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Paradises Lost: A touching novella about coming of age in space, from one of science-fiction's best beloved authors
Ursula k. Le Guin's beautifully realised space epic of two young friends finding their lives steer a new, and unexpected course
'Our job is to travel. A different job from arrival.'
As the ship Discovery makes its slow way through space towards New Earth, two children, Hsing and Luis, born into the ship's society, come of age together. But just as their destinies seem to be unfolding as decreed, a revelation about Discovery's true course throws new light on to their shared future.
BRIEF classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
'Our job is to travel. A different job from arrival.'
As the ship Discovery makes its slow way through space towards New Earth, two children, Hsing and Luis, born into the ship's society, come of age together. But just as their destinies seem to be unfolding as decreed, a revelation about Discovery's true course throws new light on to their shared future.
BRIEF classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,056 books32.6k 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
November 14, 2022
A surprisingly modern take on a space ark and the implications on humanity. The outcome is grim and realistic and would make for an excellent mini-series
History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.
Again awed at the excellence of Ursula K. Le Guin her science fiction writing. This feels incredibly modern and even though the pace at times felt a bit weird, the narrative delivers and is still interesting today, with the lure of VR and strong overtures of Brave New World. People are a risky business so on this space ark VR childrearing of supernatural people is used to ensure that the risks are controlled. With only 4.000 in a gene pool, racism takes hold in the space ark, despite comments lik: History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.
A new religion is emerging, whose followers start to question if living on a planet is such a joy:
Freedom is what your mind does, what your soul is.
This invariably leads to polarisation: People need god like a three year old needs a chainsaw
People start being labelled per their generation, with every iteration more risk averse to a new world and a new system of life to embrace: Our job is to travel, a different job from arrival.
Overarching importance of recycling adds a nice dash of environmentalism.
This could definitely be a good miniseries, it feels like a mix between Brave New World and the Passengers film with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, and raises interesting questions on change, and what kind of people would want to risk the loss of the comfortable and controlled world they are accustomed to: I like what I know, and I know what I like
History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.
Again awed at the excellence of Ursula K. Le Guin her science fiction writing. This feels incredibly modern and even though the pace at times felt a bit weird, the narrative delivers and is still interesting today, with the lure of VR and strong overtures of Brave New World. People are a risky business so on this space ark VR childrearing of supernatural people is used to ensure that the risks are controlled. With only 4.000 in a gene pool, racism takes hold in the space ark, despite comments lik: History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.
A new religion is emerging, whose followers start to question if living on a planet is such a joy:
Freedom is what your mind does, what your soul is.
This invariably leads to polarisation: People need god like a three year old needs a chainsaw
People start being labelled per their generation, with every iteration more risk averse to a new world and a new system of life to embrace: Our job is to travel, a different job from arrival.
Overarching importance of recycling adds a nice dash of environmentalism.
This could definitely be a good miniseries, it feels like a mix between Brave New World and the Passengers film with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, and raises interesting questions on change, and what kind of people would want to risk the loss of the comfortable and controlled world they are accustomed to: I like what I know, and I know what I like
August 8, 2020
Rereading this, I'm struck by how insightful it seems. Le Guin offers some highly thoughtful and credible theories on how a people/society in a generations long itinerant state might begin to think and act. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on words and how words lose meaning as interpretants when the signs themselves disappear from the world (if I didn't get my semiotics backwards there). The introduction of people born into space onto a planet leads to a rediscovery of the meaning of words, because words that previously lacked any referant (e.g. sunlight, clouds, wind) suddenly become a tangible part of your reality. I thought the end of the story captured very well the onslaught of new experiences and hardships for a people completely unaccustomed to either.
Thinking on that last bit, I'm struck by the thought of someone quibbling that people born into space couldn't adapt to planetary living. And while it might be a fair point that Le Guin never addresses, I also don't care. I think that there is enjoyable hard sci-fi that is crafted with exacting realism (e.g. the Martian). And I personally do find those oversights or errors quite irritating in unrealistic sci fi that doesn't have anything interesting or meaningful to say (e.g. Long way to an angry planet). But Le Guin's genius has always been that she is doing several interesting and innovative things wrt the exploration of the human condition, and it just happens to be in space or on another planet. When the writing is brilliant and the ideas engaging, the small plot holes aren't noticed. At no point during this book did I ever think about or look for such points because I was constantly engaged by the interesting ideas Le Guin was presenting. As usual, I'm extremely impressed by her mastery of writing and elevation of the sci-fi genre.
