'Worlds of Exile and Illusion' by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the last century’s most exceptional science fiction authors. Remarkable for her use of language, she bent English, just slightly, to render impressions of distant worlds and cultures without becoming incomprehensible. Worlds of Exile and Illusion collects those first three Le Guin novels—Rocannon’s World (1964), Planet of Exile (1966) and City of Illusions (1967)—that introduced a universe of immensity and diversity, brimming with humanoid life. Le Guin’s imagination wasn’t grounded in technology but in mythology, anthropology and sociology and her work was closer to J.R.R. Tolkien than Robert Heinlein. Her prose was often brilliant, “a valley that was green as a painted bowl and full to the brim with sunlight.” Award-winning young science fiction author Amal El-Mohtar provides a heartfelt introduction to the new edition.
