The Left Hand of Darkness

Book Details

The Left Hand of Darkness

71.4% complete

Author(s):

Ursula K Le Guin

First Pub:

1969

Genre(s):

Science Fiction

Word Count:

94,240

First Read:

2008

Times Read:

1 time

Rating:

Chapters:

See 21

1 - A Parade in Erhenrang

2 - The Place Inside the Blizzard

3 - The Mad King

4 - The Nineteenth Day

5 - The Domestication of Hunch

6 - One Way into Orgoreyn

7 - The Question of Sex

8 - Another Way into Orgoreyn

9 - Estraven the Traitor

10 - Conversations in Mishnory

11 - Soliloquies in Mishnory

12 - On Time and Darkness

13 - Down on the Farm

14 - The Escape

15 - To the Ice

16 - Between Drummer and Dremegole

17 - An Orgota Creation Myth

18 - On the Ice

19 - Homecoming

20 - A Fool's Errand

The Gethenian Calendar and Clock

Internal ID:

1416

Series:

<- City of Illusions - The Word for World Is Forest ->

Hainish Cycle*

#4 of 9

Hainish Cycle*

A series of science fiction books by Ursula K LeGuin.

View this series in the book list

1) Rocannon's World
2) Planet of Exile
3) City of Illusions
4) The Left Hand of Darkness
5) The Word for World Is Forest
6) The Dispossessed
7) Four Ways to Forgiveness
8) The Telling
9) The Birthday of the World and Other Stories

Copyright:

Dedication:

For Charles
sine quo non

First Sentence:

I’ll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.

Last Sentence:

May contain spoilers

But the boy, Therem's son, said stammering, "Will you tell us how he died? - Will you tell us about the other worlds out among the stars - the other kinds of men, the other lives?"

Comments:

Comments may contain spoilers

Got this book because it's an award winner that I had not read and it is also by and author (Ursula K Le Guin) whom I had never read.

Synopsis not on file
Extract not on file

Added: 31-Jan-2015

Last Updated: 26-Apr-2022

Publications

01-Jan-1974

Ace

Paperback A

Date Issued:

Cir 01-Jan-1974

Format:

Paperback A

Cover Price:

$1.50

Pages*:

286

Read:

Once

Cover Link(s):

amazon.com

Internal ID:

1544

Publisher:

Ace

ISBN:

Unknown

Printing:

Country:

United States

Language:

English

Ursula K. LeGuin
The Left Hand
of Darkness

Not since DUNE has a science fiction novel generated as much enthusiasm and excitement as THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. Discover for yourself this thought-provoking tale of an alien planet where all the people are of one sex, and the lone earthman is forced into a subtle planetary intrigue where he is the pawn and his future is the prize.

"Anybody who can write a novel like this has my respect and admiration." - DAMON KNIGHT

"As profuse and original an invention as THE LORD OF THE RINGS." - MICHAEL MORCOCK

"What got to me was the quality of the story-telling. She's taken the mythology, psychology - the entire creative surround - and woven it into a jewel of a story." - FRANK HERBERT

Cover:

Notes and Comments:

Author(s)

Ursula K Le Guin

Awards

1970	Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America	Nebula Award - Best Novel	Winner
1970	World Science Fiction Society	Hugo Award - Best Novel	Winner

I try to maintain page numbers for audiobooks even though obviously there aren't any. I do this to keep track of pages read and I try to use the Kindle version page numbers for this.
Synopses marked with an asterisk (*) were generated by an AI. There aren't a lot since this is an iffy way to do it - AI seems to make stuff up.
When specific publication dates are unknown (ie prefixed with a "Cir"), I try to get the publication date that is closest to the specific printing that I can.
When listing chapters, I only list chapters relevant to the story. I will usually leave off Author Notes, Indices, Acknowledgements, etc unless they are relevant to the story or the book is non-fiction.
Page numbers on this site are for the end of the main story. I normally do not include appendices, extra material, and other miscellaneous stuff at the end of the book in the page count.