Aside aside it's a very well told novella - the pacing is perfect and keeps you interested as the plot and setting are developed in perfect tandem. The use of religious powerseekers as a dangerous influence on a ship which is run on rational principles seems quite apt and well developed. I think it maybe could have been done a bit more subtly, but as a fairly skeptical person who is hihgly critical of religion's role in causing conflict throughout history, I'm easily sold on the idea. I think knowing Le Guin's background in / fondness for Taoism helps too, as I don't perceive her as using religion as a boogeyman entirely. Taken from a different perspective, the novella can also be seen as a contrast in Western religion vs Eastern and the implications of both (a not uncommon theme in Le Guin's writing). The monotheistic religions are frequently mentioned in the beginning of the story and, by extension, they can be (and have been - looking at you Teillhard) interpreted as being entirely anthropocentric. An idealized world is one of just humans and whatever is required for their basic needs as they seek communion with God. By contrast the Visitors seek out meaning on a planet, in a wider ecological context. In a more Eastern tradition they seek meaning in life in relation to the rest of life, not simply in relation to a spiritual Other that doesn't exist in this material plane. True happiness and meaning isn't going to be found by constraining one's experience of life to a narrow subset of the human possibility, as the Angels who remain on the ship do. It's like a blind person starting a religion and converting everyone to blindness so they can more fully experience life. It might make some sense if you live somewhere with no light, but it makes no sense if you have the possiblity of seeing things.
Thinking on that last bit, I'm struck by the thought of someone quibbling that people born into space couldn't adapt to planetary living. And while it might be a fair point that Le Guin never addresses, I also don't care. I think that there is enjoyable hard sci-fi that is crafted with exacting realism (e.g. the Martian). And I personally do find those oversights or errors quite irritating in unrealistic sci fi that doesn't have anything interesting or meaningful to say (e.g. Long way to an angry planet). But Le Guin's genius has always been that she is doing several interesting and innovative things wrt the exploration of the human condition, and it just happens to be in space or on another planet. When the writing is brilliant and the ideas engaging, the small plot holes aren't noticed. At no point during this book did I ever think about or look for such points because I was constantly engaged by the interesting ideas Le Guin was presenting. As usual, I'm extremely impressed by her mastery of writing and elevation of the sci-fi genre.
Aside aside it's a very well told novella - the pacing is perfect and keeps you interested as the plot and setting are developed in perfect tandem. The use of religious powerseekers as a dangerous influence on a ship which is run on rational principles seems quite apt and well developed. I think it maybe could have been done a bit more subtly, but as a fairly skeptical person who is hihgly critical of religion's role in causing conflict throughout history, I'm easily sold on the idea. I think knowing Le Guin's background in / fondness for Taoism helps too, as I don't perceive her as using religion as a boogeyman entirely. Taken from a different perspective, the novella can also be seen as a contrast in Western religion vs Eastern and the implications of both (a not uncommon theme in Le Guin's writing). The monotheistic religions are frequently mentioned in the beginning of the story and, by extension, they can be (and have been - looking at you Teillhard) interpreted as being entirely anthropocentric. An idealized world is one of just humans and whatever is required for their basic needs as they seek communion with God. By contrast the Visitors seek out meaning on a planet, in a wider ecological context. In a more Eastern tradition they seek meaning in life in relation to the rest of life, not simply in relation to a spiritual Other that doesn't exist in this material plane. True happiness and meaning isn't going to be found by constraining one's experience of life to a narrow subset of the human possibility, as the Angels who remain on the ship do. It's like a blind person starting a religion and converting everyone to blindness so they can more fully experience life. It might make some sense if you live somewhere with no light, but it makes no sense if you have the possiblity of seeing things.
