The Sword and Laser discussion

Did you know that The Left Hand of Darkness is part of a series? It is, and Le Guin has been adding books to the Hainish Cycle for most of her career. They don't form a story arc, but events from one book are referenced in others, and taken together provide a history of her utopian society, the Ekumen.

The books of the Hainish Cycle are:
Rocannon's World
Planet of Exile
City of Illusions
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Word for World is Forest
The Dispossessed
The Telling
Various short stories

Chronologically the events of The Dispossessed take place first, followed by The Word for World is Forest, and then the rest in publication order.

I've been slowly making my way through them and it's interesting how Le Guin's writing style changes. The first three books are "sword and planet" type adventure stories. The middle three are the classic books everyone knows and they won every science fiction award there is. I have not read The Telling yet.

If you enjoyed The Left Hand of Darkness and are looking for more Le Guin to read, starting at the beginning of the chronology with The Dispossessed and working forward in time is probably the way to go.

Thanks Brendan. I haven't read any LeGuin before, so this is super helpful.

You're actually missing one, Four Ways to Forgiveness. Sometimes erroneously called a short story collection. Because its a novel with an interesting structure, much like The Dispossessed. Le Guin is quite skilled at picking a structure that fits the narrative.

The Telling is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Quite possibly the most beautiful.

William wrote: "The Telling is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Quite possibly the most beautiful."

I've recently started working my way the Hainish books, can;t wait to get to it.

Brendan wrote: "If you enjoyed The Left Hand of Darkness and are looking for more Le Guin to read, starting at the beginning of the chronology with The Dispossessed and working forward in time is probably the way to go...."

Thumbs up for this advice!

One of those short stories is Coming of Age in Karhide which is a coming of age story told from the perspective of a Gethenian, if another story on Gethen/Winter is of interest. One of the anthologies it's is The Birthday of the World and Other Stories but I'm sure it's in others.

My favorite of the Hainish Cycle is City of Illusions. Some of the allied aliens get to see Earth for the first time. Unfortunately, it's been overrun by hostiles.

Talk about a bad first impression.