Every so often comes a story that is simultaneously very small and very large, at once compact and sprawling. LeGuin provides a timeless and timely look at the devastating effects of colonialism, both on the colonizer and the colonized (though obviously in different ways); the irreversibility of many kinds of harm; and the negotiation of trust, power, and hegemony among and between racial groups. One does not need science fiction to tell such a story, but nonetheless LeGuin does it beautifully. A terse and heartbreaking read, with words that sting and dreams that burn.