June 8, 2013
Paradisi Perduti è un libro corto, quasi un lungo racconto piuttosto che un romanzo: appena 150 pagine che ci narrano la storia della Discovery.
Ogni capitolo è un momento a sé stante, il piccolo pezzo di un puzzle che ci mostra una storia: la Le Guin non ci racconta niente.
Non ci racconta di Luis e di Hsing, ma ce li fa vedere nella loro vita, nella loro amicizia, nelle loro scelte, e tratteggia con precisione e poesia la vita quotidiana in un ambiente che per noi è alieno, eppure comprensibile: la prima pagina, in cui un padre spiega alla propria figlioletta (nata e cresciuta in un'astronave) il concetto di pianeta è genialità pura e semplice, perchè è ovvio che il semplice, assodato fatto che vivi fuori dal pianeta e non dentro il pianeta crei confusione in qualcuno che ha sperimentato solo il vivere dentro qualcosa perchè fuori c'è il niente.
Il ciclo di evluzione/vita che si vede sulla Discovery è particolare ed interessante: non importa quanto tutto sia progettato nei minimi particolari per permettere la sopravvivenza nella migliori condizioni possibili, sono i fattori psicologici umani a sfuggire al controllo, in particolare la necessità di avere fede in qualcosa, di trovare un significato più profondo e spirituale alla propria vita. Ed è lì che nasce la fonte di conflitto: una religione che vede nel viaggio il punto più alto dell'esistenza, e la tentata manipolazione per impedire l'atterraggio così da continuare una vita sicura e prive di sorprese, ed evitare il salto nel buio, nell'incertezza che comporta lo scoprire di nuovo come si vive in un'ambiente naturale, dove la luce delle stelle brucia, dove la pioggia non ha orari precisi, dove le stagioni cambiano.
Alla fine lo scontro è tra due modi di vivere: quello certo, sicuro, dove sai esattamente come e quanto morirai (perchè una nave non può andare avanti in eterno) e quello incerto, alla giornata, dove non sai quello che ti aspetta.
La narrazione di una vita, più che delle vicende di alcuni personaggi.
Lo stile della Le Guin è perfetto. Semplicemente perfetto.
Ogni singola parola è al suo posto, si può quasi immaginare l'autrice che corregge e corregge per trovare la descrizione migliore, la costruzione della frase migliore, il vocabolo migliore. Il risultato è un esempio di stile, uno scritto dalla meticolosa precisione e privo di qualsiasi sbavatura.
In sostanza, questo libro per me è un piccolo gioiello della fantascienza.
Ogni capitolo è un momento a sé stante, il piccolo pezzo di un puzzle che ci mostra una storia: la Le Guin non ci racconta niente.
Non ci racconta di Luis e di Hsing, ma ce li fa vedere nella loro vita, nella loro amicizia, nelle loro scelte, e tratteggia con precisione e poesia la vita quotidiana in un ambiente che per noi è alieno, eppure comprensibile: la prima pagina, in cui un padre spiega alla propria figlioletta (nata e cresciuta in un'astronave) il concetto di pianeta è genialità pura e semplice, perchè è ovvio che il semplice, assodato fatto che vivi fuori dal pianeta e non dentro il pianeta crei confusione in qualcuno che ha sperimentato solo il vivere dentro qualcosa perchè fuori c'è il niente.
Il ciclo di evluzione/vita che si vede sulla Discovery è particolare ed interessante: non importa quanto tutto sia progettato nei minimi particolari per permettere la sopravvivenza nella migliori condizioni possibili, sono i fattori psicologici umani a sfuggire al controllo, in particolare la necessità di avere fede in qualcosa, di trovare un significato più profondo e spirituale alla propria vita. Ed è lì che nasce la fonte di conflitto: una religione che vede nel viaggio il punto più alto dell'esistenza, e la tentata manipolazione per impedire l'atterraggio così da continuare una vita sicura e prive di sorprese, ed evitare il salto nel buio, nell'incertezza che comporta lo scoprire di nuovo come si vive in un'ambiente naturale, dove la luce delle stelle brucia, dove la pioggia non ha orari precisi, dove le stagioni cambiano.
