her other novels I now have an understanding of Le Guin’s early thinking and where her imaginative worlds and peoples first began.
Part of the Hainish cycle, Rocannon, penned in 1966, is her debut novel. A bit like Northanger Abbey for Austen, it is an example of the burgeoning of a writer. Similarly, it is far from her best – her Earthsea quartet is in my opinion, among her greatest works. However, it clearly indicates her natural skill and early development, the breadth of her imagination and the scope of her language skills.
The story line is a bit disjointed, particularly at the beginning. Marks of classic Le Guin are evident – exemplary world building and exploration of alien cultures – indicative of her passion for anthropology.
Ultimately, this is an adventure story – a rescue mission to recover a long lost necklace. To mirror the story, her writing is energetic but also romantic, though never ‘over done’ with the all too common fantasy whimsy. The story is quite violent, tragic in parts and suspenseful throughout. It is a real quest to ‘right wrongs’.
While I didn’t enjoy it as much as her other novels I now have an understanding of Le Guin’s early thinking and where her imaginative worlds and peoples first began.
August 21, 2021
Sonunda hainish cycle okumaya kendimi adadım. Güzel bir giriş kitabı oldu benim için. Bilim kurgudan ziyade fantastik bir kitap okuyor hissi uyandırdı. Yaratılan dünya ve ırklar ilgi çekiciydi. Edebi olarak da güzeldi. Bu bir yolculuk hikayesiydi. Yazar sırayla okunmasına gerek yok demiş ancak ben yine de sırayı takip etmeye kararlıyım. Sırada sürgün gezegeni var ✌️
October 28, 2022
نکته اولی که در مورد این کتاب باید بگم این هست که این کتاب در واقع یک داستان علمی تخیلی به اون معنایی که در ذهن عام مخاطبه، نیست.
این کتاب بیشتر یه داستان فانتزی، با مختصر المانهایی از فانتزی حماسی هست که تنها بر پیرنگ یک ایده علمی تخیلی(که البته ایدهی فوقالعاده جذابی هم هست) نگاشته شده.
پس شما با یه داستان علمیتخیلی-فانتزی سروکار خواهید داشت که بیشتر اوقاتِ خوندنش، در همون فضای فانتزی داستان به سر خواهید برد.
نکته دومی که دوست دارم در مورد این کتاب بدونید این هست که این کتاب در سال ۱۹۶۶ منتشر شده و در واقع اولین کتابی به حساب میاد که از لگویین عزیز به چاپ رسیده، پس شخصا توصیه میکنم اگر قبل از این همیشه جذب اون ایده های خفن روانکاوانه و انسانشناسانه و اجتماعی لگویین با اون نثر زیبا و مخملیش میشدید، با چنین انتظاری سراغ این کتاب نیایید.
هر چند بارقههایی از این ویژگیها در همین داستان هم نمایان هست و وعده چنان نویسندهای رو در آینده به شما میده ولی از این حیث داستان ممکنه برای شما خودش رو کمی نا امید کننده نشان بده. بهرحال داریم با اولین اثر یه نویسندهای که بعدها آثار به نامی رو خلق خواهد کرد، برخورد میکنیم، پس به هوش و آگاه باشید.
و اما بخش فوقالعاده جذاب ماجرا حداقل برای شخص خودم 😎
روایت این کتاب مشتمل بر یک دیباچه نسبتا طولانی و دو فصل داستان بهم پیوسته بعد از اون هست.
شخصیت اصلی روایت دیباچه کارکتری به نام سملی و شخصیت روایت بقیه داستان کارکتری به نام روکانون هست.
بخش جذاب کتاب برای من همین دیباچه هست.
علت اصلی اینکه ساختار کتاب به این شکله اینه که دیباچه در واقع یک داستان کوتاه مستقل بوده که لگویین قبل از نگارش کتاب سیاره روکانون اون رو به نگارش در آورده و در سال ۱۹۶۴ در مجله آمیزینگ استوریز منتشرش میکنه و بعدها اون داستان کوتاه رو بعد از اینکه بسیار مورد توجه قرار میگیره به یک ناول بلند به نام سیاره روکانون تبدیل میکنه.
