The Left Hand of Darkness in Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy

Jun 06, 2014 Jim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2fiction, 1audio, 3series, scifi

I've tried to read this several times over the years. While I loved her Earth Sea trilogy, The Lathe of Heaven & several other books including 2 earlier ones in this series, I could never get into this one, so I decided to listen to it. Never loved it, barely got through it, still I gave it 3 stars because it finally gets around to making a decent story. Really it's more of a 2.5 star read, though.

I think this is the correct edition, although I downloaded it from the library, it sounds like it w I've tried to read this several times over the years. While I loved her Earth Sea trilogy, The Lathe of Heaven & several other books including 2 earlier ones in this series, I could never get into this one, so I decided to listen to it. Never loved it, barely got through it, still I gave it 3 stars because it finally gets around to making a decent story. Really it's more of a 2.5 star read, though.

I think this is the correct edition, although I downloaded it from the library, it sounds like it was copied off old tapes. The reader doesn't do much for me. She has a fairly high voice which can be a bit grating & the quality of the recording wanders. It's not horrible, but certainly doesn't add anything to the story.

I most often hear this book held out as one of the cornerstones of SF due to the sexual ambiguity of the civilization, but this point is lost among all the other factors LeGuin has tossed in. Too much is different about their world. It was a let down because of all the talk about how great it is. It's a pretty good SF novel, but more for all the different ideas, not because it made any of them particularly well save for those about true patriotism & love that transcends sex, even species. Both of these have been done well elsewhere in stories I liked reading better.

The whole "humanity seeded by an elder race" bit wasn't handled as well as I would have liked. No other genetic modifications are mentioned for the other 83 worlds & yet she hints that the old race wasn't above it, but not why. That's probably because I'm reading this as a stand alone novel, but it is 4th in a series & it's been decades since I read any of the others. Not sure I ever read the first, but do recall liking the 2d & 3d. Unfortunately, the details are lost to me.

-- Warning, possible spoilers below --

She does mention Winter's folks figured out evolution even though they obviously didn't evolve there. Not sure I buy that one. Given the trouble so many people have with it today, it makes them far too astute, but they also figured out the universe is expanding without much astronomical ability.

The lack of herd animals, birds, or any flying insects is a huge difference. First, this has caused them not to attempt any sort of flight, not even balloons or rockets, which didn't sit all that well given their level of tech, especially when compared to them picking up on evolution. But this lack also makes a huge impact on their civilization since herding is one of the oldest skills that ours was built on. Meat is a far more efficient way to get calories than plants & herding takes far less energy than hunting. It's one of the early reasons tribes raided each other & fought over grazing lands. She doesn't mention this, but it's a good, if subtle, point.

Their population is quite low. Part of this is explained by the harsh conditions of the world, but not fully. Their tech is high in both medicine & mechanics. While people seem to father up to a half dozen kids, they seem to only have one or two of their own, at least from the examples we're given. So this makes sense & helps explain the static nature of their civilization, since it removes population pressure from the reasons to war.

The lack of war & this new tension leading to one doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. They have developed a council-ruled, totalitarian government in one place & a despotic monarchy bordering it. Both are similar to ours, yet they've never had a war developing them? I don't buy it, even though they are fairly well separated by natural obstacles.

The psi powers are interesting, but haven't added anything to the story, IMO. More of a distraction.

The much lauded ansible, at least in this book, is nothing more than a typewriter paired with another through a magical spell of simultaneity. It's reminiscent of Doc Smith's tech mixed with Voodoo. Again, perhaps this is due to where I'm coming into the series & high expectations. Of course, the heater/stove/light was pretty darn magical too, especially given their use of fireplaces. I didn't understand them in the cities at all.

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Jan 05, 2021 Tani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-novels, scifi, female-author, sff-2021, sff-awards-2021, sff-ladies-2021, sff-completion-2021

Read this one for my Hugo/Nebula bookclub, although it was actually really good timing because I was planning to read it very soon regardless. I've been on a bit of a Hainish Cycle kick.

In this one, Genly Ai is send as envoy to the planet of Gethen (aka Winter), in order to present the idea of joining the Ekumen to the humans who live there. These humans are unique in a couple ways. The most well-known is that they are asexual for most of their lives, only developing a biological sex during kem Read this one for my Hugo/Nebula bookclub, although it was actually really good timing because I was planning to read it very soon regardless. I've been on a bit of a Hainish Cycle kick.

In this one, Genly Ai is send as envoy to the planet of Gethen (aka Winter), in order to present the idea of joining the Ekumen to the humans who live there. These humans are unique in a couple ways. The most well-known is that they are asexual for most of their lives, only developing a biological sex during kemmer, their time of fertility, which comes cyclically. The other way is their societal development, which is quite different from our own, and leads Genly into a lot of danger.

I would place this as my favorite of the Hainish Cycle books so far (and yes, I have read The Dispossessed). Although there are technically no aliens here, this felt like a first contact story, which I generally enjoy. The Gethenians felt very alien, not only because of their unique biology, but also because of their culture, which is quite constrained in a number of ways. As envoy, Genly Ai ends up embroiled in a lot of politics, and things go wrong a lot. For a relatively slim book, this packed a lot of action in it, and I found myself always interested in what might happen next.

My favorite aspect of the story was the time we spent, not in Genly's perspective, but in Estraven's. His very first chapter vaulted him into the slot of my favorite character. I think that he really made the story. He's thoughtful and devoted, and capable of going to great lengths to do what he believes to be right. I kind of loved him.

To be honest, I actually found Genly himself to be frequently quite annoying. For a futuristic space envoy, he's not very enlightened in his gender views, and he's often flat-out misogynistic. (Yes, I am aware of when this book was written.) I imagine that a good deal of that is intentional, so he can act as a foil for Estraven, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. Also, I do wonder how he could be so politically oblivious. I would hazard that I have a better grasp of shifgrethor after reading this book than Genly did after living on Gethen for years, which is just kind of sad, considering how very important that concept is to the Gethenians. One almost wonders how this guy got chosen as the envoy in the first place. Which is not to say I hated him. I just found him a little too dense for words at times.

It will be interesting to see if this holds its spot as my top Hainish book, since I do have a few left. Guess I'll have to read on and see. ...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Shhhh... Books rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, scifi, literary

Reread October 2024 - I think I love this even more.

April 2012 read.

So, this gets 4.5 stars.

I had some problems with this book. Because really, there is only so much you can write about snow and ice and bare rock, but that all being said, what was written was stunning, and beneath these stale layers was the most gorgeous story of humanity (along with a dappling of intrigue).

I love to death stories in which a character learns about himself through misjudgment of another. In The Left Hand of Da ...more

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