The Eye of the Heron

Rating:
Summary: This book shows a hope for oppression all over the world.
Review: I enjoyed this book. It showed inventive ideas and was very inspirational. I hope you will also read The Word For World is Forest, because it also shows hope for oppressed peoples. I have only read three of her books, but this was by far the best.

Rating:
Summary: A good novel, but not Le Guin's best
Review: The Eye of the Heron chronicles the inhabitants of the planet Victoria, originally a prison colony of Earth. However, 'The People of Peace,' who led a non-violent movement against the great wars of Earth, were also sent to the planet be the government of a great nation. When the novel begins, the people of the prison colony enjoy great comforts in town, disdaining the People of Peace, who do their farming.

Those who live outside the city grow tired of this poor exchange, and want to go found a new city, with no oppression. The novel explores the struggle to do this, as the non-violent people question their own ideals.

This book has beautiful moments, and the characters are well-conceived. However, it lacks the depth of some of Le Guin's other novels like The Dispossesd and The Left Hand of Darkness. It is an enjoyable read, but in the end it is lighthearted rather than than deep and pondering.

Rating:
Summary: Fine thriller just not sci fi
Review: The planet Victoria was founded as a prison colony, but the original mission expired. The descendents of the prisoners and guards/wardens evolved into two prime groups: the Shantih farmers and those who live in the City. The agricultural residents of Shantih believe in independence for the individual and peaceful coexistence as a group. Bosses reign over the City and employ force to severely rule over the farmers.

Tired of tyranny, some farmers decide to begin a new colony far away from their oppressors. However, the Bosses believe that one escapee could destroy their positions of power. Luz, daughter of the Big Boss of the City, knows oppression first hand though she has lived a relatively pampered life. She decides to grasp at freedom at all costs by joining the rebellious farmers.

Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" books were some of my first fantasy novels so this reviewer has a special bias for one of the genre greats. THE EYE OF THE HERON is a reprint of a late 1970s tale that occurs on another world, but nothing unique really makes the reader feel that they are off-planet. Still, the key cast members, especially Luz and her father, come across as genuine, so that the audience sees the quest for independence and few societal restrictions and intrusions on two levels, that within a family and that between two castes with one enjoying the fruits of a dominant position that they refuse to cede (South Africa before Mandela). This still remains a solid work of fiction just not science fiction.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Fine thriller just not sci fi
Review: The planet Victoria was founded as a prison colony, but the original mission expired. The descendents of the prisoners and guards/wardens evolved into two prime groups: the Shantih farmers and those who live in the City. The agricultural residents of Shantih believe in independence for the individual and peaceful coexistence as a group. Bosses reign over the City and employ force to severely rule over the farmers.

Tired of tyranny, some farmers decide to begin a new colony far away from their oppressors. However, the Bosses believe that one escapee could destroy their positions of power. Luz, daughter of the Big Boss of the City, knows oppression first hand though she has lived a relatively pampered life. She decides to grasp at freedom at all costs by joining the rebellious farmers.

Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" books were some of my first fantasy novels so this reviewer has a special bias for one of the genre greats. THE EYE OF THE HERON is a reprint of a late 1970s tale that occurs on another world, but nothing unique really makes the reader feel that they are off-planet. Still, the key cast members, especially Luz and her father, come across as genuine, so that the audience sees the quest for independence and few societal restrictions and intrusions on two levels, that within a family and that between two castes with one enjoying the fruits of a dominant position that they refuse to cede (South Africa before Mandela). This still remains a solid work of fiction just not science fiction.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Burn BEFORE reading
Review: Ursula K. Le Guin is my favorite writer. That is why I advise you: do not read this book. It is surely the worst of Le Guin's novels and I hope the author is ashamed of it and wants to forget that she ever wrote it. (But I am not sure if my hope is well located.)

Rating:
Summary: A well-written novel... and a thoughtful look at nonviolence
Review: While this novel may not rise to the level of her very best work, prose-wise, it nonetheless is well-written--and its explorations of nonviolence, its challenges and the ways in which it can both succeed and fail, were highly influential on me, and have had a long term effect on how I view conflict. This one is well worth reading, and is as worthy of Le Guin's name as any of her better-known works.