Another strong, philosophical, and wise book by Le Guin, which also has its share of adventure.  There's really only one thing that keeps it from being a 5 star book for me.  While that thing is a bit spoilery, which is why I'm not going to specifically name it, it is actually only mentioned a couple of times, and is not particularly important to the book as a whole. Which is why it knocks off only a quarter point.