در این داستان کوتاه ما با ذهن همون لگویین طلایی رو در رو هستیم. یک نویسندهی روانشناسِ انسانشناسِ مردمشناس که به واکاوی روانشناختی پدیدههای اجتماعی و آسیبهای احتمالیش در زمانهای دور و نزدیک علاقهمند هست و عموما این موضوع رو بستر نمایش یه روایت علمیتخیلی قرار میده.
چیزی که در مجموعه چرخهی هاینیش در عناوین رویای جرج اور، خلعشدگان و دست چپ تاریکی به شکوفایی، پختگی و زیبایی نهایی خودش میرسه و افتخارات زیادی رو برای لگویین به همراه میاره.
در این داستان کوتاه که نام اصلی اون The Dowry of Angyar هست لگویین ایده زیبایی رو مطرح میکنه.
بررسی آسیبهای روانشناختی و اجتماعی حاصل از مواجهه یک تمدن-جامعهی بومی پرقدرت که ساختار اجتماعیشون بر اساس سنتهای قهرمانی-افتخاری-حماسی پیریزی شده با یه نژاد بیگانهی فوق پیشرفته. که در این مواجهه علیرغم تما�� غرور و افتخاری که جامعه بدوی در خودش حس میکنه مجبور به قبول شکست و تعظیم و زانو زدن در مقابل این اربابان جدید میشه و اینکه چگونه طبقه اشراف این جامعه جایگاه مدنی و اجتماعی خودش رو در مقابل خیل عوام سنتی خودش از دست میده...
این موضوع به تنهایی آنقدر جذاب هست که یه داستان مفصل رو به خودش اختصاص بده... اما بهرحال در حد دیباچهای بسیار جذاب ما رو در این کتاب بسمت داستانی دیگر هدایت خواهد کرد.
امیدوارم بعنوان اولین کتاب از دنیای علمی تخیلی لگویین به نام هاینیش از خوندنش لذت ببرید و آنقدر براتون جذاب باشه که شمارو برای خوندن ادامه کتابهای این مجموعه ترغیب کنه.
پ.ن۱: باید تاکید کنم کتابهای مجموعه هاینیش داستانهای مستقلی دارن و صرفا در یک یونیورس و در بستر سازمانی به نام «اتحادیه» یا «اتحادیه سیارات» در این یونیورس اتفاق میافتن و شما میتونید هر کدوم رو جداگانه و فارغ از ترتیب انتشارشون مطالعه بکنید. به این ترتیب میتونید مستقیم سراغ خوندن خلعشدگان یا دست چپ تاریکی برید.
پ.ن۲: هاینیش! اینکه این واژه به چه چیزی مربوط هست فعلا در این کتاب هنوز سر به مهر باقی میمونه. ما در اینجا صرفا با نامهای منظومه اشعار کهن هاینیش و ایزدان باستانی هاینیش آشنا خواهیم شد 🤷🏻
این کتاب بیشتر یه داستان فانتزی، با مختصر المانهایی از فانتزی حماسی هست که تنها بر پیرنگ یک ایده علمی تخیلی(که البته ایدهی فوقالعاده جذابی هم هست) نگاشته شده.
پس شما با یه داستان علمیتخیلی-فانتزی سروکار خواهید داشت که بیشتر اوقاتِ خوندنش، در همون فضای فانتزی داستان به سر خواهید برد.
نکته دومی که دوست دارم در مورد این کتاب بدونید این هست که این کتاب در سال ۱۹۶۶ منتشر شده و در واقع اولین کتابی به حساب میاد که از لگویین عزیز به چاپ رسیده، پس شخصا توصیه میکنم اگر قبل از این همیشه جذب اون ایده های خفن روانکاوانه و انسانشناسانه و اجتماعی لگویین با اون نثر زیبا و مخملیش میشدید، با چنین انتظاری سراغ این کتاب نیایید.
