Planet of Exile is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, part of her Hainish Cycle. It was first published as an Ace Double following the tête-bêche format, bundled with Mankind Under the Leash by Thomas M. Disch. In 2017, the rights for a movie were acquired by Los Angeles Media Fund.

Plot summary

The story is set on Werel, the third planet of the Gamma Draconis system. The planet has an orbital period of 60 Earth years, and is approaching its correspondingly long winter. The main characters belong to one of two major groups: Wold and his daughter Rolery are members of the Tevarans, a tribe of humanoids indigenous to the planet. Jakob Agat is a young man from a dwindling colony of Earth humans that have been effectively marooned on the planet. The people do not accept the other group as humans, and they refer to it in several conversations during the book. The genetic difference is significant enough to prevent interbreeding. The relationship between the two groups has long been tense and characterized by limited interaction. However, with the approaching dangers of winter and the group of the Gaal, they need to cooperate to save their people. It is the visit of curious young Rolery to the colony of Earth humans that becomes a sign that things are changing.

Main characters

Native fauna

Role in the Hainish Cycle

The peoples of the various worlds in Le Guin's space fiction are descendants of ancient settlements from Hain. For example, the Gethenians of The Left Hand of Darkness are believed to have been genetically engineered, as are several other peoples in the League of All Worlds. No such mention of genetic engineering of the Alterrans’ Hainish-derived predecessors is made in the story. In City of Illusions descendants of the mixed Terrans and Tevarians described in this story return to Earth (Terra) and presumably, though it’s not depicted in the novel, later liberate it from alien conquerors who have the unexpected ability to mind-lie – which they used to telepathically conquer planets in the League of All Worlds, so this story is the backstory to City of Illusions. The reunification of the League as the Ekumen is mentioned in The Left Hand of Darkness, but no story so-far published has given any details of the climax of the conflict. A different planet, also called "Werel" in Four Ways to Forgiveness, is a completely different world from the planet of the Alterrans described in this story. The common word for "world" in the languages of both planets is werel, hence their common names just mean "The World".

Literary significance and criticism

One science fiction scholar points out that Planet of Exile, along with Rocannon's World and City of Illusions exhibits Le Guin's struggle as an emerging writer to arrive at a plausible, uniquely memorable and straightforward locale for her stories.

Publication history

Planet of Exile was initially published with no introduction, but Le Guin wrote an introduction for Harper & Row's 1978 hardcover edition. Planet of Exile was also reissued in 1978 along with Rocannon's World and City of Illusions in a volume called Three Hainish Novels and in 1996 with the same novels in a volume called Worlds of Exile and Illusion.

Translations

Sources