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Title: City of Illusions
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-16-08
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 278 votes
Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Classic
Publisher's Summary:
He is a full-grown man, alone in dense forest, with no trail to show where he has come from and no memory to tell who or what he is. His eyes are not the eyes of a human. The forest people take him in and raise him almost as a child, teaching him to speak, training him in forest lore, giving him all the knowledge they have. But they could not solve the riddle of his past, and at last he has to set out on a perilous quest to find his true self - and a universe of danger.
©1967 Ursula K. Le Guin; (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Members Reviews:
A Quest For Falk, A Discovery For Me
I normally do not read science fiction or fantasy, but this book sounded different. I have read a few Asimov and Bradbury novels and enjoyed them, so when I discovered this novel from a multiple winner of Hugo and Nebula awards and a Library of Congress "Living Legend" I decided to chance it, and I'm glad I did.
The language Ms. LeGuin uses is deceptively simple, but fully paints a picture of an earth I never imagined. I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver, whom I also think can paint an electric landscape with tiny little English words, and I found myself appreciating Ms. LeGuin's writing for much the same reason.
There was enough mystery in this quest story to keep me hooked, and enough intrigue to make me sorry to end the day's listening. I seldom had to "rewind" to re-establish my understanding, although there are a couple of places where great leaps are taken.
The narration was excellent, simply excellent. His voice carried her story. It ended up to be a fairly fast read for me, and that speaks well for the book. It is an adult book, and when I say it is a bit earthy, I am not referring to its science fiction base. I tend to be a bit conventional in my reading choices, but found this stretch from the conventional, for me, to be rewarding.
Hainish Cycle 3
You go to the place of the lie to find out the truth?
Ursula K. Le Guins HAINISH CYCLE continues with City of Illusions, which I liked better than its predecessors, Rocannons World and Planet of Exile. City of Illusions takes place on Earth sometimes in the far future after an alien invasion has killed off most of the people and has completely changed the Earths ecology, infrastructure, and geopolitical arrangement. Theres a large capital city run by an alien race called the Shing, but most of the humans are spread out and divided into small clusters in the hinterlands which have gone back to their natural state after Earths cities were destroyed. While there are futuristic technologies in the capital, the rest of the people live off the land without technological help and with only occasional glimpses of the advanced society that their ancestors knew before it decayed.
To prevent takeovers, the Shing do not allow the people to organize or even to communicate over long distances. If anyone attempts anything that threatens the government, they are arrested and, since the Shing do not allow the taking of human lives, they are razed, meaning their memories are wiped out. To keep humans subjugated, the Shing also use their powers to cast illusions and to lie with their minds, which is why their capitol city is called the City of Illusions.
Our story begins as a man with cat-like eyes wakes up in the wilderness and doesnt know who or where he is. In fact, he doesnt know anything his mind is blank.
