I read the majority of The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin under the shifting shade of the Portola redwoods. The Athsheans' world is under fierce attack by yumens, who want to mine their planet for lumber and enslave the natives who live there. But Selver dreams a world in which they can reclaim their planet, before it's too late.
This novella is pure perfection. Through showing viewpoints of the brutal, ugly Davidson, and his determination to wipe the planet clean, and of anthropologist Lyubov, who does his best but is himself a product of the colonialist mindset, Le Guin perfectly vivisects the corruption of imperialism, the way that violence spreads to be an intrinsic part of every piece of it. For ultimately, Selver and the Athsheans can only reclaim their planet by using the yumens' tools against them.
It is a superb novella, and I won't say more for fear of ruining it. It's one I'll return to thinking about again and again, and every time I think of it, I'll think of sitting beneath a 1,000+ year old tree, and of wondering what it has seen, and what it might see from us next.
Content warnings for colonization, racism, misogyny, violence, rape/sexual assault.