هر چند بارقههایی از این ویژگیها در همین داستان هم نمایان هست و وعده چنان نویسندهای رو در آینده به شما میده ولی از این حیث داستان ممکنه برای شما خودش رو کمی نا امید کننده نشان بده. بهرحال داریم با اولین اثر یه نویسندهای که بعدها آثار به نامی رو خلق خواهد کرد، برخورد میکنیم، پس به هوش و آگاه باشید.
و اما بخش فوقالعاده جذاب ماجرا حداقل برای شخص خودم 😎
روایت این کتاب مشتمل بر یک دیباچه نسبتا طولانی و دو فصل داستان بهم پیوسته بعد از اون هست.
شخصیت اصلی روایت دیباچه کارکتری به نام سملی و شخصیت روایت بقیه داستان کارکتری به نام روکانون هست.
بخش جذاب کتاب برای من همین دیباچه هست.
علت اصلی اینکه ساختار کتاب به این شکله اینه که دیباچه در واقع یک داستان کوتاه مستقل بوده که لگویین قبل از نگارش کتاب سیاره روکانون اون رو به نگارش در آورده و در سال ۱۹۶۴ در مجله آمیزینگ استوریز منتشرش میکنه و بعدها اون داستان کوتاه رو بعد از اینکه بسیار مورد توجه قرار میگیره به یک ناول بلند به نام سیاره روکانون تبدیل میکنه.
در این داستان کوتاه ما با ذهن همون لگویین طلایی رو در رو هستیم. یک نویسندهی روانشناسِ انسانشناسِ مردمشناس که به واکاوی روانشناختی پدیدههای اجتماعی و آسیبهای احتمالیش در زمانهای دور و نزدیک علاقهمند هست و عموما این موضوع رو بستر نمایش یه روایت علمیتخیلی قرار میده.
چیزی که در مجموعه چرخهی هاینیش در عناوین رویای جرج اور، خلعشدگان و دست چپ تاریکی به شکوفایی، پختگی و زیبایی نهایی خودش میرسه و افتخارات زیادی رو برای لگویین به همراه میاره.
در این داستان کوتاه که نام اصلی اون The Dowry of Angyar هست لگویین ایده زیبایی رو مطرح میکنه.
بررسی آسیبهای روانشناختی و اجتماعی حاصل از مواجهه یک تمدن-جامعهی بومی پرقدرت که ساختار اجتماعیشون بر اساس سنتهای قهرمانی-افتخاری-حماسی پیریزی شده با یه نژاد بیگانهی فوق پیشرفته. که در این مواجهه علیرغم تما�� غرور و افتخاری که جامعه بدوی در خودش حس میکنه مجبور به قبول شکست و تعظیم و زانو زدن در مقابل این اربابان جدید میشه و اینکه چگونه طبقه اشراف این جامعه جایگاه مدنی و اجتماعی خودش رو در مقابل خیل عوام سنتی خودش از دست میده...
این موضوع به تنهایی آنقدر جذاب هست که یه داستان مفصل رو به خودش اختصاص بده... اما بهرحال در حد دیباچهای بسیار جذاب ما رو در این کتاب بسمت داستانی دیگر هدایت خواهد کرد.
امیدوارم بعنوان اولین کتاب از دنیای علمی تخیلی لگویین به نام هاینیش از خوندنش لذت ببرید و آنقدر براتون جذاب باشه که شمارو برای خوندن ادامه کتابهای این مجموعه ترغیب کنه.
پ.ن۱: باید تاکید کنم کتابهای مجموعه هاینیش داستانهای مستقلی دارن و صرفا در یک یونیورس و در بستر سازمانی به نام «اتحادیه» یا «اتحادیه سیارات» در این یونیورس اتفاق میافتن و شما میتونید هر کدوم رو جداگانه و فارغ از ترتیب انتشارشون مطالعه بکنید. به این ترتیب میتونید مستقیم سراغ خوندن خلعشدگان یا دست چپ تاریکی برید.
