Shing
Encyclopedia
The Shing are a fictional alien
race, in the Hainish Cycle of novels and short stories of the science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin
. They are only explicitly described in City of Illusions
, but seem to be the same as the distant but threatening 'enemy' mentioned in Rocannon's World
and Planet of Exile
. In The Left Hand of Darkness
, brief reference is made to an earlier 'Age of the Enemy' which is now past. It seems the planets of the former League of Worlds have re-united as the Ekumen.
In her introduction to the 1978 hardback edition of City of Illusions, Le Guin regrets the improbable and flawed depiction of the villains, the Shing, as not convincingly evil.
twelve hundred years before City of Illusions begins. Their main weapon in this conquest is the ability to lie in Mindspeech. The Shing closely resemble humans though they seem to be unable to interbreed with them. Coming to Earth as "exiles or pirates or empire builders from some distant star" the Shing, who are not numerous, establish themselves in a single fantastical city Es Toch. Under their rule the remainder of Earth declines into a thinly populated collection of backward and often mutually hostile tribal societies.
Mindspeech is an advanced form of telepathy practiced by the Shing. Mindspeech was first learned by Rocannon an ethnologist from the planet New South Georgia of the League of All Worlds on the world called in his honor Rokanan. Two of the races on Rokanan have indigenous telepathy and from one of them Rocannon learns the skill himself, and later it spreads throughout the League. One axiom held to be undeniable was that it is not possibly to lie through mindspeech, however the alien Enemy of the League, the Shing are able to mind-lie and use that ability to infiltrate and eventually destroy the League.
The final fate of the Shing is not made clear. The philosophy of the Ekumen provides for coexistence with objectionable peoples, but it is less apparent what the Alterans believe. Nor is it certain how or when the Ekumen was established - just that it occurred at some point between the time periods covered by City of Illusions and The Left Hand of Darkness.
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
race, in the Hainish Cycle of novels and short stories of the science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
. They are only explicitly described in City of Illusions
City of Illusions
City of Illusions is a 1967 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, set on Earth in the distant future in her Hainish Cycle. City of Illusions is significant because it lays the foundation for the Hainish cycle, a fictional world in which the majority of Ursula K...
, but seem to be the same as the distant but threatening 'enemy' mentioned in Rocannon's World
Rocannon's World
Rocannon's World is Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel. It was published in 1966 as an Ace Double, along with Avram Davidson's The Kar-Chee Reign, following the tête-bêche format. Though it is one of Le Guin's many works set in the universe of the technological Hainish Cycle, the story itself has many...
and Planet of Exile
Planet of Exile
Planet of Exile is a 1966 science-fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin in her Hainish Cycle. It was first published as an Ace Double following the tête-bêche format, bundled with Mankind Under the Leash by Thomas M. Disch.-Plot summary:...
. In The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe....
, brief reference is made to an earlier 'Age of the Enemy' which is now past. It seems the planets of the former League of Worlds have re-united as the Ekumen.
In her introduction to the 1978 hardback edition of City of Illusions, Le Guin regrets the improbable and flawed depiction of the villains, the Shing, as not convincingly evil.
Nature of the Shing
Originating in a distant region of the galaxy, perhaps hundreds of light-years from Earth, the Shing infiltrate and destroy the League of All WorldsLeague of All Worlds
The League of All Worlds is an alliance of planets, mostly descended from colonization efforts from the planet Hain, in the fictional Hainish Cycle universe created by the science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin. In the series, it is destroyed by aliens called the Shing who have the ability to lie...
twelve hundred years before City of Illusions begins. Their main weapon in this conquest is the ability to lie in Mindspeech. The Shing closely resemble humans though they seem to be unable to interbreed with them. Coming to Earth as "exiles or pirates or empire builders from some distant star" the Shing, who are not numerous, establish themselves in a single fantastical city Es Toch. Under their rule the remainder of Earth declines into a thinly populated collection of backward and often mutually hostile tribal societies.
Mindspeech is an advanced form of telepathy practiced by the Shing. Mindspeech was first learned by Rocannon an ethnologist from the planet New South Georgia of the League of All Worlds on the world called in his honor Rokanan. Two of the races on Rokanan have indigenous telepathy and from one of them Rocannon learns the skill himself, and later it spreads throughout the League. One axiom held to be undeniable was that it is not possibly to lie through mindspeech, however the alien Enemy of the League, the Shing are able to mind-lie and use that ability to infiltrate and eventually destroy the League.
"Reverence for Life"
Ruling through "toolmen" - human collaborators who are either computer controlled or who have been raised to accept the Shing as benign human lords, the only truth that the Shing seem to accept is the law of preservation of life. They appear as pathological liars, though Falk the Alteran leading character of City of Illusions comes to conclude "the essence of their lying was a profound, irredemiable lack of understanding" of the peoples that they have conquered. Shing character, culture, architecture and even clothing is ambiguous and illusory.Climax
At the ending of City of Illusions Falk escapes from the Shing in a stolen interstellar ship, returning to his own home world of Werel where the interbreeding of Terran colonists and indigenous peoples has built an advanced society with the will and capacity to end Shing rule over Earth.The final fate of the Shing is not made clear. The philosophy of the Ekumen provides for coexistence with objectionable peoples, but it is less apparent what the Alterans believe. Nor is it certain how or when the Ekumen was established - just that it occurred at some point between the time periods covered by City of Illusions and The Left Hand of Darkness.