The Left Hand of Darkness

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 the inhabitants' gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate 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.

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Published Dec 28, 2016

Average rating: 6.79

315 RATINGS

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Pferdina

Jun 26, 2025

8/10 stars

The story moves slowly. I enjoy the exploration of the non-gendered Gethenians' society. For me, the best part of the book is the description of the glacier crossing when Genly and Estraven really begin to understand each other.

Megera

Apr 05, 2025

10/10 stars

A must-read for any sci-fi fan - my ultimate favorite of the genre. An introspective piece about what creates gender norms in society, the markers, and how it affects behavior. Fascinating!

Oliviajane

Mar 01, 2025

8/10 stars

Took QUITE a while to get into it. Immersive and thought-provoking. Iconic work for the time

spoko

Dec 27, 2024

10/10 stars

This is how speculative fiction should be written. There’s clearly an immense amount of worldbuilding behind it, but it’s employed in the service of the story. And while the story itself actually has massive, intergalactic implications, it’s told very much at the level of individual characters. My one issue is the length of the time spent traversing the ice. Even as a fairly patient reader, I did find myself wondering just what fraction of the novel was going to be spent there. But honestly, it served to develop the story and, especially, the characters.

rosiehorrorshow

Oct 28, 2024

6/10 stars

I'd heard so much about this book and that it was a much read for sci-fi fans, but honestly I felt like I had to drag myself through it, it just felt very slow pace to me and almost boring at times. Some of the concepts in this book were undeniably fascinating, but I just couldn't really get into it.