The Left Hand of Darkness

By Ursula K. Le Guin,

Book cover of The Left Hand of Darkness

Book description

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION-WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MITCHELL AND A NEW AFTERWORD BY CHARLIE JANE ANDERS

Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking work of science fiction-winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where…

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Why read it?

22 authors picked The Left Hand of Darkness as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Le Guin is my favorite author, and all of her power is on display in this science fiction novel about an emissary who visits a planet (Gethen) where, most of the time, the people have no sex differentiation. Sex traits only become apparent in the two days per month of “kemmer,” and Gethenians may kemmer as male or female (and which is not completely predictable).

Because of Le Guin’s skill as a novelist, the implications of this arrangement are explored in subtle but powerful ways, more as the warp and weft of the cultural background than the main feature of…

From Scott's list on challenge myths about gender and sex.

This is the first book by Ursula K. LeGuin that I've read, and I was expecting it to be more of a fantasy novel. But I wasn't disappointed, and I found myself very quickly drawn into the world of Gethen and Genly Ai's struggle to understand the its people. It's a book that examines how we can transcend the differences between us to embrace the similarities, the power of friendship, and an exploration of sexual identity that was decades ahead of its time. I loved it.

This book is a mind-bending exploration of gender, sexuality, and human nature, set against the backdrop of a harsh, alien world.

What makes this novel so compelling is its innovative approach to gender. On the planet Gethen, individuals are born genderless and cycle through phases of male and female. This unique biological characteristic forces readers to question our own preconceived notions of gender and sexuality.

Beyond its groundbreaking exploration of gender, the novel delves into profound questions about human nature and society. Le Guin challenges us to consider the impact of power, politics, and cultural differences on individual identity and…

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Book cover of Unreachable Skies

Unreachable Skies by Karen McCreedy,

This book (and its sequels) are about overcoming the odds; about learning to improve the skills and abilities you have, rather than dwelling on what you can't do. Conflict, plague, and scheming politicians are all featured along the way–but none of the characters are human!

I felt a deep connection to the characters in this book as they go through a journey of intense struggle. It is a thorough exploration of another world, including both the good and darker aspects of human nature. When I finished this book, I felt I had returned from a great adventure to another land with characters that I had come to know well. The book has a timeless relevance with its insights into human nature and the corruption of power.

I think Le Guin's world-building is nothing short of remarkable. Through her meticulous attention to detail, she crafts a…

Welcome to a world where the inhabitants are androgynous, able to manifest both male and female genitalia. A world where you can be both a mother and a father of your children, where gender roles and expectations make no sense. I was absolutely astounded by this book when I read it many years ago. In a beautifully told sci-fi tale of political intrigue and adventure, I found myself constantly confronted by my limitations in terms of gender equity. 

For what LeGuin called her “social science fiction” and “thought experiments,” LeGuin created worlds—canvases really—where human foibles, conflicts, values, and ideas could…

Ursula Le Guin’s book uses gender identity to address reader estrangement. I love that Le Guin ruthlessly runssacks all our preconceptions, interrogates the assumptions we mistake for laws, and deconstructs conventional notions of what makes a viable society.

The locale is the planet of Winter, where it is always either cold or colder. There is sex but no gender, and individuals can father a child or give birth to one. This circumstance becomes endlessly confusing to Genly Ai, the male visitor from planet Earth, who doesn’t know how to respond to his guide and benefactor Estraven or even what pronoun…

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5 Stars by Louise Blackwick,

Five days before the end of humanity, five unlikely heroes find themselves on an impossible quest to outlive the apocalypse.

5 Stars is the survival story of a mother and her baby facing impossible odds amidst a global apocalypse. Set in a dying world overseen by “The Neon God,” the…

This novel is one of the few that for me truly delivers on science fiction’s promise to transport the reader into a fully-realized alien culture that has been thoroughly thought through, from its biology to its myth-making. I find it a masterpiece of sensitivity and immersiveness.

I also appreciate that the story unfolds slowly and deliberately. Despite the hefty ideas, the relationship between the Terran protagonist and the Gethenian character of Estraven is one for the ages. I found the sequence detailing their long trek through icy desolation starkly beautiful.

Like Among Others, this book won both the Hugo…

From Alvaro's list on mind-bending 1970s science fiction.

I loved this book because it was something I read a long time ago but returned to at a different time in my life with a fresh perspective.

A science fiction classic first published in 1969, so many of the themes in this book feel especially relevant today. It involves political intrigue, gender politics, and learning a new culture, but through the lens of a relationship between two people from entirely different planets.

LeGuin manages to create an alien world that is very, very human. N. K. Jemisin, in her introduction to the 2018 volume of The Best American Science…

If you’re like me, you are a sucker for stories about an outsider finding themselves in a new society and having to struggle and adapt to circumstances they don’t fully understand.

Genly Ai is a man who is sent to the planet Gethen to convince the people there to join a planetary alliance. The problem is Genly is so fixated on his manhood and personal identity that he can’t adapt culturally in a world where everyone is genderfluid.

Genly’s political mistakes get him into a lot of trouble that his lone ally Estraven tries to save him from, and it…

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Book cover of The Switch

The Switch by April McCloud,

A hundred years in the future, in a world where technologically enhanced bodies are valued above organic ones, Complete Life Management (CLM) is selling perfection in the form of the latest and greatest bionic model, the Apogee. As an elite runner and inadvertent spokesperson for the humanism movement, NYPD Detective…

Ursula K. LeGuin was a writer before her time.

In The Left Hand of Darkness, LeGuin tackles gender issues creating a people who are at times sexually neutral but can change to either feminine or masculine during mating season. Humans are seen as freaks because they are trapped to one gender.

It was a mind-blowing book back in 1976, when it came out, winning the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best science fiction. The Left Hand of Darkness is worthy reading for its story and for its audacity, being penned almost fifty years ago. A great read!

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Book cover of Unreachable Skies

Unreachable Skies by Karen McCreedy,

This book (and its sequels) are about overcoming the odds; about learning to improve the skills and abilities you have, rather than dwelling on what you can't do. Conflict, plague, and scheming politicians are all featured along the way–but none of the characters are human!

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