Odd things this novel. I have also read "The Lathe of Heaven" and "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Le Guin, just for comparisons sake. This one read much more like "Wizard". The book is strange, not a challenging read, no huge word building, strange vocabulary, or anything like that; just nuanced. The story basically reads like a travel narrative. Guy run around, meets native tribes, ends up on a path of self discovery.
Anyway, I don't have anything terribly insightful to say about this story. I get the vague impression that the different tribes where supposed to be some sort of representation of different sociological/anthropomorphic though experiments. Hell, I am talking out my side here, but it is what I sorta gleamed. I won't talk about them any more in order to not taint your expectations, but if you like stories where characters interact with socially different types of people, this isn't half bad.
Some of the tribes also had different ways of handling the stagnation of society; I thought that was interesting. Fun to think of all the different ways a society can calcify after it looses the ability to advance itself.
Ok, the main thing I got from this book, the big idea (at least for me), was the idea that a honest man has strength in a civilization of liars. I don't know if that was the intent of the book, but it is what I thought about after I finished it. I wish I had something really intelligent to say here, but I don't. It is just something you will have to read on your own, and reach your own truths about. It is not just a question of being able to distinguish truth from lie based on what you know to be true, it it also a question of the liar not being able to benefit from your truths, as they expect lies. Bah, those thoughts don't quite stand up on their own, but they are approaching the grain of what I am trying to say. Lying is actually more difficult than simply saying the truth. Reality is in fact complicated, a truthful person is actually better able to face reality, because they don't have to factor the reality + their body of lies into the equation. A liar will inevitably become perverted by their own lies, incapable of distinguishing between their lies and the actual truth. Nothing profound here, just fun to think about, with actual characters.
So, quick review. Yes, it was a good book. I like books that give you something to think about afterwards. It is also a short read, so regardless of whether you like it or not, you won't have wasted too much time. If you do like it, it will probably give you something to think about, if you let the ideas percolate a little. If you don't like it, well... read something else!