Alla fine lo scontro è tra due modi di vivere: quello certo, sicuro, dove sai esattamente come e quanto morirai (perchè una nave non può andare avanti in eterno) e quello incerto, alla giornata, dove non sai quello che ti aspetta.
La narrazione di una vita, più che delle vicende di alcuni personaggi.
Lo stile della Le Guin è perfetto. Semplicemente perfetto.
Ogni singola parola è al suo posto, si può quasi immaginare l'autrice che corregge e corregge per trovare la descrizione migliore, la costruzione della frase migliore, il vocabolo migliore. Il risultato è un esempio di stile, uno scritto dalla meticolosa precisione e privo di qualsiasi sbavatura.
In sostanza, questo libro per me è un piccolo gioiello della fantascienza.
July 31, 2026
read mostly in one night! very interesting set up and very suspenseful, will read anything ursula k le gain writes
November 6, 2019
Oggi ci diamo alla fantascienza con un’autrice di fama internazionale: Ursula K. Le Guin e il suo Paradisi Perduti.
Nulla da dire, la La Guin scrive bene ed è capace di tenerci incollati alle pagine anche per i primi due terzi dell’opera che si avvicina più a un saggio sociologico più che a un romanzo vero e proprio.
La vicenda per ogni buon studioso delle abitudini e attitudini umane rimane comunque interessante. Tutto questo rimuginare, ben inteso, facendo trapelare le informazioni attraverso i comportamenti dei protagonisti, senza mai perdersi in sermoni descrittivi e prolissi, è volto a edificare un bel finale.
Si tratta di scontri di visioni molto affascinanti e capaci di far riflettere ognuno di noi. Sfido chiunque, giunto a conclusione di questo romanzo breve, andiamo poco oltre le 100 paginette, a non avere il dubbio amletico su che via avrebbe intrapreso se si fosse trovato nei panni degli abitanti della Discovery. Recensione completa: https://www.scrittorindipendenti.com/...
Nulla da dire, la La Guin scrive bene ed è capace di tenerci incollati alle pagine anche per i primi due terzi dell’opera che si avvicina più a un saggio sociologico più che a un romanzo vero e proprio.
La vicenda per ogni buon studioso delle abitudini e attitudini umane rimane comunque interessante. Tutto questo rimuginare, ben inteso, facendo trapelare le informazioni attraverso i comportamenti dei protagonisti, senza mai perdersi in sermoni descrittivi e prolissi, è volto a edificare un bel finale.
Si tratta di scontri di visioni molto affascinanti e capaci di far riflettere ognuno di noi. Sfido chiunque, giunto a conclusione di questo romanzo breve, andiamo poco oltre le 100 paginette, a non avere il dubbio amletico su che via avrebbe intrapreso se si fosse trovato nei panni degli abitanti della Discovery. Recensione completa: https://www.scrittorindipendenti.com/...
August 31, 2021
I was thoroughly enjoying this but it really started to drag going into the second half. Still good, but it could have been a shorter short story.
August 14, 2026
I'm so grateful that I was not born on a generation ship! (Kisses the dirt).
Also, yet again, religion in space is a terrible idea!
This is a bit of a hidden gem amongst Le Guin's repertoire of work.
Also, yet again, religion in space is a terrible idea!
This is a bit of a hidden gem amongst Le Guin's repertoire of work.
August 20, 2026
Blissful! No, a delight!
September 5, 2017
Read as a part of The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin
This is another sci-fi novella, but not set in a pre-existing universe like the other sci-fi stories in this collection. The world is setup gradually and deliberately, giving one a satisfying sense of what's going on, unlike the other books where you pretty much needed some pre-existing knowledge to fully appreciate. The writing is once again very good and the characters are unique and interesting. Most were a bit odd but made sense within the context of the world. The themes brought up were also explored nicely and worked well in the story which the author seems to do consistently well, albeit heavy-handedly at times.
