Of course its good, its U K L G! Fabricating worlds and myth, it gets epic, and creepy and then has a crushing bite to it!

Obviously its not the highlight of the Hainish Novels but all the love and care put into later novels is here too. For pure pulp its wonderful, and explores the fantasy genre through a high sci fi lens. An easy comparison can be made to Foundation, but I feel this has a bit more heart.