The Left Hand of Darkness

A fascinating examination of gender, duality, and treason. The premise is that a far futured human, Genly Ai, is an “envoy”, a person sent to a planet to make first contact and recruit them into the “Ekumen” - a kind of federation of planets, mostly involved with trading ideas and information. Gethen, or “Winter” as it was named by the humans, is a cold planet - even in the summer, and covered with ice. Into this seemingly inhospitable landscape, Genly works with leaders and influencers to convince them to join the Ekumen. This is a feudalistic world that has not developed flight, or the concept of “war”, but they have other modern advances.

LeGuin uses an interesting language to tell the tale. Most of it is first person accounts, either from the main protagonist or his companion, Estraven. Alien terminology and wording is often employed, so the reader must learn some of this along the way to fully understand the story. This helps to enrich the already hauntingly convincing and wonderfully woven, subtle story.

Highly recommended reading for lovers of science fiction, and beyond.