City of Illusions

City of Illusions is a 1967 novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, set on Earth in the distant future in her Ekumen series.

Related Topics:
Ursula K. Le Guin - Ekumen

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The story starts when a man crawls into a tiny village (housed in one building) in eastern North America. He's naked except for a ring on one finger, he has no memory except of motor skills at about the one-year-old level, and his distinctive physical features show that he's from some other planet. The villagers name him Falk; they teach him to speak and teach him about the Earth. It's ruled by the "Shing", conquerors who are said to be the only beings able to lie telepathically.

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After six years, Falk sets off alone for the Shing's capital in western North America. He finds many obstacles to learning the truth about himself and about the Shing.

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City of Illusions is the first of Le Guin's novels to deal with some of her frequent themes: Taoism (the Tao Te Ching has talismanic value to Falk), liberation, an oppressive male-dominated culture, and perhaps anarchism in the original village and its neighbors.

Related Topics:
Taoism - Tao Te Ching - Anarchism

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