The Word for World is Forest

A brilliantly composed story about imperialism, colonization, oppression and rebellion, written in the time of the Vietnam war with many echoes of the events and language of those events.A predecessor to such works as Ferngully and Avatar, which explore the same themes.

The protagonist and antagonist are very starkly drawn, and the conflicting sides in the story painted in extreme contrasts to make the poin. The labels of good and evil are clearly determined here.Still, the auther sees the crises both sides face and integrates the compromises and corruption that afflicts them eash in its own way.

One character, an anthropoligist, stands out as prescient, if naive, and provides some sense of redeeming value to the human side of the story. Still, it is a tragedy and both sides are scarred by it.