The Left Hand Of Darkness [Paperback]

A beguiling read... Le Guin's sometimes mischievous narrative tone is crisp and fresh (www.sf.com )

A jewel of a story. (Frank Herbert )

As profuse and original in invention as The Lord of the Rings. (Michael Moorcock )

Delicate yet daring, narrated with immense gravitas...Ursula Le Guin's masterpiece (- Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels )

A stunning re-issue of one of the most outstanding and enduring classics of science fiction.

Winter is an Earth-like planet with two major differences: conditions are semi artic even at the warmest time of the year, and the inhabitants are all of the same sex. Tucked away in a remote corner of the universe, they have no knowledge of space travel or of life beyond their own world. And when a strange envoy from space brings news of a vast coalition of planets which they are invited to join, he is met with fear, mistrust and disbelief. . . 'The Left Hand of Darkness' is a groundbreaking work of feminist science fiction, an imaginative masterpiece which poses challenging questions about sexuality, sexism and the organisation of society.

Ursula LeGuin was born in Berkeley, California in 1929. She attended college at Radcliffe and Columbia, and married C.A. LeGuin in Paris in 1951. The LeGuins and their three children live in Portland, Oregon.