The Rock The Changed Things was the first story i really loved in this collection. It stayed with me for days after i read it. As well as loving words, i am a very visual person. The idea of coloured rocks forming patterns used for expression and communication that was completely missed by more “intellectual” people, and what that expression brought about was wonderful.

It was the last three stories, The Shobies’ Story, Dancing to Ganam, and A Fisherman of the Inland Sea that truly stood out as the best of the lot. Although they are three independent stories with their own distinct narratives, they are all linked and in each story, the world they are set in grows a little. At the heart of all of them is the idea and development of instantaneous travel, across a laboratory, across a campus, across a planet, across space. This is simply the backdrop to the stories, but with each story the world evolved more in my mind.

As mediocre as the ratings i have given both this book and The Dispossessed are, Le Guin is definitely an author i will read again. I love her stories, the concepts and the settings. I just also think there is more potential in them; they could be a little more exciting, a little more interesting, a little more gripping. Just, a little more.

A longer review can be read at my book blog: Marvel At Words.