Just finished reading this tonight . A book I was excited to review having read a lot of good short stories by the author as a teenager. I suppose It could be a called a sort of simplistic parable about Marxism and Communism vs Capitalism as well as individuality vs conformity. A good yarn for all the sci-fi nerds out there who like to think in terms of politics and possibilities. Much of the book deals with the struggles of the scientist Shevek as he tries to find his place in his communistic society only to realize everything is not as perfect as it seems in the society he was born into. I really like how Leguin manages to make the main characters human and flawed at the same time by always walking the line between the ideal and the lived persona. There are also some blatant themes on revolution and historical figures weaved into the narrative.
I will tell you compared to a lot of other Sci-fi I’ve read this one is rather earth-some in a good way. There is not a lot of action, in no place does she give loads of expository or historical details, and many of the characters are so concisely packaged even their names seem to be a part of their role in the novel. The small places and lack of militarized action ultimately serve to produce a work which in addition to being an intelligent discussion of communal vs materialistic societies is also full interesting speculation about literature and poetry as well as vivid travel and sex scenes. I recommend this new age Sci-fi novel which I have dubbed Afro-futurism or fiction of the under-represented for anyone who likes big ideals and mature fiction.