I've complained about the story telling before in this collection and while this is one of the better stories, it still had some unsatisfying aspects. The main conflict is never really resolved and we're left with everyone begrudgingly compromising. It's not that I mind that kind of resolution to a story, it's more that apart from the brief time we have with the arising of the conflict, the story is otherwise quite ordinary and slow. The details of the world and some of the interactions were nice to read, but for a short story such as this, it really needed an impactful climax.
This is another sci-fi novella, but not set in a pre-existing universe like the other sci-fi stories in this collection. The world is setup gradually and deliberately, giving one a satisfying sense of what's going on, unlike the other books where you pretty much needed some pre-existing knowledge to fully appreciate. The writing is once again very good and the characters are unique and interesting. Most were a bit odd but made sense within the context of the world. The themes brought up were also explored nicely and worked well in the story which the author seems to do consistently well, albeit heavy-handedly at times.
I've complained about the story telling before in this collection and while this is one of the better stories, it still had some unsatisfying aspects. The main conflict is never really resolved and we're left with everyone begrudgingly compromising. It's not that I mind that kind of resolution to a story, it's more that apart from the brief time we have with the arising of the conflict, the story is otherwise quite ordinary and slow. The details of the world and some of the interactions were nice to read, but for a short story such as this, it really needed an impactful climax.
June 24, 2025
Brilliant.
What if the muscles that would have unveiled Paradise to you had atrophied?
What if Eve's discovery of overgrowth found in Milton's Eden had come to pass, not in the garden, but in language?
A game of Telephone across generations of the kind that Robert Frost predicted?
Or an argument about whether a Generation owes anything to any other, that Thomas Jefferson famously rejected?
What is History, and can it be important?
The novella holds all of these things with an acuity most authors can only dream about.
What if the muscles that would have unveiled Paradise to you had atrophied?
What if Eve's discovery of overgrowth found in Milton's Eden had come to pass, not in the garden, but in language?
A game of Telephone across generations of the kind that Robert Frost predicted?
Or an argument about whether a Generation owes anything to any other, that Thomas Jefferson famously rejected?
What is History, and can it be important?
The novella holds all of these things with an acuity most authors can only dream about.
November 22, 2021
This is a really unusual generation ship story in that nothing goes wrong with the ship, nor are their notable social problems within it. No, the threat is that one element of society - a new religion - has adapted TOO well to the ship environment and now doesn't want to stop when they reach the new planet. But entropy is still a thing!
Full review: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...
Full review: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...
June 27, 2021
Read as part of The Birthday of the World collection. It was a wonderful story.
December 19, 2024
Absolutely loved this book! A wonderful way to get back to reading for pleasure.
March 23, 2025
The Middle Passage.
Le Guin's Paradises Lost takes place aboard a generation ship traveling through space on a centuries-long voyage to colonize a distant planet. The story spans multiple generations, focusing on the lives of the descendants of the original crew who were born aboard the ship and have never experienced life on Earth. As the journey progresses, the peoples in the "middle generations" -- those who were never expected to see the new planet -- start to lose their sense of purpose and develop their own religion that being and living on the ship is Heaven itself and that they are already angels, and the only true death is leaving the ship. It's a fascinating little twist that gets further entangled in the fact that the ship is scheduled to arrive at the new planet early. Le Guin's ability to organically develop this new "religion" to make it seem plausible is masterful and represents the best kind of thought-experimental SF.
Le Guin's Paradises Lost takes place aboard a generation ship traveling through space on a centuries-long voyage to colonize a distant planet. The story spans multiple generations, focusing on the lives of the descendants of the original crew who were born aboard the ship and have never experienced life on Earth. As the journey progresses, the peoples in the "middle generations" -- those who were never expected to see the new planet -- start to lose their sense of purpose and develop their own religion that being and living on the ship is Heaven itself and that they are already angels, and the only true death is leaving the ship. It's a fascinating little twist that gets further entangled in the fact that the ship is scheduled to arrive at the new planet early. Le Guin's ability to organically develop this new "religion" to make it seem plausible is masterful and represents the best kind of thought-experimental SF.
July 21, 2026
3.5. Not a scifi girl, but loved the themes behind the story. Would have enjoyed it more without the scifi setting tbh; I believe the general plot is applicable to regular life on Earth without the whole space voyage context. But that's just me.
