FORGIVENESS DAY BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (BOOK REVIEW AND AN AUTUMN STYLING)

Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! How are you today? I'm back with another Ursula K. Le Guin book review. In this post, I'll review "Forgiveness Day", a science fiction novella that is a part of the Hainish Circle. Published in 1995, "Forgiveness Day" won multiple awards. This novella is often published together with her other novellas from the Hainish Circle, and it can be find in various editions of Four Ways to Forgiveness and Five Ways to Forgiveness. 

Thematically, this novella is a part of five stories featuring two Hainish planets, but it can definitely be read on its own. I think it functions well as a stand alone novella. I listened to it in audio form, and I didn't have any problems following the story.  The world building is simple and effective. The author fills us in about the history of the two planets as the story enfolds. For such a short work of prose, this novella is really impressive in that it manages to explore the theme of slavery in a serious way. Moreover, "Forgiveness Day" can boost with a well driven and written plot and credible character development. It is really an accomplished piece of writing that stands well on its own. 

The novella features a protagonist exploring a new planet as a diplomat for Envoy, a common motif in Ursula K. Le Guin's writing. Another novel in the Hainish Circle that follow the same pattern and also employs a female protagonist is The Telling. However, the protagonist of this novella is a bit different, and so is her approach to things. As the Forgiveness Day novella opens, Solly, a woman of half-Terran ancestry, struggles to adapt to living on planet Werel. Solly is an Envoy for the Ekumen. Described as a space brat raised by space-travelling parents, Solly's willful, prideful, impulsive and anything but delicate and diplomatic. As things get more complicated, one both feels and worries about Solly's frustration and rage. Will she act out? Will she manage to adapt to a society where women are treated as lesser beings? 

I plan to read the other stories in the book as well. From what I found researching online, these five stories are all set on two planets that are located in a distant solar system. Now, this is something that is common for stories, novellas and novels in the Hainish Circle. Often the planets are located far away from Earth, and the goal of the Eukmen is to sort of connect them without changing their culture or development drastically. The two planets are named Werel and Yeowe and presumably they are inhabited by humans who are not that different from us. The human inhabits were placed there by the ancient Hainish- at least that is what I gathered from information found. I don't recall whether that was mentioned in the novella I'm going to review now. Anyhow, these two planets are quite different. 

 Werel is basically a slave owning planet and society, with a long history of legalized slavery. Basically, everyone is used to the concept of slavery. On Werel, there are two different ethnic groups, that are possibly also different races. At any rate, they have different skin tones. The darker ethical (and possibly racial group) are the slave owners, while the lighter ethnical group is owned as slaves (also known as assets). When the Ekumen recontacted the Werelians, they agreed to collaborate. However, things are very difficult for Solly. Even though she is respected in her function as an Envoy, Solly is treated as an oddity because woman don't really have a say in this society. 

HERE'S A BIT MORE INFORMATION FROM URSULA K. LE GUIN'S OFFICIAL SITE

A companion to Ursula K. Le Guin's award-winning Hainish novels—including The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed—Five Ways to Forgiveness tells the story of the planet Werel and its colony planet Yeowe, and how their societies are shaped by the legacies of slavery and revolution.

When the slaves on the colony Yeowe (called "assets") overthrow the slave-holding class (called "owners"), the owners on neighboring Werel launch a war to preserve the master-slave society that undergirds the economy of both planets. Told from the perspectives of people caught in the crosshairs of the struggle, the stories in this collection are linked by the character "Old Music," an Ekumen ambassador who is secretly working as an abolitionist and supporter of Yeowe's emancipation. Together they ask: What does forgiveness look like in a world riddled by racism and caste?

In "Betrayals," a disgraced revolutionary leader makes peace with his past. In the intersectional "Forgiveness Day," a female ambassador from the Ekumen struggles with the patriarchal culture of Werel, while "A Man of the People" tells the life story of a male Ekumen ambassador to Yeowe. "A Woman's Liberation" tells the story of a woman who, after escaping to freedom, must reckon with the internalized racism that still enchains her. And finally, the story "Old Music and the Slave Women" braids the collection together and counts the cost of justice.

Winner of the 1996 Locus Award for Best Collection
Winner of the 1995 Locus Award for Best Novella (“Forgiveness Day”)
Winner of the 1995 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award (“Forgiveness Day”)
Winner of the 1995 Asimov’s Readers Award for Best Novella (“Forgiveness Day”)

Four Ways to Forgiveness was originally published in 1995 by Harper Prism. In 2017, it was released as a Library of America eBook Classic, with an additional story, as Five Ways to Forgiveness. All five stories are also included in The Hainish Novels and Stories, also published in 2017 by Library of America.

Union Square and Co. will publish Five Ways to Forgiveness as a standalone print book on Feburary 25, 2025. An audiobook version will also be released in 2025.

Though this is often considered the seventh title of the Hainish Cycle, Ursula maintained that there is no particular cycle or order for the Ekumen novels.

THE INFORMATION ABOUT FORGIVENESS DAY IS A BIT SCARCE IN THIS PREVIEW, BUT I THINK YOU GET THE GIST!

DO YOU WANT TO READ MORE FROM URSULA K. LE GUIN? HERE ARE MY REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS!

THE HAINISH CIRCLE READING LIST

URSULA K. LE GUIN'S BOOK REVIEWS ON MY BLOG 

1. THE WORD FOR WORLD IS A FOREST  (A NOVELLA)

This novella is an absolute masterpiece! Poetically written, profoundly serious and wonderfully imaginative, The Word for World is a Forest is an exceptional book. The story Le Guin created is a incredibly tragic and sad one, but it rings absolutely true in its sadness and tragedy. 

2. THE TELLING (A NOVEL)

The Telling in the novel's title is actually a philosophy (or a religion if you will) based on Taoism. I loved Le Guin's take on Taoist inspired religion/philosophy know as 'The Telling' in the novel. It seems to me that Le Guin is well acquainted with Taoism and Buddhism, so well acquainted she is able to summon some of the complexity of Asian theologies, myths and philosophy in this novel, something I imagine is not easy to do. 

3. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS (A NOVEL)

The Left Hand of Darkness is a brilliant novel set on a planet whose culture is quite different from our own. It questions gender identity in the most brilliant of ways. This is a novel way ahead of its time. One of the best novels I have ever read for sure!

4. THE DISPOSSESSED (A NOVEL)

 The Dispossessed is an Utopian (at times Dystopian) philosophical science fiction novel with a developed plot, charismatic protagonist and detailed world building. Focusing on social and philosophical themes, The Dispossessed is written in a non-chronological way. 

MORE WORKS THAT DEAL WITH SLAVERY AND/OR OPPRESSIVE SOCIETY

THE WILD GIRLS, A STORY BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (REVIEW) October, 2024

Published in 2011, this powerful short story tells a touching tale of slavery, trauma, loss and survival. Sisterly love is at the core of this immensely sad, complex and profound story. If you want to read an intelligent and multifaceted story focused on female characters, and set in a dystopian society, look no further. Don't expect a happy ending, though! This is not that kind of story.

THE MASTERS BY URSULA K. LE GUIN

(SHORT STORY) 

 This is one of Ursula's early works. If I'm not mistaken, it's her first or second published work. Some sources list is as first publish work, some as the second one.  Published in 1963, this short story is set in a dystopian future. It opens with a young protagonist undergoing an initiation of some kind. Soon, we as readers learn more about this initiation as well as the dystopian society he lives in. It's a preindustrial sort of world where the Sun is only occasionally seen. It's possible that what Ursula describes is a future on planet Earth. It's a bleak future, where people are prosecuted for expressing interest in Science and Math. 

FINALLY, A FANTASY RECOMMENDATION- THE EARTHSEA CYCLE

PERFECT FOR LOVERS OF FANTASY!

1) A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, THE FIRST  NOVEL IN THE EARTHSEA CYCLE

2) THE TOMBS OF ATUAN, THE SECOND EARTHSEA NOVEL 

3) THE FARTHEST SHORE, THE THIRD EARTHSEA NOVEL

4) TENAHU, THE FOURTH EARTHSEA NOVEL 

"FORGIVENESS DAY", A NOVELLA BY URSULA K. LE GUIN 5/5

As a reader, I felt drawn right up into this story. As soon as Solly was introduced, she seemed like a promising and powerful female protagonist. The kind of woman who isn't afraid to take on a difficult task. As we see Solly trying to navigate the delicate task of Envoy for the Ekumen, it's easy to feel for her plight. 

SOLLY IS YOUNG, BUT ISN'T AFRAID AND INITIALLY SHE IS EAGER TO TAKE ON THE CHALLANGE

 Solly had been a space brat, a Mobile's child, living on this ship and that, this world and that; she'd traveled five hundred light-years by the time she was ten. At twenty-five she had been through a revolution on Alterra, learned aijl on Terra and far thinking from an old hilfer on Rokanan, breezed through the Schools on Hain, and survived an assignment as Observer in murderous, dying Kheakh, skipping another half millennium at near-lightspeed in the process. She was young, but she'd been around. She got bored with the Embassy people in Voe Deo telling her to watch out for this, remember that; she was a Mobile herself now, after all. Werel had its quirks - what world didn't? She'd done her homework, she knew when to curtsy and when not to belch, and vice versa. It was a relief to get on her own at last, in this gorgeous little city, on this gorgeous little continent, the first and only Envoy of the Ekumen to the Divine Kingdom of Gatay. 

She was high for days on the altitude, the tiny, bril1iant sun pouring vertical light into the noisy streets, the peaks soaring up incredibly behind every building, the dark blue sky where great near stars burned all day, the dazzling nights under six or seven lo11oping bits of moon, the tall black people with their black eyes, narrow heads, long, narrow hands and feet, gorgeous people, her people! She loved them al1. Even if she saw a little too much of them. 

Solly is a space brat, a women to have travelled widely and visited numerous planets. When she becomes the first Envoy to the Divine Kingdom of Gatay, Solly is faced with a number of challenges.  She is constantly accompanied by her guard Teyeo, with whom she doesn't get along, and she doesn't seem to fit anywhere. 

SOLLY ACCEPTS HER GUIDE, BUT DOESN'T LIKE HER GUARD AT ALL

The Guide, whose name was San Ubattat, was provided by her hosts in Gatay; of course he was reporting on her to the government, but he was a most obliging spy, endlessly smoothing the way for her, showing her with a bare hint what was expected or what would be a gaffe, and an excellent linguist, ready with a translation when she needed one. San was all right. But the Guard was something else. He had been attached to her by the Ekumen's hosts on this world, the dominant power:' on Werel, the big nation of Voe Deo. She had promptly protested to the Embassy back in Voe Deo that she didn't need or want a bodyguard. Nobody in Gatay was out to get her and even if they were, she preferred to look after herself. The Embassy sighed. Sorry, they said. You're stuck with him. Voe Deo has a military presence in Gatay， which after all is a client state, economical1y dependent. It's in Voe Deo's interest to protect the legitimate government of Gatay against the native terrorist factions, and you get protected as one of their interests. We can't argue with that. She knew better than to argue with the Embassy, but she could not resign herself to the Major.

SOLLY HAS NO PRIVACY, IS SHOCKED BY THE ACCEPTION OF SLAVERY,  AND STRUGGLES TO ADAPT

Even in bed she wasn't quite as alone as she would often have liked; for the Guide and the Guard went home at night but in the anteroom of her bedroom slept the Maid - a gift from His Majesty, her own private asset. She remembered her incredulity when she first learned that word, years ago, in a text about slavery. On Werel members of the dominant caste are called owners; members of the serving class are called assets. Only owners are referred to as men or women; assets are called bondsmen, bondswomen.' So here she was, the owner of an asset. 

You don't turn down a king's gift. Her asset's name was Rewe. Rewe was probably a spy too, but it was hard to believe. She was a dignified, handsome woman some years older than Solly and about the same intensity of skin color, though Solly was pinkish brown and Rewe was bluish brown. The palms of her hands were a delicate azure. Rewe's manners were exquisite and she had tact, astuteness, an infallible sense of when she was wanted and when not. Solly of course treated her as an equal, stating right at the beginning that she believed no man or being had a right to dominate, much less own, another, that she would give Rewe no orders, and that she hoped they might become friends. 

Rewe accepted this, unfortunately, as a new set of orders. She smiled and said yes. She was infinitely yielding. Whatever Solly said or did sank into that acceptance and was lost, leaving Rewe unchanged: an attentive, obliging, gentle physical presence, just out of reach. She smiled, and said yes, and was untouchable.

 

The planet she finds herself one is a strange one for Solly. The society she has to adapt to has institutionalized slavery, something Solly struggles with for obvious reasons. Moreover, woman have no say in this society. Due to her diplomatic position, Solly does have power- at least to some degree. However, it is easy to see that for the men of this planet talking to her is as much of a cultural shock as it is for her to talk to them. They are not used to talking to women, and they're not even used to seeing a woman moving freely about in spaces that are reserved for men. As the Le Guin's site says this novel shows us - a female ambassador from the Ekumen struggles with the patriarchal culture of Werel.

SOLLY HAS NO WAY OF MEETING OTHER WOMEN OR HAVING WOMEN FRIENDS

And Solly began to think, after the first fizz of the first days in Gatay， that she needed Rewe, really needed her as a woman to talk with. There was no way to meet owner women, who lived hidden away in their bezas, women's quarters, ‘at home,' they called it. All bondswomen but Rewe were somebody else's property, not hers to talk to. All she ever met was men. And eunuchs. That had been another thing hard to believe, that a man would voluntarily trade his virility for a little social standing; but she met such men all the time in King Hotat's court. Born assets, they earned partial independence by becoming eunuchs, and as such often rose to positions of considerable power and trust among their owners. The eunuch Tayandan, majordomo of the palace, ruled the King, who didn't rule, but figure headed for the Council..

 SOLLY DISLIKES THE RELIGIONS OF THE PLANET

...but the deadly self-righteousness, the intolerance, the stupidity of the priests, the hideous doctrines that justified every cruelty in the name of the faith! As a matter of fact, Solly said to herself, was there anything she did like about Werel?

YET SHE CLAIMS SHE LOVES THE PLANET AND WANTS TO UNDERSTAND ITS PEOPLE!

And answered herself instantly: 1 love it, 1 love it. 1 love this

weird little bright sun and all the broken bits of moons and the

mountains going up like ice walls and the people - the people 

with their black eyes without whites like animals' eyes,

 eyes like dark glass, like dark water, mysterious - 

I want to love them, I want to know them, I want to reach them! 

BEING A WOMEN ON WEREL IS TOUGH EVEN IF YOU ARE AN ENVOY IN A POSITION OF POWER 

But she had to admit that the pissants at the Embassy had been right about one thing: being a woman was tough on Werel. She fit nowhere. She went about alone, she had a public position, and so was a contradiction in terms: proper women stayed at home, invisible. Only bondswomen went out in the streets, or met strangers, or worked at any public job. She behaved like an asset, not like an owner. Yet she was something very grand, an envoy of the Ekumen, and Catay very much wanted to join the Ekumen and not to offend its envoys. So the official and courtiers and business she talked to on the business of the Ekl1men did the best they could: they treated her as if she were a man. 

INITIALLY I FELT FOR SOLLY, WHO EVEN RESORTS TO WEARING MEN'S CLOTHES TO FIT IN

I could definitely feel for Solly. She finds herself in a difficult position. Solly's mission is a responsible one. If you think about it, she's not only responsibly for an entire planet but also for its future. The possibility of including this planet into Ekumen could mean positive changes and technological advancement. The people of Werel, or rather the men of Werel, are willing to make exceptions for Solly as she is the official ambassador of the Ekumen, but that doesn't mean that they are willing to really respect and listen to her. Solly can feel the men's shock when she tries to talk to them. 

