"Written with thought, care–even love." – Times Literary Supplement (London)
"Excellent characterization and meaningful ideas make this one of the most important [science fiction] novels of the last several years." – Library Journal
"Le Guin's characters, sepecially Shevek and his family, are complex and haunting, and her writing is remarkable for its sinewy grace." – Time magazine
"Engrossing . . . Ursula Le Guin is more than just a writer of adult fantasy and science fiction . . . she is a philosopher; an explorer in the landscapes of the mind." – Cincinnati Enquirer
"A seamless creation: every thing is made up, nothing seems arbitrary...Le Guin's book [is] written in her solid, no-nonsense prose." – New York Times Book Review
"Brilliantly conceived and stunningly executed . . . The setting is science fiction, but the tradition is humanistic, reducing life to its essentials and examining human beings in a real world." – Chicago Daily News
"The novel flashes back and forth . . . and delicately develops both the strengths and weaknesses of the two social systems, the contrasting textures of the two kinds of social experience . . . All through, this impresses with small but incalculably right choices which add up solidly and confirm Ms. Le Guin as one of our finest projectionists of brave old and other worlds." – Kirkus Reviews
