Book 9 for 2005

Changing Planes by Ursula K. LeGuin; © 2003, 246 p., Harcourt.

This was one selected by my book club and I found it to be a bit different from anything I normally read. It is of the sci-fi/fantasy genre and I found it to have an imaginative premise. The author suggests that when one is in an airport, waiting for a connecting flight, disgruntled, frustrated, and uncomfortable, it is possible to transcend this plane of existence and visit other planes. This interplanary travel can only be accomplished when one is in an airport under the conditions described. The majority of the book is a collection of descriptions of different planes to which the author travels. Some of the stories are more enjoyable than others. I finally figured out (near the end of the book) that I preferred the stories that were written more like adventures. The stories I found less enjoyable were the ones where the author was simply recounting the history or facts about a particular plane. Those stories tended to read like a bad travel guide. But the adventures I liked. I haven't read anything else by LeGuin, and perhaps I would have a stronger appreciation for this book if I had.