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lbrunner.net · @lbrunner.net@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The Word for World Is Forest 8/10

The (great) forewords unfortunately spoiled me the whole book plot, which definitely dampened my enjoyment.



Despite the forewords claiming how this is a much more partisan Le Guin book (<spoiler>written to denunciate the Vietnam war</spoiler>), I wasn't utterly surprised by anything. Sure, Davidson is clearly more a douche than any other Le Guin antagonist I have read so far. Sure, there is clearly a "good side" and a "bad side". But honestly, it doesn't read too different to The Left Hand of Darkness (even though I very much prefer the latter), everyone has their own perspectives and while it's a bit more "simplistic", it's not bad by any measure. There isn't much more to add on top of what the forewords has already said much better than I will.



Also, I can't believe how similar George Lucas' Ewoks are to the Athsheans, I really hope Le Guin got a good paycheck out of it, otherwise it seems like pretty clear cut plagiarism... Finally, I loved Davidson's "I am just built different" attitude (even though you probably aren't supposed to find it funny). Even published 2 decades before the Internet was created, a lot of his thoughts wouldn't be out of place in a Locked Tomb book.

#book

Published 2022-01-05 20:17 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere