I must say I had writers block when sitting down to write this. I loved chapter 6 it was a book in a chapter a tale of escape, reversal of fortune, love rejected, and then little snippets, little clues, little breadcrumbs.

Aya wrote her summary first, and I was not going to read it until I read mine but we ARE in dialogue.

But before I dialogue let me summarize. Now we are leaving Karthide, this time with Estraven. Estraven adventures to a port city, he escapes, nearly doesn’t escape, finally escape lands in a new country as an “illegal alien”, becomes invisible and finally claiming a position in accordance his old position – and communicating the news about the Envoy. This is a fairy tale, maybe many fairy tales, the pauper and the prince comes to mind.

Aya fan girls Le Guin, and this chapter is fan girl worthy. She says “Estraven-skeptic to an Estraven believer. the subtle changes in language, cadence, and diction separate us from the narrative voice of Genly Ai.” This chapter is about language. It is language that we are becoming accustom to thorough its use in the book, kemmer and foretelling and schiftgregor (which I mispelled and am too lazy to reference). Are we, the aliens, becoming locals.

Aya references the banter and the storytelling. This is the way we pass on news, truths, teach new truths.

For me I wonder, why did LeGuin bring in Estaven’s old lover? A foreteller no less! I wonder what are the somatic practices or esoteric practices of this world? I wonder what is up with these bodies that change from male to female, that can repel stun blasts, and so forth. I wonder how did LeGuin create a bunch of words and trick me that it represented a world with answers to these questions? And that I should care about it !