reading list
Hainish Cycle (3): City of Illusions
Ursula K. Le Guin
published: 1967, read: 7/16/24
199 pages, genre: Sci-Fi
rating: 6.75/10, normalized: 6.389/10
-0.457σ worse than average
-0.252σ or -0.235/10 worse than average in Sci-Fi genre
-0.056σ or -0.044/10 worse than average by Ursula K. Le Guin
Another meandering space anthology which kinda reminds me of The Phantom Tolbooth. Whereas the burgeoning women's lib movement colored Leguin's acknowledgements of the treatment of gender in the forward to Planet of Exile, she chooses to use this novel to describe a different universal truth: women can't be trusted.
Pllanet of Exile consisted mostly of just tension, this story returns to the good format of violence introduced in Rocannon's World introducing additional layers of deceit. It's markedly better than the previous book, but still a little slow and annoying that it doesn't capitalize all too much on plot and instead uses a gimmicky & mystical deus ex mystica resolution rather than something more clever and Conan Doyle-esque.
related
| Read | Author | Title | Pages | Published | Genre | Rating | Rating' | Tags | Recommended by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/16/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | City of Illusions Hainish Cycle (3) | 199 | 1967 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | ||
| 8/1/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | The Telling Hainish Cycle (8) | 416 | 2000 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 7/28/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | Four Ways to Forgiveness Hainish Cycle (7) | 320 | 1995 | Sci-Fi | 5.500 | 5.000 | ||
| 7/26/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | The Left Hand of Darkness Hainish Cycle (4) | 337 | 1969 | Sci-Fi | 7.500 | 7.222 | ||
| 7/26/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | The Word for World is Forest Hainish Cycle (5) | 189 | 1972 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 7/10/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | Rocannon's World Hainish Cycle (1) | 258 | 1966 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 7/10/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | Planet of Exile Hainish Cycle (2) | 135 | 1966 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | ||
| 6/30/24 | Ursula K. Le Guin | The Dispossessed Hainish Cycle (6) | 284 | 1974 | Sci-Fi | 7.850 | 7.611 | ||
| 9/21/26 | Yoko Ogawa | The Memory Police | 288 | 1994 | Sci-Fi | 4.000 | 3.333 | ||
| 7/1/26 | Vernor Vinge | A Fire Upon the Deep | 626 | 1992 | Sci-Fi | 7.250 | 6.944 | ||
| 12/31/25 | Cixin Liu | To Hold Up the Sky | 336 | 2021 | Sci-Fi | 6.700 | 6.333 | ||
| 11/9/25 | Greg Egan | Distress Subjective Cosmology Cycle (3) | 342 | 1998 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 10/29/25 | Greg Egan | Quarantine Subjective Cosmology Cycle (1) | 280 | 1992 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 10/15/25 | Robert A. Heinlein | Starship Troopers | 290 | 1987 | Sci-Fi | 8.000 | 7.778 | Charlie J. | |
| 9/14/25 | Kurt Vonnegut | Player Piano | 296 | 1952 | Sci-Fi | 6.650 | 6.278 | ||
| 9/10/25 | George Orwell | 1984 | 328 | 1949 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 9/7/25 | Yevgeny Zamyatin | We | 226 | 1924 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 9/6/25 | Aldous Huxley | Brave New World | 288 | 1932 | Sci-Fi | 7.250 | 6.944 | ||
| 8/11/25 | Greg Egan | Diaspora | 376 | 1997 | Sci-Fi | 8.000 | 7.778 | thesephist | |
| 8/11/25 | Olga Ravn | The Employees | 126 | 2020 | Sci-Fi | 5.500 | 5.000 | ||
