Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Word for World is Forest

I liked this book written by Ursula K. Le Guin. A few hundreds years into the future, humans have established a logging colony and military base on a planet with small green-furred intelligent animals. The creatures have a common ancestor with humans several million years ago and were planted by the Hain alien race. The native inhabitants are enslaved by the humans to perform labor in mines and the forest. When a native female is assaulted, her male partner starts having visions of war and convinces his tribe to fight back.

The story reminded me of Speaker for the Dead by Orson S. Card, but I liked this book better. It was published in 1976 and was originally printed as a novella in 1972. It is the sixth book in the Hainish Cycle. The author said her book takes some influences from the Vietnam War. In the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, the character Joker has this book by his bed. Stephen King also referenced the title in chapter 43 of his 1978 novel The Stand.

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