Disclaimer: This Response May Be Unhelpfulbook_mavenJune 9 2007, 11:34:58 UTC
It does have science fiction elements, being part of her Hainish cycle. They travel on spaceships and the math that the main character is working on will later be used for the instantaneous communication device, the ansible.
But overall, I think that LeGuin's sci-fi is more philosophical and psychological (what some people call "soft sci-fi") than most science fiction, especially the traditional "hard sci-fi" type.
Er, so I guess what I'm getting at here is that this depends on the reader. It's like the Earthsea cycle in terms of dealing with larger issues through individual stories, and it's sci-fi nominally and soft sci-fi in practice, and it's like the Earthsea books in style, so this really depends. I really liked it and it's considered a genre classic, so if you're on the fence it can't hurt to give it a try.
(And I hope I haven't scared you away with this overly long reply... I love talking about LeGuin, she's such an intriguing writer.)
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But overall, I think that LeGuin's sci-fi is more philosophical and psychological (what some people call "soft sci-fi") than most science fiction, especially the traditional "hard sci-fi" type.
Er, so I guess what I'm getting at here is that this depends on the reader. It's like the Earthsea cycle in terms of dealing with larger issues through individual stories, and it's sci-fi nominally and soft sci-fi in practice, and it's like the Earthsea books in style, so this really depends. I really liked it and it's considered a genre classic, so if you're on the fence it can't hurt to give it a try.
(And I hope I haven't scared you away with this overly long reply... I love talking about LeGuin, she's such an intriguing writer.)
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