I just finished reading Rocannon’s World, by Ursula K. Le Guin. I have previously read all of the Earthsea novels as well as The Left Hand of Darkness and the Disposessed. It’s been a while and I plan to re-read them, so I figured I may as well read them in publication order. I knew this would be rough, being her first novel, and it met my expectations. The hallmarks of this novel include sloppy world-building, undeveloped characters, and a cavalier relationship with the concept of a narrative.

The book does start with a bang when Semley makes a gut-wrenching sacrifice without knowing she’s doing it. Sacrifice becomes the main theme, as every character is called upon to lose everything one by one. Because of this, the story arc is not entirely predictable and I was ready to believe the mission had failed at the end. There was a moment of actual delight when the fireworks went off – followed by, of course, the casual one-line mention that Rocannon died before eight years had passed. Very true to the rest of the book, and I have to respect that.