I"m ashamed to admit I'd never read any Ursula K. Le Guin before, and I'm so glad I've finally changed that. She absolutely deserves her place in the pantheon of all-time greats. Thank you for finally introducing me to her.

Another gorgeous title from Ursula K Le Guin. Le Guin has beguiled readers for generations and with World of Exile and Illusion, she continues to prove her artistic supremacy, even post-mortem.

Different than some of the other Hainish books and not something I have the headspace for right now. Lovely addition with supplemental materials.

I've read the later books in the Hainish Series (and the Earthsea series are among my absolute favorite books) but I had never encountered these earlier works. I really appreciate their collection in this volume. It's interesting to see a blending of Le Guin's fantasy and science fiction sensibilities in Rocannon's World in particular.

Short background: no one took me to the public library, and none of my schools had libraries, so I didn't have a lot of variety to read until I started taking myself to the library when I could drive. I fell in to fantasy and sci-fi, but no one led me through the genre canons or gave me any order to read in; I read irresponsibly. So this is the first Ursula K. Le Guin I've read, and grabbed it up because this editions was a free ARC from NetGalley.

I ended up enjoying it overall more than I thought I would based on the first couple of chapters. This edition has three very loosely-related stories that all take place in the same universe, but they can definitely be read independently, alone or out of order.

The writing is very on-brand for early sff: unnecessarily fancy, over emotive, sometimes convoluted for the sake of sounding prettier. It definitely put my off at the start, but it's a style and did settle (or maybe I settled in) a bit.

It's stories set in space in a futuristic reality that is possible based on our current reality; it feels like fantasy because of the voice and writing, and because there are some mythical-type creatures on some of the planets, but there's an equal amount of technology. The setting makes it sci-fi.

I'm not in a position to talk about how it influenced sff through the years, and I'm not sure my opinion of Mickey7 or You Sexy Thing would be different if I had read this earlier; I'll just file it away for future comparison, I guess. :)

Wow. This is one of the most unique collections I've had the pleasure of reading. This is full-on science fiction and incredible lush. The world-building alone in this collection is remarkable, especially considering that it contains three different short stories. This collection felt more like an experience than something I want to pick apart. I was quickly drawn into this book and could hardly put it down. If you are looking for a book to stretch your imagination and to escape from the real world, this is your ticket.

I’ve wanted to try to read the authors books and decided to start with this one. I can see why they are considered such a key author and will have to try more of their books.

I thought I had read everything written by Ursula Le Guin (1929-2018), but definitely missed at least one of this trio. Though not quite up to the superb standard set by her later books, anything by Le Guin is well worth reading. Worlds of Exile and Illusion includes 'Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One Volume - Rocannon's World; Planet of Exile; City of Illusions'.

My favorite is the first, Rocannon's World, but they're all fascinating. I believe that Ursula Le Guin was the first SF/fantasy writer to author stories combining the genres. She was also the first to address contact and ongoing relationships between human and alien species, and with extraordinary empathy. Serious fans should not miss this trilogy, and will also find Amal El-Mohtar's Introduction illuminating.