When she contradicted Lord Gatuyo in a discl1ssion, he stared with the blank disbelief of a man who has been talked back to by his shoe. He had been thinking of her as a woman. 

Solly is trying to make progress, and to adapt to her diplomatic functions, but it seems that for every step she takes forward, she takes one or two back. How is she supposed to establish a path to diplomatic relationship with a society that is so rigid and formal? Is there any hope for her to make them see outside their laws and conventions?

But in general the disgenderment worked, allowing her to work with them; and she began to fit herself into the game, enlisting Rewe's help in making clothes that resembled what male owners wore in Catay， avoiding anything that to them would be specifically feminine. 

SOLLY TRIES BEFRIENDING WOMEN OF THE PLANET, BUT THEY REJECT HER INVITATIONS

Butt she felt unsexed by these men who could not accept her for what she was. She needed to talk to a woman. She tried to meet some of the hidden owner women through the owner men, and met a wall of politeness without a door, without a peephole.

Solly isolation seems complete when ladies reject her invitations with politeness. Gender is often a theme in Le Guin's work, and it's certainly a theme in this story. Solly manages to present herself as a men, her servant (asset) makes her men's clothes and it helps her in her work, but it doesn't make her happy. After all, she wants to be perceived as what she is- a woman. 

.....BUT SOMETIMES SOLLY  RUBBED ME THE WRONG WAY

As much as I felt for Solly, I also wondered whether was she the right person for the job. Somewhere along the way, she started rubbing me the wrong way. At times Solly seemed a bit too self-centered and filled with righteousness. I could understand how incredibly difficult it was for her, and how isolated she must have felt, but I didn't really see her making an effort to approach this society with anything but judgement. Of course, slavery is a horrible thing, but it didn't seem like she was doing all she can to establish the diplomatic ties that would be essential if the planet Werel was to open up towards other cultures and become open for abolition of slavery. 

I loved Solly, but she also frustrated with as a character.

I NEEDED TO REMIND MYSELF THAT SOLLY IS YOUNG AND THUS IMPATIENT, SHE LACKS THE KIND OF MATURITY THAT YEARS BRING

SOLLY SEEMED TOO STUBBORN AND TOO SELF-RIGHTEOUS FOR A TIME

Indeed, for a time Solly seemed too stubborn. There were a few instances where she went directly against the social conventions for reasons that didn't seem that important. It seemed like she just wanted to have a good time and some release from the pressure she was under. I kept hoping to see her grow as a person. However, those instances when she was acting a bit like a brat weren't entirely without charm. Some of them were amusingly written. 

SOLLY CAME UP WITH AN IDEA OF DRESSING LIKE A MAN BUT HER SOCIAL LIFE IS STILL SUFFERING

As we have seen, Solly had come up with the idea of  dressing like a man, hoping she will be treated with more respect by the political leaders, but she doesn't seem to be making much progress in terms of establishing a real dialogue and she's growing frustrated. Teyeo is often the cause of her frustration as well, and she's tired of him being on her tail all the time. She seems to take it personal, as if it wasn't his job. Maybe because Solly feels Teyeo judges her. 

HER ADVISOR LETS HER KNOW SHE COULD ATTEND A PERFORMANCE AS LONG AS SHE DRESSES AS A MAN

Her advisers tells her that it is find if she goes to the treater as long as she's dressed as a men. Solly learns that some women in this society dressed as men and saw the performance in the past. So, she won't be the first women to see this entertainment society of the planet. 

She asked San, a reliable etiquette advisor, if it would be all right for her to attend the performance. He hemmed and hawed and finally, with more than usually oily delicacy, gave her to understand that it would be all right so long as she went dressed as a man. 

