Worlds of Exile and Illusion

Le Guin's first three Hainish novels collected in one spellbinding volume. For such short novels (the longest, City of Illusions, is barely 150 pages) Le Guin packs a hell of a lot of story, ideas and emotion into them. There is no feeling of a writer “finding her voice” here. These stories spring to life fully formed.

In Rocannon's World the sole survivor of a planetary survey mission must go on a quest to warn other worlds of the secret invasion by a deadly enemy. It's a simple enough trope - a group of people travelling across vast distances to do/find/fight something. But Le Guin fills the story with such pathos, especially at the end, that it is quite moving.

In Planet of Exile group of human colonists, abandoned to their own devices when the League of Worlds collapsed, must help a group of native hilfs (High Intelligence Lifeforms) fight off a marauding army of savages. Again the story is shot through with loss, and a real fight for survival. This is probably my favourite of the three.

In City of Illusions a man is found in the forests of Earth, naked and mindless and is nursed back to health and sanity. But he has no memory of his previous life. He must then go on a journey to the city of Es Toch, home of the alien Shing, who have conquered Man and destroyed the League of Worlds. But who is the man, where did he come from? The most convoluted of the three novels here, Le Guin packs the story with plot and, despite threatening to spiral out of control towards the end, manages to tie all the story strands up, the man, Falk, achieving some kind of victory.

The common denominator here is the brilliant prose. This is SF that is a pleasure to read, fully formed characters, logical plot development and weighty ideas. If you haven't read any Le Guin, or only know her Earthsea books, try some of her Science Fiction. This is the ideal place to start. Wonderful stuff.