| 6/8/25 | Helen Phillips | The Need | 272 | 2019 | Sci-Fi | 7.150 | 6.833 | ||
| 4/7/25 | Pierce Brown | Light Bringer Red Rising Saga (6) | 704 | 2023 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | Thomas | |
| 3/27/25 | Pierce Brown | Dark Age Red Rising Saga (5) | 784 | 2019 | Sci-Fi | 7.500 | 7.222 | Thomas | |
| 3/18/25 | Pierce Brown | Iron Gold Red Rising Saga (4) | 596 | 2018 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | Thomas | |
| 3/18/25 | qntm | Fine Structure | 386 | 2021 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 3/13/25 | Pierce Brown | Morning Star Red Rising Saga (3) | 518 | 2016 | Sci-Fi | 5.125 | 4.583 | Thomas | |
| 3/5/25 | Pierce Brown | Golden Son Red Rising Saga (2) | 464 | 2015 | Sci-Fi | 5.875 | 5.417 | Thomas | |
| 2/28/25 | Pierce Brown | Red Rising Red Rising Saga (1) | 382 | 2014 | Sci-Fi | 5.500 | 5.000 | Thomas | |
| 2/18/25 | Hugh Howie | Dust Silo (3) | 480 | 2013 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | Jack M. | |
| 2/14/25 | Hugh Howie | Shift Silo (2) | 576 | 2013 | Sci-Fi | 7.250 | 6.944 | Jack M. | |
| 2/9/25 | Hugh Howie | Wool Silo (1) | 592 | 2011 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | Jack M. | |
| 2/1/25 | Matt Dinniman | Dungeon Crawler Carl Dungeon Crawler Carl (1) | 464 | 2020 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | Noah | |
| 1/15/25 | qntm | Ed | 144 | 2021 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 1/13/25 | qntm | Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories | 107 | 2022 | Sci-Fi | 7.375 | 7.083 | ||
| 1/3/25 | Isaac Asimov | Nightfall and Other Stories | 352 | 1969 | Sci-Fi | 6.737 | 6.374 | ||
| 12/7/24 | Dan Simmons | The Rise of Endymion Hyperion Cantos (4) | 579 | 1997 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | ||
| 11/30/24 | Dan Simmons | Endymion Hyperion Cantos (3) | 441 | 1996 | Sci-Fi | 6.250 | 5.833 | ||
| 11/30/24 | George R.R. Martin | Dreamsongs: The Second Kind of Loneliness | 670 | 1972 | Sci-Fi | 7.250 | 6.944 | ||
| 11/24/24 | Dan Simmons | The Fall of Hyperion Hyperion Cantos (2) | 517 | 1990 | Sci-Fi | 8.250 | 8.056 | ||
| 11/16/24 | Dan Simmons | Hyperion Hyperion Cantos (1) | 482 | 1989 | Sci-Fi | 8.025 | 7.806 | ||
| 9/6/24 | Alastair Reynolds | Eversion | 352 | 2022 | Sci-Fi | 7.083 | 6.759 | Nick W. | |
| 9/6/24 | Greg Egan | You and Whose Army? | 34 | 1998 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | ||
| 9/5/24 | Greg Egan | Planck Dive | 23 | 1998 | Sci-Fi | 9.250 | 9.167 | ||
| 9/4/24 | Paul Anderson | Tau Zero | 232 | 1970 | Sci-Fi | 7.250 | 6.944 | roon | |
| 8/29/24 | José Saramago | Blindness | 352 | 1995 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 8/28/24 | Margaret Atwood | Oryx and Crake MaddAddam (1) | 400 | 2003 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | Steg | |
| 6/14/24 | Philip K. Dick | Ubik | 241 | 1969 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 6/14/24 | Philip K. Dick | The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch | 290 | 1964 | Sci-Fi | 7.500 | 7.222 | ||
| 6/13/24 | Neal Stephenson | Seveneves | 880 | 2015 | Sci-Fi | 8.750 | 8.611 | ||
| 6/2/24 | Philip K. Dick | Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said | 259 | 1974 | Sci-Fi | 7.063 | 6.736 | ||
| 5/27/24 | Philip K. Dick | A Scanner Darkly | 220 | 1977 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | ||
| 5/22/24 | Philip K. Dick | Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | 274 | 1968 | Sci-Fi | 8.000 | 7.778 | ||