SOLLY MANAGES TO GO OUT AND SEE A PERFORMANCE, FINDING OUT ABOUT MALE ACTORS/PERFORMERS

They were never on the network. Young girls at home were not to be exposed to their performances, some of which, San gravely informed her, were unseemly. They played only in theaters. Clowns, dancers, prostitutes, actors, musicians, the makils formed a kind of subclass, the only assets not personally owned. A talented slave boy bought by the Entertainment Corporation from his owner was thenceforth the property of the Corporation, which trained and looked after him the rest his life.

 So, Solly is allowed to go to the performance in the theatre as long as she is dressed as a man. She is learns of this new class of people, a subclass of performers. Solly is surprised when she realizes that the performers are men dressed as women. She has perhaps been told but forgot it enchanted by the performance. 

They walked to the theater, six or seven streets away. She had forgotten that the makils were all transvestites, indeed she did not remember it when she first saw them, a troop of tall slender dancers sweeping out onto the stage with the precision and power and grace of great birds wheeling, flocking, soaring. She watched unthinking, enthralled by their beauty....

They represent a different caste, with rules of their own. They are a kind of slaves too, but they belong to unions, something akin to actors unions so they seem to have a small degree of freedom compared to regular slaves i.e. assets. These actors are also slaves of course, but since their owner is an union of actions, so maybe they are a bit better of.  

Solly is quite enchanted by them, and finally enjoys a night of freedom. She wants to meet one of them- Batikam. Her advisor has nothing against it, as he hopes to make some money of it, but her bodyguard doesn't want it, and seeing their silent exchange of words drives Solly to fury and makes her more determined to meet Batikam.

If her proposal was out of line, San would have signaled or said so. The Stuffed Major was simply controlling her, trying to keep her as tied down as one of 'his' women. It was time to challenge him. She turned to him and stared straight at him. 'Rega Teyeo,' she said, I quite comprehend that you're under orders to keep me in order. But if you give orders to San or to me, they must be spoken aloud, and they must be justified. 1 will not be managed by your winks or your whims.'

There was a considerable pause, a truly delicious and rewarding pause. It was difficult to see if the Major's expression changed; the dim theater light showed no detail in his blue black face. But there was something frozen about his stillness that told her she'd stopped him. 

At last he said, 'I'm charged to protect you, Envoy.' 

‘Am I endangered by the makils? Is there impropriety in an envoy of the Ekumen congratulating a great artist of Werel?' 

Again the frozen silence. 'No,' he said. 

'Then 1 request you to accompany me when 1 go backstage after the performance to speak to Batikam.'

SOLLY BEFRIENDS ONE OF THE ASSEST ACTORS, AN INDIVIDUAL KNOWN AS BATIKAM

When they realised who she was, the managers tried to clear all the other performers out, leaving her alone with Batikam (and San and the Major, of course); but she said no, no, no, these wonderful artists must not be disturbed, just let me talk a moment with Batikam. She stood there in the bustle of doffed costumes, half-naked people, smeared makeup, laughter, dissolving tension after the show, any backstage on any world, talking with the clever, intense man in elaborate archaic woman's costume. They hit it off at once. 'Can you come to my house?' she asked. 

‘With pleasure,' Batikam said, and his eyes did not flick to San's or the Major's face: the first bondsman she had yet met who did not glance to her Guard or her Guide for permission to say or do anything, anything at all. She glanced at them only to see if they were shocked. San looked collusive, the Major looked rigid.

 '1'11 come in a little while,' Batikam said. ‘1 must change.'

 After the performance, Solly meets and seemingly befriends an asset actor named Batikam. She invites him to spend the night, and they develop a relationship of sorts, much to Teyeo's distress. Her guard cannot do anything about it, though. Solly still hates Teyeo, and the feeling might be confirmed as mutual if Teyeo, an ex solider, was more expressive in his feelings. However, it certainly seems they can't stand one another.

BATIKAM IS A FASCINATING CHARACTER THAT WE WILL SEE MORE OF

Batikam was not as handsome as the Major, who was a stunning -looking man till he opened his mouth; but the makil was magnetic, you had to look at him.  

