> It feels like ULG's book is more about people/political theory/social commentary/human condition than any scientifically intriguing theory.
Agreed that on the spectrum of politics/society to scientific theory/gizmo, Le Guin leans heavily towards politics/society.
Whether that is one's cup of tea is a different matter. It sometimes is for me, and sometimes not; depends on the mood. For an author who was also into societal issues, I prefer James Tiptree Jr (Alice Sheldon), because she injected more of the alienness/weirdness I tend to seek when reading scifi.
I do like Ursula, don't get me wrong! I'm just not always in the mood for reading her, while I'm almost always in the mood to read more James Tiptree Jr!
(On that note, I just realized back in 2019 they renamed the "James Tiptree Jr Award" to "Otherwise", for disappointing reasons. Oh, well)
Those commenting on LeGuin's heavy-handed The Word for World is Forest might like Brightness Falls From the Air, when they get to the end. (Tiptree herself did have at least one Forest-grade cringy polemic short story, Morality Meat, paired against Phillip K Dick's The Pre-Persons. Maybe writers can't help themselves, but editors should know better.)
Haven't read Morality Meat, but PKD's The Pre-persons isn't great either. I truly love PKD but it's one of his weakest, I-am-on-a-soapbox short stories.
(In the notes for this story, PKD claims Joanna Russ offered to "beat him up" as a reaction, which in itself is an overreaction!)
Agreed that on the spectrum of politics/society to scientific theory/gizmo, Le Guin leans heavily towards politics/society.
Whether that is one's cup of tea is a different matter. It sometimes is for me, and sometimes not; depends on the mood. For an author who was also into societal issues, I prefer James Tiptree Jr (Alice Sheldon), because she injected more of the alienness/weirdness I tend to seek when reading scifi.
I do like Ursula, don't get me wrong! I'm just not always in the mood for reading her, while I'm almost always in the mood to read more James Tiptree Jr!
(On that note, I just realized back in 2019 they renamed the "James Tiptree Jr Award" to "Otherwise", for disappointing reasons. Oh, well)