For all the richness of the story, it’s just a setup for why the main character of the rest of the novel later gets the necklace for himself. This marriage of science fiction and fantasy is pitch perfect. While her journey for herself has been but days, long years have passed in her world. Thus, when she emerges from the Underground Kingdom at last, years have past in the world she knows. The trip, which she didn’t even really recognize was a journey across worlds, takes years. Semley returns from what really is an interstellar journey. Additionally, the beings she deals with at the end come across as more than human to Semley - almost God-like.īut the careful reader can see that it’s all quite simply a low tech inhabitant meeting higher tech beings, going on a interstellar journey, and seeing the wonders therein.

The inhabitants are what you might think of as dwarves, and their technological wonders come are described overtly in terms of magic. Her journey across the world and her numerous encounters finally leads her to an underground realm. Rocannon’s World starts with a contained short story, one of her best short stories not named “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” This one is called “Semley’s Necklace.” This story is a prelude to the events of the novel, and describes, using fantasy language and a fantasy viewpoint, the native of a planet seeking to recover a long lost priceless heirloom of her family, the eponymous necklace. We see that tendency of hers in its purest form in this novel. But early in her career, LeGuin liked to play in that mixed space, and to most wonderful effect. She would separate these genres more forcefully in works like The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea series. Mixing the peanut butter of science fiction and the chocolate of heroic fantasy is a prevalent theme in Le Guin’s early work.

In our contemporary moment.Īnd so, in today’s Mining the Genre Asteroid, I’d like to discuss Le Guin’s first published novel, Rocannon’s World. The point of this ongoing column is to tell you why works such as this are worth your reading time and attention. Even within the Hainish verse, there is a host of other in-universe work that Le Guin has written - work that doesn’t get as much attention or play today as The Left Hand of Darkness, the Hainish Cycle’s shining star.

LeGuin’s oeuvre, however, is far more than those works. Or maybe you think of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”.

When I say the words “Ursula K Le Guin and her work,” your first thought is probably either Earthsea or The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed.

Le guin rocannon's world