50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION—WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MITCHELL AND A NEW AFTERWORD BY CHARLIE JANE ANDERSUrsula 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 the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a … Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters…
Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
more
A classic set on a world where people endure an icy climate and are ungendered, except for a few days each month. A Terran is sent to invite the planet’s governments into the Ekumen of Worlds and is caught in political intrigue, aided by a high official.
This is classic SYFI by a great writer. It imagines a world without sexual bias or prejudice. Intriguing read
It made you think about contemporary life and find parallels with the author’s fictional alien world.
I read the book because I was interested in a subject that should be the leading topic in it – a world where there are no men and women, but people enter “time” once a month and then become male or female as needed. This idea is terrific and very well developed in the book.
but
The idea itself is not the center of the plot. The plot is more a political story of a diplomatic emissary from another planet that comes to this planet, and its goal is to convince its leaders to join an interstellar federation that will benefit everyone. Against this background comes the story of his encounter with the different sexuality of the inhabitants of this planet. The more developed story in the book is the intriguing plot and the connections that the messenger creates with the locals, and the other matters are somehow secondary.
In conclusion, I was disappointed with the book probably because of incorrect expectations.
All in all, a good book.
Decent concept, a little slow.
A classic that should be on every scifi reader’s list. Highly recommended.
Wow
It’s Ursala K Le Guin, you can’t NOT love it
Worth every bit of the legend. Something that should be read to me literate in the genre.
Although the book is very well written, I found the characters to be dry and unappealing.
One of the very best sci-fi books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
One of her great books.
A scifi-fantasy classic.
This is a great classic of science fiction, and of humanism.
Thought provoking
A highly original and well written story about an ambassador to a planet whose inhabitants can assume both male and female sex roles. One of Ursula LeGuinn’s best.
Great writing is the bottom line in this detailed examination of cultures, rich in characters that are shaped by unexpected mores. Nothing two dimensional can emerge from so well founded and powerful powerful back story.
Good science fiction opens your mind to possibilities and helps you understand the world you live in at the same time. This book does this
Opens your mind to new possibilities and new way of looking at things
one of the best sf books I’ve read. one of few sf books to have been awarded the Hugo and Nebula awards
This book is a classic for the very good reason that it is fantastic.