CBR11 Bingo- Birthday
I had to find a square for my girl Le Guin on this bingo card, and fortunately her birthday was October 21, so that was an easy pick 🙂
I’ve had The Eye of the Heron on my TBR list for a while, and this seemed like a perfect time to pick it up. I love Le Guin not only because of her writing itself, but for the fact that she is one of the truly great female fantasy/sci-fi writers. Even when one of her books isn’t my favourite, I always admire her originality and her take on one of my favourite genres.
This book is set on the planet of Victoria – a former prison colony. At two points in Earth’s history, they sent ships of exiles to the planet; the first time was a shipment of prisoners, the second was a shipment of pacifist, peace-seeking rebels. A few generations later, these two factions have settled into two separate but mutually beneficial communities. The criminals, established in the City, govern the planet, and are the enforcers of laws (led by the Bosses). The pacifists dwell outside of the City in Shantih, farmers, manual labourers, providing food for the planet’s inhabitants (with tools supplied by the City).
While this relationship is tense and filled with prejudice, it seems mostly stable. However, population growth and depleting resources sends a scouting party from Shantih north to search for new areas to migrate to. This increases the tension and leads to outright conflict between the two groups. At the centre of it all is Luz, the daughter of a Boss, who feels herself drawn to life in Shantih, betraying her upbringing and her father for a different life.
While it’s a fairly quick read, and a great commentary on peace & war, my main complaint is that I wish it was three or four times longer. Just as the story was getting going, it ended… it left me wanting so much more. A great story, with a pretty unsatisfying ending as far as complete resolution.