Brad's Reviews > The Eye of the Heron

There was a moment early on in this novel when I was worried that the Leguin I love so dearly had checked out while writing The Eye of the Heron.

It was two moments at once, actually: Luz, the main character, began to feel like a Disney Princess, just as the Shantih Towners -- the "People of Peace" -- and their non-violent philosophy looked as thought it was going to end up in the realm of fantastical naiveté. But this is Leguin -- not some easily fooled adolescent or some money hungry crafter of drivel. The Eye of the Heron avoided the pitfalls I worried about and delivered something rather beautiful in its simplicity.

It is more novella than novel, but in that condensed space Leguin weaves in many threads from the rest of her great blanket of work. There is a thread of Omelas here, a hint of The Beginning Place there, some Dispossessed over here, a tiny bit of Planet of Exile over here, and others threads that feel familiar but can't quite place.

I come away from The Eye of the Heron not knowing exactly what Leguin was trying to tell me, but knowing full well what I found on the planet Mud.

And if Disney ever decided to make an impressive and important Princess movie, this would be the place to start -- even if that was never, in any way, Leguin's intention.