This book was a great think piece... all of the characters had nuance, the pacing was great, the writing was excellent and engaging. This being my second Le Guin book... I definitely feel the need to read more! Such interesting ideas played with in this book. Truly a visionary book even now. Are there some baked in flaws of the times? Yes, but given the way it is written it feels like a questioning of those things if not a critic. Just really stands up to the test of time.