Title: |
The Word for World is Forest |
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Author: |
Ursula K. LeGuin |
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Category: |
Science Fiction / Fantasy |
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Rating: |
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Date Reviewed: |
January 16, 2026 |
Back when The Word for World is Forest was written, it must have been a stunningly original idea to portray the human colonizers of another planet as ruthless destroyers, greedy, ignorant
and cruel. But when read today, the settlers from Earth seem almost simplistic in their characterization as mindless exploiters of the landscape. Captain Davidson is so vicious, violent and cruel that he seems like a comic book villain
rather than a believable antagonist.
The planet of New Tahiti is mostly ocean, but there a several huge islands. These islands are all covered by ancient forests. Trees blanket the entire landscape; there is apparently no deserts or grasslands.
Inhabiting these forests are short, green-furred humanoids called Athsheans that the settlers derisively call 'creechies'. The humanoids are just three-feet tall and are completely peaceful, they are non-violent, but intelligent. They express dominance through
singing and growling. They are smart enough to understand simple commands, which makes them useful slaves. The settlers need the creechie aid because their mission is to colonize this planet. To that end, they have deforested Dump Island completely,
shipping the lumber 28 lightyears back to Earth and planting crops in the open space. But alas, rainstorms have resulted in severe flooding and the soil and seeds all washed away. Dump Island is now a denuded wasteland.
The protagonist of the book is a native called Selver. Selver works as one of the slaves in the human colony. He shocked everyone when he launched an enraged attack on Captain Davidson, continuing the assault even when
Davidson had beaten him bloody. Davidson would have killed Selver if not for the intervention of Lyubov. Later we learn that Davidson had raped and killed Selver's wife (subtlety is not wasted in LeGuin's depiction of Davidson).
Lyubov is the only human out of the 2000 colonists who displays any interest in the Athsheans - he tries to learn their culture, understand their dreaming, speak their language. Naturally, Davidson despises Lyubov.
The starship Shackleton arrives from Earth carrying 200 pleasure women for the macho settlers. (Again, nothing subtle here). So the violent human population will be breeding and expanding, the clear-cutting of the forests
will accelerate. Selver organizes an attack, and the 200 inhabitants of Smith camp are massacred in their entirety. The surviving humans in the other camps are shocked to learn that the creechies would strike back. Naturally, the violence escalates. The humans have flying 'hoppers', machine guns, napalm. The primitive Athsheans number in the millions.
Plus, the Athsheans know the workings of the human camps intimately, since they were held there as slaves.
This is a heavy-handed story about the humanity's blind desire for 'progress' without any consideration for sustainability or long-term consequences. Perhaps LeGuin was right - in the 50+ years since this book
was written, we have only accelerated the destruction of the environment here on Earth. Climate change wasn't even a consideration back in 1972; but we have continued with deforestation, unchecked population growth and the thoughtless expansion of toxins and
nuclear weapons. But although many humans are indifferent to the consequences of their greed, I don't think believe that even the majority of humans are so blind.
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