A grown man with no memory and strange oval-irised amber eyes wanders out of the Forest near Zove's House. The people take him in, name him Falk and teach him of the world - how the alien Shing conquered Earth centuries before and continue to suppress human society. Finally, he decides to set off for the Shing city of Es Toch to discover who he really is and what happened to him.
This was a good story idea and the writing, as usual with LeGuin was poetic and flowing, but the book still seems flawed. The first section, covering Falk's time in Zove's House and his journey to Es Toch is good, but once he reaches the city things seem unnecessarily drawn out (even though it's a short book) and the resolution, by contrast, seems sudden and short, although I liked the ironic twist involved.
Still a good book, but it could have been better, I feel.
