The Word for World Is Forest - Supernormal Reads

Paperback, 113 pages

English language

Published April 6, 2022 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-3996-0779-7

(1 review)

When a world of peaceful aliens is conquered by bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters.

Desperation causes the Athsheans to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. In defending their lives, they endanger the very foundations of their society. Every blow against the invaders is a blow to the core of the Athsheans’ culture.

And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.

(Winner of the 1973 Hugo award for Best Novella, and nominated for many others, The Word for World is Forest is part of Le Guin’s ‘Hainish Cycle’. It explores a future history of Earth and pacifistic ideals in its depiction of violence, colonialism and resistance.)

1 edition

Literaturliteratur reviewed The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

The title is the best part

2 stars

A parable of racism and colonialism, in which the different “races” are humans and several different alien civilisations, including the peaceful Athsheans, who are obviously meant to resemble an idealised, primitive-yet-wise indigenous people. Unfortunately, the effect of this is to suggest that there are essential, innate differences between “races”, and that these differences underpin racism.

The Athsheans resist human colonisation and in the process learn to kill (humans, as well as each other). Le Guin implies that they really had no history or narrative before this point, as if contact with humans represents the start of their history. It’s weird and Eurocentric and quite un-self-aware. The narrative switches perspective between an evil coloniser, a good scientist and a good Athshean, and Le Guin’s depiction of the evil coloniser’s perspective is scarily accurate, though also rather easy for the reader to condemn (because he’s so bad). The actual prose is great …

A parable of racism and colonialism, in which the different “races” are humans and several different alien civilisations, including the peaceful Athsheans, who are obviously meant to resemble an idealised, primitive-yet-wise indigenous people. Unfortunately, the effect of this is to suggest that there are essential, innate differences between “races”, and that these differences underpin racism.

The Athsheans resist human colonisation and in the process learn to kill (humans, as well as each other). Le Guin implies that they really had no history or narrative before this point, as if contact with humans represents the start of their history. It’s weird and Eurocentric and quite un-self-aware. The narrative switches perspective between an evil coloniser, a good scientist and a good Athshean, and Le Guin’s depiction of the evil coloniser’s perspective is scarily accurate, though also rather easy for the reader to condemn (because he’s so bad). The actual prose is great and very vivid, which makes the novella’s weaknesses all the more disappointing.