Almost 40 years later, it’s hard to appreciate how revolutionary, and how relevant on multiple levels, this book was when first published. Historical abuses of Native Americans and ecological collapses were just beginning to get national attention in 1972, and in SF circles, the ethics involved in encountering extra-terrestrial intelligent life forms was a topic of international debate. TWFWIF was a paradigm shift in SF, presenting us as the alien invaders.

The planet Athshe is a Terran colony planet, and on it Captain Davidson enjoys the life of a powerful man. He’s the first character we meet, so the expectation is that he is the protagonist and the hero. Slowly the reader’s perspective widens around him, and he stands revealed not as a hero/protagonist, but as the “he is us” villain of the story. The aboriginals of the planet, the Athsheans, called creechies by Davidson and most of the colonists, are small, furry anthropods: quiet, pacific, stoical and communal, but with well-developed customs to preserve both privacy and intimacy. To men like Davidson, these qualities make the creechies natural victims. Their Anthsheans have one ally in the researcher Lyubov, who tries to genuinely understand the richness and subtleties of Athshean culture (such as their ability to enter the Dreamtime), and to protect the Athsheans from Davidson and his followers. The protagonist is Selver, an Athshean who makes the hard decision to teach his tribe to fight back against tyrannical invaders.

If you’ve read The Wind’s Twelve Quarters and the story “Direction of the Road,” you know to pay attention to the details any time LeGuin describes trees. Almost every aspect of trees is redolent of symbolism in this book. It is as if she posed a koan for the reader to contemplate, written in a language spoken by beings whose roots reach down to the dark waters of the subconscious, and whose branches intertwine under the brightest stars. The Word for World Is Forest won a Hugo Award; read it find out why. – Chris Paige