| 5/12/24 | Italo Calvino | Cosmicomics | 179 | 1965 | Sci-Fi | 7.029 | 6.699 | Will Liff. | |
| 1/13/24 | Iain Banks | Consider Phlebas Culture (1) | 471 | 1987 | Sci-Fi | 6.250 | 5.833 | roon | |
| 1/1/24 | Arthur C. Clarke | Fountains of Paradise | 263 | 1979 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 12/17/23 | James S.A. Corey | Caliban's War The Expanse (2) | 605 | 2012 | Sci-Fi | 5.000 | 4.444 | Charlie J. | |
| 10/28/23 | James S.A. Corey | Leviathan Wakes The Expanse (1) | 577 | 2011 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | Charlie J. | |
| 10/14/23 | Roger Zelazny | Lord of Light | 308 | 1967 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | ||
| 8/23/23 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Cage of Souls | 638 | 2019 | Sci-Fi | 8.000 | 7.778 | Alex W. | |
| 7/15/23 | Gene Wolfe | Fifth Head of Cerberus | 244 | 1972 | Sci-Fi | 9.083 | 8.981 | ||
| 6/18/23 | Various | Obsolescence | 360 | 2023 | Sci-Fi | 6.000 | 5.556 | ||
| 1/31/23 | Greg Egan | Permutation City Subjective Cosmology Cycle (2) | 275 | 1994 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | ||
| 1/29/23 | George Saunders | Escape from Spiderhead | 10 | 2010 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 1/27/23 | Robert A. Heinlein | The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | 382 | 1966 | Sci-Fi | 8.250 | 8.056 | ||
| 1/18/23 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Children of Ruin Children of Time (2) | 475 | 2019 | Sci-Fi | 6.750 | 6.389 | Alex W. | |
| 1/15/23 | Blake Crouch | Dark Matter | 368 | 2017 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | Nick W. | |
| 1/13/23 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Children of Time Children of Time (1) | 513 | 2015 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | Alex W. | |
| 1/11/23 | Ted Chiang | Exhalation | 368 | 2019 | Sci-Fi | 7.500 | 7.222 | ||
| 1/8/23 | Joe Halderman | The Forever War | 236 | 1974 | Sci-Fi | 5.000 | 4.444 | ||
| 10/27/22 | Cixin Liu | Deaths End Three Body Problem (3) | 592 | 2008 | Sci-Fi | 8.500 | 8.333 | Alex W. | |
| 10/17/22 | Cixin Liu | The Dark Forest Three Body Problem (2) | 400 | 2008 | Sci-Fi | 9.000 | 8.889 | Alex W. | |
| 10/10/22 | Isaac Asimov | Second Foundation Foundation (4) | 210 | 1953 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 10/1/22 | Cixin Liu | The Three Body Problem Three Body Problem (1) | 302 | 2008 | Sci-Fi | 8.000 | 7.778 | Alex W. | |
| 9/15/22 | Isaac Asimov | Foundation Foundation (3) | 255 | 1951 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 9/11/22 | Isaac Asimov | Forward the Foundation Foundation (2) | 417 | 1993 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 9/5/22 | Frank Herbert | Dune Messiah Dune (2) | 256 | 1969 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 9/5/22 | Frank Herbert | Children of Dune Dune (3) | 444 | 1976 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 8/6/22 | Frank Herbert | Dune Dune (1) | 412 | 1965 | Sci-Fi | 7.500 | 7.222 | ||
| 7/13/22 | Isaac Asimov | Prelude to Foundation Foundation (1) | 448 | 1988 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 10/13/16 | Ernest Cline | Ready Player One | 384 | 2011 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 8/16/16 | Douglas Adams | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 224 | 1979 | Sci-Fi | 6.500 | 6.111 | ||
| 4/20/16 | Orson Scott Card | Ender's Game Ender (1) | 324 | 1985 | Sci-Fi | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 6/28/13 | Eoin Colfer | The Supernaturalist | 290 | 2004 | Sci-Fi | 7.000 | 6.667 |