Planet of Exile

Perhaps not the best introduction to Ursula's work. A thin, flickering insight into a saturnine world, borne quietly aloft by prose that neither excites nor jarrs - much like a veneered IKEA tabletop: unassuming. The names are unmemorable; the characters vague, like faces beneath a frosted pane; the threat so very difficult to process. What is there for the Reader to grasp at? The Reader of Scifi might clamber for the queer, suggestive threads that allude to her other works (of which I have no knowledge). For the Reader of Fiction, Gaals? Waifish females and F1-speed romance? Unsatisfied is what they will be.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. The (relatively) lengthy Moscow entrenchment was a good bit of macho fantasy that reminded me much of David Gemmell. But the peculiar bickering between the humans was hazy, like dialogue written by Tommy Wisseau and the story generator from Rimworld mashed up. The final result was akin to a music video that didn't quite fit the lyrics of its song, leaving you engrossed yet a little confused.