WE GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE LIFE STORY OF SOLLY'S BODYGUARD TEYEO

As readers, we finally learn more about Teyeo, his childhood and early life. He's a deeply honorable man, loyal without a fault and brave. 

He was born where his fathers before him were born, in the old, cold house in the foothills above Noeha. His mother did not cry out as she bore him, since she was a soldier's wife, and a soldier's mother, now. He was named for his great-uncle, killed on du in the Sosa. He grew up in the stark discipline of a poor household of pure veot lineage. His father, when he was on leave, taught him the arts a soldier must know; when his father was on duty the old Asset-Sergeant Habbakam took over the lessons, which began at five in the morning, summer or winter, with worship, shortsword practice, and a crosscountry run. His mother and grandmother taught him the other arts a man must know, beginning with good manners  before he was two, and after his second birthday going on to history, poetry and sitting stil1 without talking. The child's day was filled with lessons and fenced with disciplines; but a child's day is long. There was room and time for freedom, the freedom of the farmyard and the open hills. There was the companionship of pets, fox dogs, running dogs, spotted cats, hunting cats, and the farm cattle and the great horses; not much companionship otherwise. 

We learn about Teyeo's first love Rega, his gentle but firm nature, and his conservative upbringing. 

Silently and politely, when they were both fifteen, Teyeo  and Rega Toebawe's daughter fell in love. On the last day of her visit they escaped by unspoken collusion and rode out side by side, rode for hours, too shy to talk. He had given her Tasi to ride. They dismounted to water and rest the horses in a wild valley of the hills. They sat near each other, not very near, by the side of the little quiet-running stream. '1 love you,' Teyeo said. ‘I love you,' Rega said, bending her shining black face down. They did not touch or look at each other. They rode back over the hills, joyous, silent. 

When he was sixteen Teyeo was sent to the Officers' Academy in the capital of his province. There he continued to learn and practice the arts of war and the arts of peace. His province was the most rural in Voe Deo; its ways were conservative, and his training was in some ways anachronistic.  

TEYEO'S EDUCATION WAS NOT INFLUENCED BY THE EKUMEN, NOR WAS HIS TAUGHT MODERN THINKING 

He was of course taught the technologies of modern warfare, becoming a first-rate pod pilot and an expert in telereconnaissance; but he was not taught the modern ways of thinking that accompanied the technologies in other schools.. He learned the poetry and history of Voe Deo, not the history and politics of the Ekumen. The Alien presence on Werel remained remote, theoretical to him. His reality was the old reality of the veot class, whose men held themselves apart from all men not soldiers and in brotherhood with all soldiers, whether owners, assets, or enemies. 

As for women, Teyeo considered his rights over them absolute, binding him absolutely to responsible chivalry to women of his own class and protective, merciful treatment of bondswomen. He believed all foreigners to be basically hostile, untrustworthy heathens. He honored the Lady Tual， but worshiped the Lord Kamye. He expected no justice, looked for no reward, and valued above all competence, courage, and self-respect. In some respects he was utterly unsuited to the world he was to enter, in others well prepared for it, since he was to spend seven years on Yeowe fighting a war in which there was no justice, no reward, and never even an illusion of ultimate victory. 

TEYEO IS ACTUALLY A DEEPLY MORAL MAN AND A COMPLEX CHARACTER THAT LIVED THROUGH A HORRIBLE WAR ONLY TO LOSE ALL HE LOVED

I don't want to retell the whole of Teyeo's life story but it's very intense and quite tragic. Once you read it, you see that Solly isn't being just at all. Instead, she's behaving like a brat, flaunting her affair with Batikam, who didn't even have a say in all that. Solly thinks that Teyeo resents the affair because of his conservative upbringing, and that's partly right, but she doesn't know that Teyeo is pretty certain Batikam is mocking Solly in some ways.