Prof. Tonia Payne: Le Guin does not explicitly criticize the concept of religion in general, but the tendency within religion to reduce "reality" to that which can be contained and controlled by the human mind.
I found the terms borrowed from Chinese to be cringey though. Shindychew... It's the whole romanticising of Chinese language in general. "her name not in letters but in the ancient ideogram: 星"... hahaha. And that scene when Luis called Hsing's flat Chinese face "The Great Wall of China"... hahaha.
Prof. Tonia Payne: Le Guin does not explicitly criticize the concept of religion in general, but the tendency within religion to reduce "reality" to that which can be contained and controlled by the human mind.
I found the terms borrowed from Chinese to be cringey though. Shindychew... It's the whole romanticising of Chinese language in general. "her name not in letters but in the ancient ideogram: 星"... hahaha. And that scene when Luis called Hsing's flat Chinese face "The Great Wall of China"... hahaha.
September 18, 2026
love me some ursula
August 24, 2026
Ok I thought this was going to be a meh sci fi but it was a certified literary banger
‘Words were dark stars, some small and dull and solid, some immense, complex, subtle, with a powerful gravity-field that attracted infinite meanings to them. ‘Freedom’ was the biggest of the dark stars.’
‘Words were dark stars, some small and dull and solid, some immense, complex, subtle, with a powerful gravity-field that attracted infinite meanings to them. ‘Freedom’ was the biggest of the dark stars.’
Want to Read
November 16, 2024Novella, from The Birthday of the World and Other Stories. Library copies available.
Jo Walton lists this as one of the 10 best SF novellas in this century!
See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... for my (partial) review of that collection. It's great.
Jo Walton lists this as one of the 10 best SF novellas in this century!
See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... for my (partial) review of that collection. It's great.
June 6, 2026
15/10 no notes other than some boring (astro) physics plothole nitpicks (feeling acceleration, charting more convenient courses, extremely terrestrial planet and so forth). really wonderful utopia musings and unexpected (perhaps just unknown to me) chineseness. i was very very moved by much of it. reminded me somewhat of wayfarers 1, also the second book of that aztec inspired scifi that i cannot remember the name of. and some ya trilogy from ten years ago. and generally all of the spaceship civilization fiction. butler lilith’s brood comes to mind, with possibly similar themes? been a while, but obviously quite different in the execution.
i’m also not convinced that four thousand is enough people, but i guess i dont know much about population genetics or workforce delegation…i would expect that roughly half must be children at any given time? actually that should be exactly true. so, idk. blurry on the details but i get why they’re offered. it’s also interesting to compare to the dispossessed which is doing a very similar thing.
also quite moved by the photographs of leguin 60 years apart.
so much to chew on here! very interesting thought experiment.
i’m also not convinced that four thousand is enough people, but i guess i dont know much about population genetics or workforce delegation…i would expect that roughly half must be children at any given time? actually that should be exactly true. so, idk. blurry on the details but i get why they’re offered. it’s also interesting to compare to the dispossessed which is doing a very similar thing.
also quite moved by the photographs of leguin 60 years apart.
so much to chew on here! very interesting thought experiment.
August 9, 2026
Le Guin has a way of thinking about our world from the outside that feels unmatched. Her creativity, her questioning of humanity’s most fundamental assumptions, always leaves me in awe. This story is no different and I was compelled to read it feverishly in one sitting. So much wisdom about knowledge, purpose, belief, and survival - in such a delicately constructed universe.
But what of the merely normal, usual behavior of human beings? What is aberrant? Who's sane? /
Read the histories, say the teachers. History tells us who we are, how we have behaved, therefore how we will behave. /
Does it? The history in the bookscreens, Earth History, that appalling record of injustice, cruelty, enslavement, hatred, murder-that record, justified and glorified by every government and institution, of waste and misuse of human life, animal life, plant life, the air, the water, the planet? If that is who we are, what hope for us? History must be what we have escaped from. It is what we were, not what we are. History is what we need never do again.
