There are 8 stories within this collection, more or less arranged in order
of length, and really in two halves - the initial short stories and the
later long stories. The shorts are a varied lot and range from the
whimsical and slight ("The Ascent of the North Face", a bizzare scaling of
the "summit" of a London house) to the punchy and thoughtful ("Newton's
Sleep", the problems that accompany a generational starship that flees
Earth). While Le Guin is able to indulge her passion for strange alien
cultures (e.g. a down-trodden race of sculptors who find messages hidden in
the works they make for their masters, the possible uses of a pipe that
makes no noise) and human relationships here, it's tightly written and
makes a few good points. "Newton's Sleep" in particular is very perceptive
and illustrates Le Guin's thesis that perhaps racism is coming to be
replaced by an equally falacious 'scientism', a contempt for those who are
less 'wired-in' and technologically adept than yourself.
FROM
http://homepage.cs.latrobe.edu.au/agapow/Postviews/past_l-l.html
