4.5/5 (very good)
Planet of Exile (1966) is a masterful piece of fantasy/science fiction world building for Ursula Le Guin spins her story, worlds, cultures, and each race’s animosities in flawless fashion. This novel is part of Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle.
The planet of Werel has 15 year winters and a 60 earth year year. The planet’s inhabitants are called Hilfs (Highly intelligent life forms) by the humans stranded on the planet (their ship had left in a struggle with mysterious invaders). Before every 15 year winter the Hilfs collect food and build Winter Cities on the ruins of their previous cities and prepare to defend themselves from the nomadic raiders who migrate en-mass south to avoid the winter and rape and pillage.
The human population, who have been on the planet for 600 years, is declining and can no longer defend themselves from these nomads. They attempt to enter into an alliance with the Hilfs against the nomads from the north who have–without precedent–banded together to capture the region. Rolery, a Hilf women, falls in love with the leader of the humans, Agat, and this brings tension to the alliance between the drastically different cultures.
What I have always found so amazing about all of Le Guin’s work is her superb world building skills. The culture of both sides can be inferred from gestures, simple word phrases, actions, and vivid description. She also employs delicately the racial animosities between the groups, again to illustrates the concepts and ideals of each culture, who have remained different despite living in close proximity for 600 years.
Without giving away important aspects of the story many ideas of the League (the organization humans that accidentally left the men stranded on the planet)in contacting less technologically progressed races is similar to the rules of first contact in Star Trek.
This is primarily a fantasy novel with a science fiction backdrop. The reader is immediately drawn into both societies struggles and deep melancholy befalls you when tragedy strikes. Le Guin’s human characters are artfully created and feel and act as humans and her created cultures fill her created worlds perfectly. I can think of no higher praise in the writing of social science fiction.
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 
I’m reading this right now. Just finished Rocannon’s World. That was great too.
I enjoyed Rocannon’s world — I still think Planet of Exile is superior. However, Ursula Le Guin’s best work (both world building, plot, characters) BY far is The Left Hand of Darkness. Have you read it? If so, what did you think?
I just realized that I had read something from your blog — the interesting post of yours I commented on discussed Left Hand — so, I’m guessing you’ve read it.
I found probably the only book review we share.
I like quite a lot Ursula, and the idea of such a long year is very good.
Maybe the story looses with the translation, but I didn’t feel it like a good description of the background. The societies make sense, and the general plot, but I missed quite a lot the things about the rest of the galaxy and how the humans get into the planet. Maybe the rest of the books in the saga help explaining this?
I’m generally not interested in information dumps that plague SF — I felt that Le Guin does an amazing job hinting at society rather than ranting on and on about society. I prefer the showing rather than telling….
Also the Ekumen always remains rather vague. Her other novels, Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed are rather more straightforward in the descriptions of the worlds.
Although I love Le Guin’s more well known books, when I tried reading The Dispossessed recently, I couldn’t get through it. Too dry perhaps. I’ll have to try some of her others starting with Rocannon’s World. I agree her world-building is amazing.
I definitely prefer The Left Hand of Darkness over The Dispossessed — although the latter is brilliant as well….