پ.ن۲: هاینیش! اینکه این واژه به چه چیزی مربوط هست فعلا در این کتاب هنوز سر به مهر باقی میمونه. ما در اینجا صرفا با نامهای منظومه اشعار کهن هاینیش و ایزدان باستانی هاینیش آشنا خواهیم شد 🤷🏻
July 16, 2014
One of the nice things about growing older is that one can rediscover authors and works that meant a lot to myself long ago, and see how things have changed over the years. Ursula K. Le Guin was one of my favorite writers of what I call "recreational literature." Rocannon's World was her very first novel, published in 1966, the year I came to live in Southern California.
What I have always like about Le Guin, is everything that her middle initial implies: It was Kroeber, after her father, Alfred L. Kroeber, an ethnologist who studied under the famous Franz Boas, and who was partly the subject of his wife Theodora's book Ishi in Two Worlds, about the last Yahi Indian. With all those anthropological genes running in her veins, Ursula has managed to add a unique twist to her writing.
Rocannon's World is full of many many peoples and cultures. The ethnologist hero Gaverel Rocannon is the only survivor of an attack on his party by an interplanetary rebellion and must make use of these different peoples to find a way to bring help to them. With all these cultures rubbing up against one another, Ursula's writing is like a rich tapestry:
As such, it was good enough to decide me on reading the other two novels in the so-called Hainish trilogy of which Rocannon's World is the first volume.
What I have always like about Le Guin, is everything that her middle initial implies: It was Kroeber, after her father, Alfred L. Kroeber, an ethnologist who studied under the famous Franz Boas, and who was partly the subject of his wife Theodora's book Ishi in Two Worlds, about the last Yahi Indian. With all those anthropological genes running in her veins, Ursula has managed to add a unique twist to her writing.
Rocannon's World is full of many many peoples and cultures. The ethnologist hero Gaverel Rocannon is the only survivor of an attack on his party by an interplanetary rebellion and must make use of these different peoples to find a way to bring help to them. With all these cultures rubbing up against one another, Ursula's writing is like a rich tapestry:
The little Name-Eaters, the Kiemhrir, these are in old songs we sing from mind to mind, but not the Winged Ones. The friends, but not the enemies. The sunlight, not the dark. And I am companion of Olhor [the Wanderer, nickname for Rocannon] who goes southward into the legends, bearing no sword. I ride with Olhor, who seeks to hear his enemy's voice, who has traveled through the great dark, who has seen the World hang like a blue jewel in the darkness. I am only a half-person. I cannot go farther than the hills. I cannot go into the high places with you, Olhor!This book is a strange mixture of fantasy and science fiction, but always with its foot on the ground. As one reads it, one gets a sense of place crowded with many cultures. Some of the characters may be a little stereotyped, but it was, after all, her first novel.
As such, it was good enough to decide me on reading the other two novels in the so-called Hainish trilogy of which Rocannon's World is the first volume.
December 16, 2022
Ursula K. Le Guin'in yayınlanmış ilk eseri Rocannon'un Dünyası. Haliyle Le Guin büyüsünden izler içerse de yazarının amatörlüğünü hissettirdiği yanları da var.
Okuduğum Le Guin bilimkurgularının benzer bir şablonu var aslında. Başkarakterimiz kendisine çok yabancı bir gezegene gider ve biz de Le Guin'in muazzam hayal gücüyle yarattığı bu gezegeni, farklı kültürü başkarakterimizin gözlerinden izleme fırsatı yakalarız. Bu roman da aynı formatı kullanıyor. Birçok gezegenin bir araya gelip oluşturduğu galaktik bir organizasyonun görevlisi Gaverel Rocannon, keşfedileli bir süre geçmesine rağmen hakkında çok az şey bilindiğini düşündüğü Fomalhaut II'ye bir araştırma gezisi düzenliyor. Ancak bir şeyler yanlış gidiyor ve bir şekilde bu gezegende, yerel halktan birileriyle beraber zorlu bir yolculuğa çıkması gerekiyor.
