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Thursday, June 18, 2020

Rocannon's World (1966) by Ursula Le Guin


Book Review
Rocannon's World  (1966) 
 by Ursula Le Guin

    I find myself in need of escape these days- particularly when I am out running, I just can't focus on heavy stuff.  Rocannon's World is the first book in Ursula Le Guin's pioneering Hainish Cycle, one of the first works of modern science fiction to incorporate the social science insights of the post-war world into science fiction/fantasy.   Le Guin was the daughter of Alfred Kroeber, a pioneering anthropologist who studied under Franz Boas at Columbia University and is part of the group of social scientists associated with the field of "cultural relativism."

   Less developed than the sophisticated sociology of The Dispossessed-  generally considered to be the best of the set- Rocannon's World still shows a well developed appreciation of what you might call "alien sociology."  Kroeber was well known for his work with Native American tribes, and Le Guin  shows a sensitifity to the differences between "advanced" and "primitive" civilizations that is sadly lacking in much science fiction/fantasy up to this point (and indeed well beyond) where alien life forms are often imaged as a terrifying/mindless "other," and a threat to be destroyed.

  Rocannon's World makes the point that genre science fiction can establish interesting sociological observations while adhering to rote tropes of middle ages derived knights and Tolkienian hobbits.

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