I like what LeGuin has created in the Hainish Cycle and the many topics she's able explore that are very human and very current. This book seems as good as the others however I didn't feel attached to it or to it's characters. I felt disconnected, which in part is how her main characters "aliens" from Hain seem to feel. Maybe that is due to the nature of the short story, versus the longer form of the novel, combined with the constant reminder of the vastness of the universe and the vastness of time.