Rocannon's World

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Title Rocannon's World

Author	Ursula K. Le Guin
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science Fiction
Publisher	Ace Books
Released	1966
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
ISBN	NA

Rocannon's World was Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel. It was published in 1966. This book is one of Le Guin's many stories based in the universe of the Ekumen.

The novel begins with a prologue called "Semley's Necklace", which was previously published as a stand-alone story. A young woman named Semley takes a space voyage from her unnamed, technologically primitive planet to a museum to reclaim a family heirloom, not realizing that, while the trip will be of short duration for her, many years will elapse on her planet. She returns to find her daughter grown up and her husband dead.

The novel then follows Rocannon, an ethnologist who meets Semley at the museum and later goes on a mission to search her planet for the base of an enemy of the League of All Worlds. After the enemy destroys his ship and his companions, he sets out to find the base. He uses the communication device there to warn his people. An unmanned vessel destroys the installation, but manned travel is much slower; a rescue ship arrives after he has lived out his life among Semley's people.

The story has a strong resemblance to heroic fantasy, as Semley's people include lords in castles with swords, and other races on her planet are much like fairies and gnomes. Rocannon meets many colorful creatures in his travels. It may be classified as science fantasy or planetary romance.

Rocannon's World was republished in 1978 along with Planet of Exile and City of Illusions in a volume called Three Hainish Novels and in 1994 with the same novels in Worlds of Exile and Illusion.