The Left Hand of Darkness: 50th Anniversary Edition

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.

BUY THE BOOK

304 pages

Average rating: 6.68

270 RATINGS

|

Community Reviews

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.
Anonymous
Aug 17, 2024
8/10 stars
Written in 1969, Le Guin's imagination was incredibly prescient as far as predicting the gender dynamics in 2024. As I find myself navigating the increasingly complex gender politics in 2024, I can find analogy to encountering an alien society or whole different species. Le Guin managed to capture the distrust and skepticism when communicating with foreign society and shows what it take to break through the distrust and communicate.
WayneInTheButt
May 30, 2024
10/10 stars
Incredible book! Le Guin’s writing is poignant and beautiful, and examines cross cultural miscommunications, and gender. To me, it’s just as relevant now as when she originally wrote it. The world feels full despite being a stand alone novel, and the characters are truly well rounded. I love a book that makes me think and this was it! Definitely adding to my new favorites

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.