Since my father's funeral, I've owned an Ursula K LeGuin collection. Until recently, I learned it was not the collection I've wanted to read. That book was The Earthsea Quartet, and the one I just concluded was Rocannon's World, the first in the volume of The Hainish Novels and stories.
My copy is a hard cover, fabric bound brick of a book, and I understand thoroughly the attention and care that went into the book making process, with the exception of the impossibly thin paper. At times it feels like handling a phone book - but this isn't an extinct, useless index of names.
Here lies story. A tale of a planet with many moons many races, journey, adventure, suspense, and danger. It follows the eponymous Rocannon, as someone set to survey the world.
It starts with a necklace, which is a plot device from the first page to the last. I certainly draw conclusions that the material value of the item, given the galactic scale of the politics at play - is next to nothing, but what it represents to people, much like crown jewels or a gilded Cape, is what makes it a valued object.
Without this story, it would be a mere piece of metal and mineral. With it , the inert item becomes an artifact that even I, as a reader value. But of course, the necklace isn't the main character. The world that surrounds Rocannon, and his exploration of it, with his unlikely band of allies is the real story.
The differing cultures the different levels of technological sophistication, and the way in which each of these elements interact are where peril and resolution regularly beat their drums through a well paced plot. The ending comes on a little bit suddenly, but at this stage it was the goal right from the start.
One of my favourite parts of this story are the windsteeds. There are large, flying cat creatures which Rocannon and his buddies use to get around some parts of the world. They are the sort of creature I'd love as a pet. They sound adorable, and really, rather useful. And cute. They have a lot of personality.
LeGuin is easy to read. She communicates clearly, and in lieu of showing a lot of the world this is certainly a tale that has a lot of telling. However, there is so much rich world to be learned about here that if it were shown not told the tale would be about three to four times longer.
Given the quantity of pages in the overarching tale that seems forgivable, but you'll excuse me for not marveling over a single bit of prose. Here I devoured story, and it kept my enchanted all along the way of its winding path.
There's a lot in this tale, and as time distances me from it, I will no doubt begin to appreciate it more deeply. For now, I turn the page to the next in the volume. Planet of Exile.
