The Best Sci-Fi Books by Ursula K Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin’s (1929-2018) writing career began in the 1960s, and she quickly became known for her innovative approach to science fiction and fantasy. Her works explore themes of gender, race, politics, and society, challenging readers to question their assumptions about the world. Le Guin was also a vocal advocate for environmentalism and social justice.
Le Guin's most well-known works include her fantasy series "The Earthsea Cycle," which is a four-part series that follows the Wizard, Ged, and explores the magical Earthsea archipelago. And her sci-fi work (that we’ll be exploring in this article), which includes "The Left Hand of Darkness," a novel that imagines a world where gender is not binary; "The Dispossessed," a novel about a society that has eliminated all forms of government and private property; and “The Lathe of Heaven,” a novel that explores how even the best intentions often have terrible unforeseen consequences.
Throughout her career, Ursula K Le Guin received numerous awards and accolades for her writing, including multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Her work continues to be celebrated for its creativity, intelligence, and thought-provoking themes that continue to inspire readers around the world.
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The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin is part of her Hainish series. In this novel, she asks the question what if no one owned anything? What would society look like? And how would this society engage with, view and be viewed by a more capitalistic one?
The story is set on the planet Urras, a capitalist society of warring nation-states, and its moon Anarres, a society based on anarchism and cooperative living. The protagonist is a physicist named Shevek, from Anarres. He’s a once-in-a-millennium genius and is coming to close to realising a unified theory of time. (For those that are physics-minded, the character draws several parallels to Einstein, and his theory of time draws parallels to a unifying theory that would unite relativity and quantum mechanics.) However, in this communistic society, those that excel are looked down upon as trying to set themselves above the rest - which is not in keeping with the underlying theory of radical equality that allows the society to function.
Eventually, in order to receive the support he needs to complete his work, he travels to Urras. Things, however, are never simple. The political landscape of Urras is convoluted and he has to grapple with concepts like greed for the very first time. And Shevek finds himself being used by the very people that attest to be his friends. By having Shevek travel between the two worlds Le Guin sets up an incredible juxtaposition and we’re able to see the good and the bad of both societies starkly contrasted side by side. Greed and individualistic selfishness on the one side, narrow-minded tribalism on the other.
The Dispossessed is a thought-provoking and deeply philosophical novel that explores the themes of anarchism, cooperative living, and the nature of society and humanism. One of the things I loved deeply about this novel is the richness of the world-building. Le Guin asks a powerful question and then takes it to a logical extreme. There’s no realised Utopia and there’s no terrible Dystopia. Instead, both worlds and societies have pitfalls and problems that occur organically, because it’s human nature.
For lovers of sci-fi looking for their next read, The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin is a must.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is a science fiction novel set in a world called Gethen. The inhabitants of the planet are known as the Gethenians, who for the majority of the month are entirely genderless, but for a period of about 4-5 days, become either male or female. With this biological setup Le Guin sets out to answer the question, what if there was no gender? What if gender wasn’t binary?
The Left Hand of Darkness is another book from the Hainish series. And follows the human envoy, Genly Ai, who is sent to Gethen to encourage their integration into the Hainish confederation of planets.
However, Genly Ai quickly finds himself out of his depth. He can’t understand the complex idea of Shifgrethor, a genderless replacement for the idea of male pride.
The Gethenians are a complex and nuanced people. They are human in many ways, but the rich cultures, traditions and religions that are intricately woven into the fabric of their society have roots in a fundamental biological difference. Because of this Genly Ai quickly finds himself out of his depth. He can’t understand the complex idea of Shifgrethor, a genderless replacement for the idea of male pride. And he’s constantly imposing his own worldview on those around him, one that is inherently misogynistic and entirely alien. This prevents him from truly understanding the people of Gethen and leads him into trouble on more than one occasion.
The novel also delves into the political landscape of Gethen, exploring the power dynamics between different nations, with one being a socialist dictatorship, with a police force reminiscent of the Nazi SS, and the other being a monarchy with a mad ruler.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is another masterful science fiction novel. It explores the themes of gender, identity, and culture with intelligence and nuance. This novel is a must-read for anyone interested in science fiction or speculative fiction and is a classic that explores one of the fundamental dichotomies that’s at the root of humanity’s culture.
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The Lathe of Heaven by Ursul K. Le Guin
The Lathe of Heaven is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in 1971. The story follows George Orr, a man who has the ability to change reality through his dreams. When George is referred to a psychiatrist named William Haber, Haber realizes the power of George's dreams and begins to manipulate them in order to change the world according to his own utopian vision.
This story leans heavily on Taoism and Stoicism. But, where stoics know they can’t control the shape of the world around them (only their own actions and thoughts), and Taoists know they shouldn’t (but rather to be flexible, to be like water and let the world flow as nature intends), this story explores what would happen if you could assert your desires onto the world.
Far from the utopian vision, each time Haber alters reality (despite his best intentions), unintended consequences arise, leading to a cycle of dystopian destruction and endangering the very fabric of existence. As the story unfolds, George and Haber grapple with the moral and philosophical implications of their actions.
"The Lathe of Heaven" explores themes of power, morality, and the nature of reality. It’s one of those books that you finish and you wish you could read it for the first time again. It’s shocking and thought-provoking. And it’s what Ursula K Le Guin does best, take a question and extrapolate it to a logical extreme. The result is phenomenal.
Readers interested in morally complex characters may also be interested in our article 9 Grimdark Fantasy Books for Fans of Gritty Fiction.
Where to Start: The Works of Ursula K Le Guin
Ursula K Le Guin has quickly become one of my favourite authors of all time. Her work places her with the sci-fi greats like Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Phillip K Dick and H. G. Wells. She’s a master of speculative fiction and fantasy, but with so many great novels under her belt where should you start?
The answer to that is it depends on what you want. If you’re looking for something shorter but still packed full of powerful ideas, then try The Lathe of Heaven. If you want a fantasy novel, a charming easy read, one that will remind you why you fell in love with reading in the first place, then start with A Wizard of Earthsea, the first in the Earthsea Cycle.
If, however, you’re a hardcore sci-fi fan and are ready to dive deep into her Hainish series. There’s no particular reading order to the Hainish series as each is an independent standalone novel. My recommendation would be The Dispossessed. If you’re interested in the chronological and publishing orders of Ursula K Le Guin’s Hainish novels I outline these below.
Ursula K Le Guin’s Hainish Novels Reading Order
Hainish Series Publication Order
Whilst Ursula K Le Guin never intended the Hainish series to be read or even thought about as a series or cycle, the logical way to read them (for those intending to start at the beginning and read through t the end) are either the publication or chronological order.
Rocannon’s World (1966)
Planet Of Exile (1966)
City Of Illusions (1967)
The Left Hand Of Darkness (1969)
The Word For World Is Forest (1972)
The Dispossessed (1974)
Hainish Series Chronological Order (sort of)
I say ‘sort of’ because Le Guin never intended the books to be thought of as a series. So, while a chronological order emerges, it’s not particularly clear-cut.
The Dispossessed (c.2300 AD)
The Word for World Is Forest (c.2368 AD)
Rocannon’s World (c.2684 AD)
Planet of Exile (c.3755 AD)
City of Illusions (c.4370 AD)
The Left Hand of Darkness (c.4670 AD)
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