July 2, 2026
Le Guin creates such a vivid story within a limited space. Just as she managed to create a whole world within the confined space of the Discovery spaceship.
The way she manages to not only fit an exciting story, but also memorable characterisation into roughly 140 pages is astonishing. 5-Liu Hsing and 5-Nova Luis are such rich characters and their arcs are so believable.
The themes of ecocriticism, power structures, deep-rootedness of religious beliefsystems and the ideals of an utopia, feel even more relevant today than when the story was first published in 2002.
I picked this book up as an inbetween read, while I waited for the book I had ordered to arrive. I had not expected to enjoy it as much as I did, not even close!
The way she manages to not only fit an exciting story, but also memorable characterisation into roughly 140 pages is astonishing. 5-Liu Hsing and 5-Nova Luis are such rich characters and their arcs are so believable.
The themes of ecocriticism, power structures, deep-rootedness of religious beliefsystems and the ideals of an utopia, feel even more relevant today than when the story was first published in 2002.
I picked this book up as an inbetween read, while I waited for the book I had ordered to arrive. I had not expected to enjoy it as much as I did, not even close!
September 10, 2026
I really enjoyed the concept here, which was fascinating in itself, but I didn't feel the social commentary being made through it as keenly as I would have liked to. This is in deep contrast to the other Le Guin book I've read so far, The Dispossessed, which is fantastically sharp in its allegory and critique. I also really felt Le Guin's characteristically anarchist fetishisation of subsistence-living as an ideal, power-free mode of social organisation here, which I politically disagree with on a number of levels. Curious that anarchists can never really imagine an anarchist society which thrives, and wins, and has abundance...
March 28, 2025
In dieser utopischen Novelle schickt Le Guin ein Schiff mit 4000 Menschen auf eine Erkundungsreise zu einem fernen erdähnlichen Planeten, den voraussichtlich erst die sechste Generation erreichen wird. Die „Welt“ der Reisenden ist ein abgeschlossenes Paradies, in dem Krankheiten, Abstammung oder Geschlecht kaum eine Rolle spielen. Aber was bedeutet Freiheit in dieser Welt? Wenn man nur die Reise kennt, wie kann man dann ankommen? Und will man das überhaupt?
July 12, 2026
What a brilliant book and a marvelous piece of storytelling. Beneath its futuristic science fiction universe lies a profound exploration of human existence and the timeless questions that have always defined us. Le Guin weaves these themes together with extraordinary insight, grace, and humanity, making the novel as thought-provoking as it is compelling. One of the truly great reads out there.
September 19, 2026
Beautiful as ever with Le Guin. Captures the minutiae and fallibility of being human. Equal parts frustrating and hopeful, to see human behaviour play out in such a familiar way.
Follows the lives of two people growing up and living on a ship travelling for 200 years from earth on a mission to discover a new planet. Le Guin's writing reads like poetry even when describing the mundane everyday or technical sci fi details.
The whole story felt like a parable for AI (despite not being about or featuring any AI), with the extremes around choosing to follow something blindly and accepting oblivion as inevitable vs rejecting that and embracing earth and elements and experience.
Follows the lives of two people growing up and living on a ship travelling for 200 years from earth on a mission to discover a new planet. Le Guin's writing reads like poetry even when describing the mundane everyday or technical sci fi details.
The whole story felt like a parable for AI (despite not being about or featuring any AI), with the extremes around choosing to follow something blindly and accepting oblivion as inevitable vs rejecting that and embracing earth and elements and experience.
October 6, 2026
It’s nice to go in blind to a book now and then, especially for books I’m not familiar with and so have no expectations. This was a cute little story and I enjoyed how reflective and profound it could be. I also appreciate that she could’ve absolutely fleshed it out into a good 350 page novel, but chose to keep it more directed and brief.
September 4, 2026
HASHTAG obviously very, very excellent
October 5, 2026
Surprisingly emotional, so thought provoking, really enjoyable
Read
August 19, 2026One of the best sci fi novels I’ve ever read, so humanistic at its root.
Did Not Finish
July 8, 2026Not a single sentence made sense to me.
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