Buraya kadar her şey harika. Gelgelelim Le Guin'in sonraki eserlerinde gördüğümüz alışılmıştan çok farklı ama yine de tanıdık, eksiksiz bir kültür yaratma meziyeti burada birazcık sekteye uğruyor. Gezegenin akıllı yaşam formları zaten açık bir şekilde fantastik edebiyat stereotiplerinden alınmış, kimler elf kimler cüce rahatlıkla görebiliyoruz. Fakat ne bu topluluklar ne de aralarındaki ilişki hakkında çok ayrıntılı bir bilgi edinebiliyoruz. Le Guin bize yolculuk boyunca bir şeyler gösteriyor tabi ki ancak bunlar büyük bir resim oluşturmak için yeterli mi emin değilim, benim için olmadı en azından. Mesela kitabın sonlarına doğru tanıştığımız ayrı bir topluluk var gezegende, ancak bu kısım hikayeye aksiyon dışında ne katıyor anlamadım. Sondaki deus ex machinayı da anlayamadım.
Kötü bir kitap değil Rocannon'un Dünyası, hatta diğer Le Guin eserlerinden önce okusaydım çok daha fazla seveceğime de eminim ancak Le Guin standartlarıyla bakınca yazarın vasat eserleri arasında saymak gerekiyor sanırım. Bu kitapla beraber hali hazırda birkaçını okuduğum Hainli Döngüsü'nü kronolojik sırayla okumaya da başlamış oldum. Aynı evrende geçen ama birbirinden bağımsız hikayelerden oluşan tüm seriyi aralıklarla okumayı planlıyorum.
Okuduğum Le Guin bilimkurgularının benzer bir şablonu var aslında. Başkarakterimiz kendisine çok yabancı bir gezegene gider ve biz de Le Guin'in muazzam hayal gücüyle yarattığı bu gezegeni, farklı kültürü başkarakterimizin gözlerinden izleme fırsatı yakalarız. Bu roman da aynı formatı kullanıyor. Birçok gezegenin bir araya gelip oluşturduğu galaktik bir organizasyonun görevlisi Gaverel Rocannon, keşfedileli bir süre geçmesine rağmen hakkında çok az şey bilindiğini düşündüğü Fomalhaut II'ye bir araştırma gezisi düzenliyor. Ancak bir şeyler yanlış gidiyor ve bir şekilde bu gezegende, yerel halktan birileriyle beraber zorlu bir yolculuğa çıkması gerekiyor.
Buraya kadar her şey harika. Gelgelelim Le Guin'in sonraki eserlerinde gördüğümüz alışılmıştan çok farklı ama yine de tanıdık, eksiksiz bir kültür yaratma meziyeti burada birazcık sekteye uğruyor. Gezegenin akıllı yaşam formları zaten açık bir şekilde fantastik edebiyat stereotiplerinden alınmış, kimler elf kimler cüce rahatlıkla görebiliyoruz. Fakat ne bu topluluklar ne de aralarındaki ilişki hakkında çok ayrıntılı bir bilgi edinebiliyoruz. Le Guin bize yolculuk boyunca bir şeyler gösteriyor tabi ki ancak bunlar büyük bir resim oluşturmak için yeterli mi emin değilim, benim için olmadı en azından. Mesela kitabın sonlarına doğru tanıştığımız ayrı bir topluluk var gezegende, ancak bu kısım hikayeye aksiyon dışında ne katıyor anlamadım. Sondaki deus ex machinayı da anlayamadım.
Kötü bir kitap değil Rocannon'un Dünyası, hatta diğer Le Guin eserlerinden önce okusaydım çok daha fazla seveceğime de eminim ancak Le Guin standartlarıyla bakınca yazarın vasat eserleri arasında saymak gerekiyor sanırım. Bu kitapla beraber hali hazırda birkaçını okuduğum Hainli Döngüsü'nü kronolojik sırayla okumaya da başlamış oldum. Aynı evrende geçen ama birbirinden bağımsız hikayelerden oluşan tüm seriyi aralıklarla okumayı planlıyorum.
May 12, 2012
Rocannon's World is too slow to be a sprint and too short to be a marathon, and its scenery and people are too varied to be tied to one locale.
