I never bothered to figure out how the premise worked exactly, but it doesn't matter.

The stories in this book ranged from the beautiful to the brilliant. I read this on a loan and I've never wanted to have my own copy of a book this badly so I could go back and back.

Le Guin is truly at her best in this collection. Each story is a masterpiece, filled with vivid characters, richly detailed worlds, and thought-provoking themes. Whether it's a tale of love and loss, a journey of self-discovery, or a exploration of the human condition, Le Guin's writing always manages to touch the heart and stimulate the mind.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves great literature. It's a collection that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page, and one that you'll want to revisit again and again.

I truly loved this. Lately, I've been starting to feel a bit fatigued by UKLG's moral and political themes. Although I strongly resonate with them, after a while, they begin to seem rather repetitive. This was a delightful departure from that trend. Even though those themes still emerged, having 16 stories set in different planes of reality compelled more in-depth theme development. I appreciate that the book doesn't take itself overly seriously. The main character is clearly a self-insert, and the title and the entire concept are just one big pun. It's amusing to read something quite topical from UKLG that mentions George W. and discusses having indigestion in an airport.

I feel that the constant references to the nonsensical nature of human violence, war, and conflict fall a bit short, but the emotional themes of self-reflection remain robust, and the anthropological, cultural relativist style of worldbuilding is refreshing. My favorite stories were 'the seasons of the ansarac', 'feeling at home with the hennebet', and 'The building'. All of those provided a great sense of expansion. Honorable mentions go to 'the nna mmoy language' and 'the silence of the asonu' for their exploration of what human language means for our societies.

However, I do have one rather serious complaint regarding the handling of rape in several stories, especially in 'the royals of hegn'. I understand the desire to envision what sexual violence looks like in different human paradigms, and perhaps there is some value in considering the different social meanings and uses of rape. But it didn't seem particularly worthwhile in that one story, which I generally thought was quite poor, or in most of the others where it arose. Wake Island was also bad for this reason. I'm not sure what to think about the sexual colonial exploitation in Great Joy. Mainly, the repeated sexual assault themes didn't seem to fit well with other aspects of the stories, and I don't have a good understanding of what UKLG was attempting to convey with them.

4 FOR ART WORK! 1 FOR THE WRITING!

I first came across Le Guin earlier this year when I read her collection of short essays and musings. I was truly impressed by her unique outlook and profound insights into a wide range of subjects. This led me to be quite excited about picking up her fiction and giving it a try.

However, my experience with this particular book was far from what I had expected. The first thing that catches the eye is the excellent art work by Eric Beddows. In fact, it is the only positive aspect I can find in this book. Sadly, I absolutely detested the story itself. What's strange is that there was a time, in a distant land perhaps, when Sci-Fi was my favorite genre. But this book was just a horrible, laborious read. It failed to engage me, and I found myself struggling to get through each page. The plot seemed convoluted and the characters lacked depth. I was truly disappointed and would not recommend this book to others.