Lucas Blogs About Rocannon's World
 |
| I'll admit it, I possess a weakness for Le Guin omnibuses . . . omnibi? |
So, what's this book's deal? Oh, hey, it's another Ursula K. Le Guin collection!
It is, but this time I'm only blogging about the first book: Rocannon's World. So, I've already read The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed with which it shares a setting, but this is the first book she wrote in what is generally called The Hainish Cycle. Speaking of Hain, Rocannon, the protagonist hails from Hain. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The novel begins with a brief ethnological note about the second planet of Fomalhaut, where a previous survey had revealed multiple sentient hominids with a roughly bronze/iron age level of technology. However, after this sketch, the prologue feels like a fairytale: with a young princess in search of an appropriate dowry. She travels to her father's castle and is told that the family treasue, a necklace was given to the dwarf-like Gdemiar, who tell her that they gave the necklace to the Starlords. They promise to take her to meet the Starlords, which turn out to be the League of All Worlds, a concept she can barely comprehend. While she retrieves the necklace, she returns home to find her husband dead and her daughter fully-grown while she hasn't aged at all because of the effects of time dilation. We then skip forwars a couple of generations, to find that Rocannon, an ethnographer with the League (and one of the people the princess met in the prologue), has come to perform another survey and is staying at the court of the princess' grandson. He's preparing to leave when he loses contact with his associates in an orbiting ship and picks up a transmission from the League's enemies in a galactic war. He then embarks on an adventure to try and save the world from the depredations of this largely unseen enemy in a story that bears a good deal more resemblance to a fantasy than science fiction. Especially since Rocannon's advanced technology is (to borrow a turn of phrase from Arthur C. Clarke) indistinguishable from magic.
So they think he's a wizard?
Or a god. In any case, he's perceived as being somehow an outsider whose powers are both impressive and dangerous. The story isn't so complex, but LeGuin (unsurprisingly) creates a gripping narrative. This is partly because Rocannon isn't your standard fantasy protagonist. As an ethnographer, he's not exactly used to relying on his courage or wits and at the beginning of the story he is largely reliant on technology (like his personal forcefield) or his companions to protect him from the dangers of the journey. Although, by the conclusion he is a bit of a standard action hero, he's also back in his element once he finds and boards the enemy vessel that's landed on the planet.
Whoa, being a little free with those SPOILERS, aren't you?
It's been in print for more than fifty years. Besides, the story is more about him finding his place on the planet and finding his own self-respect than about any of the particular actions he takes.
Oh, kind of like The Hobbit?
Kind of, there are plenty of times when Rocannon, like Bilbo, wishes he weren't out on an adventure. However, the stakes are a bit higher, since it can affect the course of a galactic war. Which feels a little out of place in an Ursula K. Le Guin book.
It's true, you usually make her work out to be more internally focused.
Yeah, Rocannon's character arc is still present, but it's focused primarily on his goal of contacting the League of All Worlds and telling them about the enemy base and the attack on his team. Another change is that the League of All Worlds is a good deal more colonial in its outlook than the Ekumen is in The Left Hand of Darkness.
Well, that also seems weird for Le Guin.
It does. The League of All Worlds initially only had contact with the more technologically advanced group on the planet (who are early-industrial dwarf-like hominids), and hadn't revealed themselves to anyone else. Rocannon's initial encounter with the princess leads him to travel back to the planet to reevaluate it. And while he comes to respect the different people he meets there, his attitude is still paternalistic. But it was the sixties, and it's fascinating to see how Le Guin's writing and worlds changed over time.
For example.
Well, that personal force field thing would have been pretty useful to Genly Ai on Gethen. Speaking of, the League of All Worlds has either become or been replaced by an organization called the Ekumen by the time of The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed.
Do you think that will be the arc of the Hainish books overall?
No, the Hainish novels are more of a setting than a series. While the Earthsea books share a set of main characters and have a (mostly) linear chronology, the Hainish stories are spread out across space and time. It seems like Le Guin liked having the setting to return to, but wasn't so hung up on continuity or consistency.
So she could have familiar elements like the ansible and time dilation from space travel while also creating new worlds to set stories in?
Yeah, that's sounds about right. In any case, Rocannon's World may not stand out as one of her best books, but it's a fun peek into the kind of stuff she was writing earlier in her career.
Speaking of her writing . . .
Oh, it's well-written. It may not be that thoughtful or introspective, but it's a quick read. Like, say, The Tombs of Atuan, you could read it in a day or two. It's short, but Le Guin deftly blends genres and narrative styles to craft a fun, breezy adventure story, suitable for ages 12 and up.
Are you working for the publisher?
No, but I agree I do sound like a bit of a shill at the end there.
I forgive you.
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin, from Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories, Volume One, Library of America hardcover edition, 2017, originally published 1966, 116 pages, pairs well with mead sipped from an atomic-powered turbo-flagon
Links:
Here's the author's website, if you're into that kinda thing.