Rocannon's World is a power walk through Balboa Park on a spring morning, daylight breaking over the groves of eucalyptus and palm. It's a jog along Mission Beach at dusk in the summer, the sun's evening light turning the clouds far out over the Pacific every shade of pink, red, and orange. The societies in Rocannon's World are diverse and separate, yet linked in ways both apparent and subtle—another parallel to San Diego, in which tourism, the military, pharmaceuticals, high-tech, farming, and government all mingle and collide and, ultimately, get along pretty well.
I think Rocannon's World is UKL's first novel (really more of a novella by today's standards); it was published in 1966 and was based on a short story first published in 1964. If you find a novel of hers published earlier then I stand corrected, but the point is that Rocannon's World is one of UKL's earliest published works, and it shows the talent, vision, and style that would make her such a popular author in the coming decades. We get a solid glimpse of her ability to write in spare, beautiful prose, her talent for communicating everything the reader needs without wasting a single word or phrase. UKL also has a fondness of the romantic and fantastic, a fondness that she would temper with realism in her later books, making her story lines a little more believable, relatable. But Rocannon's World is Romantic and Fantastic, not so much relatable.
I enjoyed this book, found it relaxing, but got a little bored in a couple places and found myself sighing at the corniness in others. Still, even with the criticism, this is not a bad book. UKL's worst is still better than some authors' best. Her messing around reads easier than some authors' thoughtful planning. If you're a UKL fan, Rocannon's World is a notch you should have on your belt.
Rocannon's World is a power walk through Balboa Park on a spring morning, daylight breaking over the groves of eucalyptus and palm. It's a jog along Mission Beach at dusk in the summer, the sun's evening light turning the clouds far out over the Pacific every shade of pink, red, and orange. The societies in Rocannon's World are diverse and separate, yet linked in ways both apparent and subtle—another parallel to San Diego, in which tourism, the military, pharmaceuticals, high-tech, farming, and government all mingle and collide and, ultimately, get along pretty well.
I think Rocannon's World is UKL's first novel (really more of a novella by today's standards); it was published in 1966 and was based on a short story first published in 1964. If you find a novel of hers published earlier then I stand corrected, but the point is that Rocannon's World is one of UKL's earliest published works, and it shows the talent, vision, and style that would make her such a popular author in the coming decades. We get a solid glimpse of her ability to write in spare, beautiful prose, her talent for communicating everything the reader needs without wasting a single word or phrase. UKL also has a fondness of the romantic and fantastic, a fondness that she would temper with realism in her later books, making her story lines a little more believable, relatable. But Rocannon's World is Romantic and Fantastic, not so much relatable.
I enjoyed this book, found it relaxing, but got a little bored in a couple places and found myself sighing at the corniness in others. Still, even with the criticism, this is not a bad book. UKL's worst is still better than some authors' best. Her messing around reads easier than some authors' thoughtful planning. If you're a UKL fan, Rocannon's World is a notch you should have on your belt.
December 15, 2015
Llevaba toda la vida preparándome para leer a Ursula K. Le Guin y no siquiera lo sabía. Y espero que este cuento sea la carta de presentación de lo que me espera al leer el resto de su obra.
Y no es tanto por la historia de esta novela si no por todas las implicaciones que hay detrás. Una construcción de mundo apenas inexistente que ha creado un universo en cuatro pinceladas. Si esto no es genialidad no sé qué puede ser.
La próxima vez que alguien me diga que la mejor descripción de fusión es el flamenco-jazz le voy a estampar un libro de Le Guin en su cara.
Y no es tanto por la historia de esta novela si no por todas las implicaciones que hay detrás. Una construcción de mundo apenas inexistente que ha creado un universo en cuatro pinceladas. Si esto no es genialidad no sé qué puede ser.
La próxima vez que alguien me diga que la mejor descripción de fusión es el flamenco-jazz le voy a estampar un libro de Le Guin en su cara.
