A Fisherman of the Inland Sea: Science Fiction Stories [Hardcover]

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

A new collection of short fiction reflects the author's artistry, diversity, and understanding of the human heart and includes such wonders as starships that sail on wings of song and faster-than-light communication.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her introduction to this reprint collection of eight of her more recent SF stories, Le Guin (Tehanu) defends the best work of the genre as "beautiful." It is critics and reviewers, she claims, who miss that beauty by emphasizing SF's role as an expositor of ideas. In any case, it's clear that the stories presented here show the softer side of the genre at its best. "The First Contact with the Gorgonids" and "The Ascent of the North Face," the two entries that Le Guin calls "funny stories, silly stories," are just that-witty, satirical and amusing. Yet it is the author's more serious work that displays her talents best, as she employs recurring themes and elements-cultural diversity, unlikely heroes and heroines, power's ability to corrupt, love's power to guide-and considers characters and types (women, children, the differently sexed and gendered) so often disenfranchised by other, more technologically oriented SF writers. From the briefest nonhumorous story here ("The Kerastion," about a silent flute made of human skin) to the longest, eponymous one, Le Guin ponders the nature of art and how life should be lived. Always, her stories are about people, not technologies, and it is this emphasis, as well as her accomplished prose, that makes this such a classy and valuable collection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

It's too limiting to classify Le Guin as purely a science fiction or fantasy writer; for the strength of her works lies in pieces which are as psychologically haunting as they are futuristic. This collection of her short stories proves an exceptional, diverse representation of her talents; but the best comes uncharacteristically first in 'The First Contact With the Gorgonids', a fantastic take-off on the classic Gorgon legend. Don't miss this rich, intriguing collection. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 191 pages
• Publisher: Harper Prism; First Edition edition (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061052000
• ISBN-13: 978-0061052002
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it if only for the last story, September 18, 2002

By 

Karen Abraham (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fisherman of the Inland Sea (Hardcover)

The final story in this book, "Another Story," is almost certainly my favorite short story ever, and I've read a lot of them. Her writing is wonderful, and a lot of the best elements of both her writing and usual themes come together wonderfully in the final story. The other ones are worth reading, too, but the final story stands on its own and is alone worth finding this book now that it is, sadly, out of print. (I found two copies in a bookstore's bargain stack 6 year ago, luckily for me!)

Find the book, and at least read the last story. It's truly wonderful.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best. These are the way stories should be., June 24, 2000

By 

Sam N. Keyes - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fisherman of the Inland Sea: Science Fiction Stories (Hardcover)

Le Guin's talent is diverse, but Science Fiction stories seem to be her best. And oh she is agile. This collection has everything. There's a small humorous story, a workshop story, an idea story, but finally there are the most important: the churten stories. Le Guin's Hainish universe has appeared in most of her other scifi novels, but these stories are probably the best. "The Shobies Story," "Dancing to Ganam" and "Another Story" (I think that's all) are all separate, but they all deal with 'churten,' Le Guin's brand of instantaneous travel. As usual, though, she doesn't focus on technology. She's a people writer, and the science is only there to bring out all of the psychological, emotional and spiritual questions with the characters. The title story, or "Another Story" is about a man who is caught in two places at once as a result of the churten. A delight to read. Each word is perfectly placed. Exquisite.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing change - both for LeGuin and SF in general., May 16, 2001

By 

Alex (College Park, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (Mass Market Paperback)

I was almost ready to give up on LeGuin after reading "The Telling", "Tehanu", and "Tales from Earthsea" in consecution, when I noticed this collection of short stories. I was pleasantly surprised. The heavy-handed moralizing and the sour tone are replaced with a sense of harmony, energy. One gets the impression that the writer simply let herself write to her heart's content.

The first few are short word-sketches, demonstrating LeGuin's surprising versatility. "First Contact with the Gorgonids" is written with prosaic wit, "Kerastion" is powerfully poetic, "Newton's Sleep" is a cautionary, postapocalyptic parable, etc. The book also includes a mini-cycle of three Ekumen stories, centered on instantaneous travel and its startling side effect: when intelligent beings are teleported, reality breaks down into individual perceptions (think Rashomon). The first, "Shobies' Story", documents the first-ever experimental flight. The second, "Dancing to Ganam", documents an exploratory expedition where every member gets different impressions of the natives' intent: where one sees ritual, another sees deceit. The last is possibly the first and only of LeGuin's time travel stories, telling of a homesick man who decides to correct the choice he made eighteen years ago. The second and third stories are especially well-written, keeping the reader guessing until the very end.

A very nice collection for disillusioned readers.