It is, but this time I'm only blogging about the first book: Rocannon's World. So, I've already read The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed with which it shares a setting, but this is the first book she wrote in what is generally called The Hainish Cycle. Speaking of Hain, Rocannon, the protagonist hails from Hain. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The novel begins with a brief ethnological note about the second planet of Fomalhaut, where a previous survey had revealed multiple sentient hominids with a roughly bronze/iron age level of technology. However, after this sketch, the prologue feels like a fairytale: with a young princess in search of an appropriate dowry. She travels to her father's castle and is told that the family treasue, a necklace was given to the dwarf-like Gdemiar, who tell her that they gave the necklace to the Starlords. They promise to take her to meet the Starlords, which turn out to be the League of All Worlds, a concept she can barely comprehend. While she retrieves the necklace, she returns home to find her husband dead and her daughter fully-grown while she hasn't aged at all because of the effects of time dilation. We then skip forwars a couple of generations, to find that Rocannon, an ethnographer with the League (and one of the people the princess met in the prologue), has come to perform another survey and is staying at the court of the princess' grandson. He's preparing to leave when he loses contact with his associates in an orbiting ship and picks up a transmission from the League's enemies in a galactic war. He then embarks on an adventure to try and save the world from the depredations of this largely unseen enemy in a story that bears a good deal more resemblance to a fantasy than science fiction. Especially since Rocannon's advanced technology is (to borrow a turn of phrase from Arthur C. Clarke) indistinguishable from magic.
So they think he's a wizard?
Or a god. In any case, he's perceived as being somehow an outsider whose powers are both impressive and dangerous. The story isn't so complex, but LeGuin (unsurprisingly) creates a gripping narrative. This is partly because Rocannon isn't your standard fantasy protagonist. As an ethnographer, he's not exactly used to relying on his courage or wits and at the beginning of the story he is largely reliant on technology (like his personal forcefield) or his companions to protect him from the dangers of the journey. Although, by the conclusion he is a bit of a standard action hero, he's also back in his element once he finds and boards the enemy vessel that's landed on the planet.
Whoa, being a little free with those SPOILERS, aren't you?
It's been in print for more than fifty years. Besides, the story is more about him finding his place on the planet and finding his own self-respect than about any of the particular actions he takes.
Oh, kind of like The Hobbit?
Kind of, there are plenty of times when Rocannon, like Bilbo, wishes he weren't out on an adventure. However, the stakes are a bit higher, since it can affect the course of a galactic war. Which feels a little out of place in an Ursula K. Le Guin book.
It's true, you usually make her work out to be more internally focused.
Yeah, Rocannon's character arc is still present, but it's focused primarily on his goal of contacting the League of All Worlds and telling them about the enemy base and the attack on his team. Another change is that the League of All Worlds is a good deal more colonial in its outlook than the Ekumen is in The Left Hand of Darkness.
Well, that also seems weird for Le Guin.
It does. The League of All Worlds initially only had contact with the more technologically advanced group on the planet (who are early-industrial dwarf-like hominids), and hadn't revealed themselves to anyone else. Rocannon's initial encounter with the princess leads him to travel back to the planet to reevaluate it. And while he comes to respect the different people he meets there, his attitude is still paternalistic. But it was the sixties, and it's fascinating to see how Le Guin's writing and worlds changed over time.
For example.
Well, that personal force field thing would have been pretty useful to Genly Ai on Gethen. Speaking of, the League of All Worlds has either become or been replaced by an organization called the Ekumen by the time of The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed.
Do you think that will be the arc of the Hainish books overall?
No, the Hainish novels are more of a setting than a series. While the Earthsea books share a set of main characters and have a (mostly) linear chronology, the Hainish stories are spread out across space and time. It seems like Le Guin liked having the setting to return to, but wasn't so hung up on continuity or consistency.
So she could have familiar elements like the ansible and time dilation from space travel while also creating new worlds to set stories in?
Yeah, that's sounds about right. In any case, Rocannon's World may not stand out as one of her best books, but it's a fun peek into the kind of stuff she was writing earlier in her career.
Speaking of her writing . . .
Oh, it's well-written. It may not be that thoughtful or introspective, but it's a quick read. Like, say, The Tombs of Atuan, you could read it in a day or two. It's short, but Le Guin deftly blends genres and narrative styles to craft a fun, breezy adventure story, suitable for ages 12 and up.
Are you working for the publisher?
No, but I agree I do sound like a bit of a shill at the end there.
I forgive you.
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin, from Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories, Volume One, Library of America hardcover edition, 2017, originally published 1966, 116 pages, pairs well with mead sipped from an atomic-powered turbo-flagon
Links:
Here's the author's website, if you're into that kinda thing.
Comments
Post a Comment