April 16, 2025
Back in the 70s and 80s, Ursula LeGuin was one of my favorite authors and I looked for her novels and short stories. Somehow, I missed this one, her first novel, published in 1966. Recently, I received a copy of this book which was battered and falling apart. After all, it's a paperback from 1966! I was happy to get it as I hadn't ever read it.
Ursula Kroeber LeGuin (1929-2018) has been considered not only one of the great science fiction/fantasy writers, but a major literary figure of our time. The book that is widely regarded as her masterpiece is "The Left Hand of Darkness," published in 1969. But my favorite of all her stories is "The Dispossessed," her utopian novel. Both novels are set in her world-building universe called "the Hainish Cycle."
"Rocannon's World" is the first book in this cycle and so important to read just for that reason. Not one of her best stories, it is short and gave me a delightful afternoon of reading. Rocannon is an Earth scientist on a planet with various races and cultures. When alien invaders attack his spaceship, killing his colleagues, the Earthman finds himself stranded on a strange and hostile world. He has to find allies and also find a way to strike back at the invaders. *** 1/2 stars-- but as it's LeGuin, I give it ****.
Ursula Kroeber LeGuin (1929-2018) has been considered not only one of the great science fiction/fantasy writers, but a major literary figure of our time. The book that is widely regarded as her masterpiece is "The Left Hand of Darkness," published in 1969. But my favorite of all her stories is "The Dispossessed," her utopian novel. Both novels are set in her world-building universe called "the Hainish Cycle."
"Rocannon's World" is the first book in this cycle and so important to read just for that reason. Not one of her best stories, it is short and gave me a delightful afternoon of reading. Rocannon is an Earth scientist on a planet with various races and cultures. When alien invaders attack his spaceship, killing his colleagues, the Earthman finds himself stranded on a strange and hostile world. He has to find allies and also find a way to strike back at the invaders. *** 1/2 stars-- but as it's LeGuin, I give it ****.
November 12, 2012
Originally posted at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Rocannon’s World, published in 1966, is Ursula Le Guin’s debut novel and the first in her HAINISH CYCLE. The story describes how Rocannon, an ethnographer, became stranded on the planet he was charting when a spaceship from Faraday, a rogue planet that is an enemy to the League of All Worlds, blew up his spaceship and the rest of his crew. Rocannon thinks he’s trapped forever until he sees a helicopter and realizes that Faraday must have a secret base on the planet. If he can find it, he can use its ansible to communicate with the League, not only letting them know that he lives, but also the location of the secret enemy base. (Fun Fact: This is the book that one of Orson Scott Card’s characters in Ender’s Game refers to when he mentions that the word “ansible” came out of an old book. Card enjoys playing this little game with SFF fans. I read Rocannon’s World after I read Ender’s Game, so this was an “ah-ha!” moment for me.)
So Rocannon collects a small group of companions and sets out across the planet on a quest to find the enemy base. Along the way he meets a few different cultures, some who are typical residents of high fantasy literature — castle-dwelling lords of a feudal society; the Fiia, who are like elves; the underground Clay People, who are like dwarves, etc. He tries to document information about these species and cultures as he goes (as usual, Le Guin’s anthropological interests are clear), but the difficulty of his quest interferes. He suffers much loss and tragedy along the way. Will he find the enemy base? Will he be rescued, or will he live on this planet forever? What Rocannon gets out of his mission is not something he expected.
Rocannon’s World has elements of both science fiction and fantasy — a technologically advanced star-traveler visits and charts the unknown species on a backward planet. The episodic plot, which sort of jumps from one cultural experience to the next, is entertaining, but not always compelling or believable. All these different HILFs (Highly Intelligent Life Forms) on one small planet, isolated from each other with no apparent cooperation or competition? Hard to believe.
Le Guin’s signature epigrammatic style is on display in Rocannon’s World, but her creativity and deep character development isn’t up to the level we’ll see later in her career. For example, I was disappointed to discover that this unknown planet was inhabited mostly by races who are recognizable from Earth’s history or mythology.