The makil came to her house every night after the theater. Teyeo tried to tell himself there was nothing wrong in it. He himself had spent nights with the makils, back in the palmy days before the war. Expert, artistic sex was part of their business. He knew by hearsay that rich city women often hired them to come supply a husband's deficiencies. But even sl1ch women did so secretly, discreetly, not in this vulgar, shameless way, utterly careless of decency, flouting the moral code, as if she had some kind of right to do whatever she wanted wherever and whenever she wanted it. Of course Batikam colluded eagerly with her, playing on her infatl1ation, mocking the Gatay, mocking Teyeo - and mocking her, though she didn't know it. What a chance for an asset to make fools of all the owners at once!  

TEYEO IS A SOLDIER AND A SOLDIER IS CAPABLE OF SEING SLAVES AS EQUALS

 The makil returned Teyeo's cold courtesy in kind, but once or twice their eyes met and some brief, involuntary understanding passed between them, fraternal, ironic.

The fact is that Teyeo is better able to judge the situation that Solly, who is way over her head. Teyeo respects Batikam more that Solly does. 

ONE INTERESTING MOMENT WAS WHEN SOLLY REALIZED THAT BATIKAM WAS AFRAID OF HER

For me the most interesting moment in Solly's and Batikam's relationship was when he feel asleep because he was too tired, and then showed fear upon waking up and  realizing what he did. So, Batikam was afraid of Solly. Why? As she realizes, it is because he might not have wanted to be with her in the first place. When Solly invites Batikam in her bed, she does it feeling proud at her self-righoutness and freedom, never taking into account that Batikam is in no position to say no.

Solly has been judging this whole society harshly for using slaves, but she herself has acted as a slave owner. She completely ignored the fact that Batikam as a slave actor had no choice when an influential ambassador (i.e. Solly) invited him home. He was charming to her, but did Batikam had a choice? Of course not. So, Solly was the one in the position of power and she misused her power. 

AN UNTYPICAL AMBASSATOR, SOLLY DOESN'T EVEN TRY TO HIDE HER PERSONAL OPINIONS

Solly doesn't hide her opinions. She shows her resentment for slavery and her dissatisfaction with  the separation of the society. As explained, the society is basically divided between slaves known as "assets" and "owners", who are basically all men. However, she also finds herself in position of a slave owner. She was gifted a servant by the King, and now she thinks she has befriended a man but are they really friends if he has no choice in their friendship?

SOLLY OFTEN COMES INTO A CONFLICT WITH HER BODYGUARD

There's a person that Solly seems to especially hate, and that is her guard Teyeo who is basically a bodyguard to her. It seems she enjoys torturing him. Often Solly will do something deliberately to make him mad. In general, Solly enjoys seeing him turn red.

Things are not easy for Solly on Gatay, she has no friends and cannot hope to befriend anyone. Women are not even allowed to go out in public there, so she  is always an outcast. She annoys Teyeo with the way she behaves and with the way she seems to contract and confuse him just for the fun of it.

AS SOLLY LEARNS MORE OF THIS FUTURE SOCIETY IN HER EXPLOITS, SHE GETS HERSELF IN MIDST OF A CONFLICT

 Gatay also faces some other challenges, religious changes and so on. Solly is invited to a festival, but a treat on her life has been made. Teyeo begs her not to go, but will she listen? 

There was to be a public festival, an observation of the Tualite Feast of Forgiveness, to which the Envoy was pressingly invited by the King and COl1ncil. She was put on show at many such events. Teyeo thol1ght nothing about it except how to provide security in an excited holiday crowd, until San told him that the festival day was the highest holy day of the old religion of Gatay, and that the Old Believers fiercely resented the imposition of the foreign rites over their own. 

SOLLY ACTUALLY UNDERGOES SOME SIGNIFICANT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Just when I started disliking Solly, she shone through and underwent some major character development. Needless to say, I loved that part of the ending. I want to avoid spoilers, so I'll not share what brings upon this change. I will say there's a sudden event and a real danger for the above mentioned characters. 


AN UNEXPECTED LOVE STORY IS UNFOLDING, BUT WILL THE LOVERS SURVIVE?

There's also a love story that unfolds. However, will the lovers survive to realize their love? 

Thank you for reading and stopping by. Have a lovely day!