Left Hand of Darkness

by Ursula K Le Guin

This is a novel in the Hainish series.

Editions:

• The Left Hand of Darkness, Millennium Books; ISBN: 1857988825; Paperback - 318 pages New Ed, 12 August, 1999
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Econo-Clad Books; ISBN: 0808521667; Library Binding, October 1999
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Walker & Co; ISBN: 0802713025; Hardcover 25th anniv edition, 345 pages, October 1994
  
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ace Books; ISBN: 0441478123; 304 pages; Mass Market Paperback, Reissue, January 1991
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Books on Tape, Inc; ISBN: 0736611290; Audio Cassette, April 1, 1987
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ace Books, New York, 1969

International Editions:

• Finland: Pimeyden vasen käsi, in Finnish
• Hungary: A sötétség balkeze, Kozmosz Books, Budapest, 1979
• Sweden: Mörkrets vänstra hand, Askild & Kärnekull, Stockholm 1974
  

Stage performance

• In 1994-1995, a theatre group called Lifeline Theater in Chicago performed The Left Hand of Darkness on stage.
• Sci-fi channel are reportedly working on adaption of both The Earthsea trilogy and The Left Hand of Darkness. (Read about it at scifi.com or comicsutra). (Spotted by The Ekumen) 30 Apr. 2002
  

Plot summary

This is the story of how Gently Ai, a mobile of the Ekumen, comes to the world Gethen. Gethen is a cold planet, always covered in snow and ice. The people living on it are peculiar in that that they are androgynous - sometimes male, sometimes female.

Reviews

Review from Doug's Library (www.phys.tcu.edu/~ingram/books.html)

Won all kinds of awards when first published, and rightfully so. This book is about an alien ice-world society in which the entire population changes sex in cycles. An amazing amount of social ground is covered almost as an aside to a fascinating story.

Online reviews:

• Review of The Left Hand of Darkness from SFFWorld (10 Jan. 2002)

Awards

The Left Hand of Darkness was awarded both the 1969 Hugo and the 1970 Nebula.

Ace Books 1991 (larger image)