The prologue to Rocannon’s World is the short story “Semley’s Necklace,” which was published in 1964 in Amazing Stories. It tells of a young queen named Semley who met Rocannon when she went to the Clay People to ask them to help her claim a sapphire necklace that was her inheritance. They take her on a spaceship to retrieve the jewels and when she returns home with the necklace she gets an unpleasant lesson in space-time relativity. I liked this story, especially the intermingling of science fiction and fantasy, and I liked how this carried over to Rocannon’s story — he was also personally affected by the effects of space-time relativity.
Rocannon’s World is not up to Le Guin’s later level, but it’s enjoyable enough and a worthy read just because of its historical value as Le Guin’s debut novel. I listened to Stefan Rudnicki narrate Blackstone Audio’s version which is five hours long. Rudnicki was very good, as always.
Rocannon’s World (The Hainish Cycle) — (1966) A world shared by three native humanoid races — the cavern-dwelling Gdemiar, elvish Fiia, and warrior clan, Liuar — is suddenly invaded and conquered by a fleet of ships from the stars. Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world — and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.
Rocannon’s World, published in 1966, is Ursula Le Guin’s debut novel and the first in her HAINISH CYCLE. The story describes how Rocannon, an ethnographer, became stranded on the planet he was charting when a spaceship from Faraday, a rogue planet that is an enemy to the League of All Worlds, blew up his spaceship and the rest of his crew. Rocannon thinks he’s trapped forever until he sees a helicopter and realizes that Faraday must have a secret base on the planet. If he can find it, he can use its ansible to communicate with the League, not only letting them know that he lives, but also the location of the secret enemy base. (Fun Fact: This is the book that one of Orson Scott Card’s characters in Ender’s Game refers to when he mentions that the word “ansible” came out of an old book. Card enjoys playing this little game with SFF fans. I read Rocannon’s World after I read Ender’s Game, so this was an “ah-ha!” moment for me.)
So Rocannon collects a small group of companions and sets out across the planet on a quest to find the enemy base. Along the way he meets a few different cultures, some who are typical residents of high fantasy literature — castle-dwelling lords of a feudal society; the Fiia, who are like elves; the underground Clay People, who are like dwarves, etc. He tries to document information about these species and cultures as he goes (as usual, Le Guin’s anthropological interests are clear), but the difficulty of his quest interferes. He suffers much loss and tragedy along the way. Will he find the enemy base? Will he be rescued, or will he live on this planet forever? What Rocannon gets out of his mission is not something he expected.
Rocannon’s World has elements of both science fiction and fantasy — a technologically advanced star-traveler visits and charts the unknown species on a backward planet. The episodic plot, which sort of jumps from one cultural experience to the next, is entertaining, but not always compelling or believable. All these different HILFs (Highly Intelligent Life Forms) on one small planet, isolated from each other with no apparent cooperation or competition? Hard to believe.
Le Guin’s signature epigrammatic style is on display in Rocannon’s World, but her creativity and deep character development isn’t up to the level we’ll see later in her career. For example, I was disappointed to discover that this unknown planet was inhabited mostly by races who are recognizable from Earth’s history or mythology.
The prologue to Rocannon’s World is the short story “Semley’s Necklace,” which was published in 1964 in Amazing Stories. It tells of a young queen named Semley who met Rocannon when she went to the Clay People to ask them to help her claim a sapphire necklace that was her inheritance. They take her on a spaceship to retrieve the jewels and when she returns home with the necklace she gets an unpleasant lesson in space-time relativity. I liked this story, especially the intermingling of science fiction and fantasy, and I liked how this carried over to Rocannon’s story — he was also personally affected by the effects of space-time relativity.
Rocannon’s World is not up to Le Guin’s later level, but it’s enjoyable enough and a worthy read just because of its historical value as Le Guin’s debut novel. I listened to Stefan Rudnicki narrate Blackstone Audio’s version which is five hours long. Rudnicki was very good, as always.
Rocannon’s World (The Hainish Cycle) — (1966) A world shared by three native humanoid races — the cavern-dwelling Gdemiar, elvish Fiia, and warrior clan, Liuar — is suddenly invaded and conquered by a fleet of ships from the stars. Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world — and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.
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