The Left Hand of Darkness Review

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As I continue down my TBR list, I keep finding books that don’t fit into the Golden Age parameters I set up for myself. But that’s fine by me. I ended up picking up Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and gave that a go. Let’s get into the review.

Le Guin published this book in 1969. Set in the Hainish cycle of books by her, The Left Hand of Darkness is considered feminist science fiction. It also acts as one of the most well-known examples of examining androgyny in science fiction. The book follows a man named Genly Ai from Earth, or Terra, who travels to the planet Gethen to persuade the leaders of the major nations to join the Ekumen. The Ekumen acts as a confederation of multiple planets. However, Ai finds it difficult to connect with the people of Gethen, mostly because of their natural ambisexuality and androgyny.

I think what I’m about to say about this book has already been said, but it bears repeating. I see why it won the Hugo and Nebula Awards. For one, the book conveys a startling number of themes for a relatively small work (around 92,000 words). It covers themes of identity, the psychology of prejudice, and more, even while laying the groundwork for discussing themes of sexuality in science fiction. What most shines through comes from the relationships between the characters, as well as how the main protagonist views the people of this new planet. Ultimately, it takes a journey across a field of ice for the barrier of understanding to fall. In the end, when the end comes around, a great transformation has occurred for our main character, Genly Ai, one that conveys the breadth of Le Guin’s storytelling prowess as well as her themes

At the same time, Le Guin balances character with her worldbuilding. I loved her worldbuilding in this, mostly because the world felt realized. It conveyed a sense that more lay underneath, with this book only scratching the surface. In a way, that’s true. Le Guin wrote several other books in the same universe. But the people of this world come with their own ambitions and understandings, which remain at odds with the main character and carry the book’s themes of identity. The people’s culture also shines through in several different moments, from the way they carry themselves to physical settings such as the parade taking place in the beginning.

Ultimately, this book set the standard for what I want my worldbuilding to look like. I appreciated how Le Guin packed everything in so succinctly. I need to start reading more of her work, to be honest. In the meantime, I’ll be traveling back to England this week, so I won’t have another post out. See you next week for another book review!

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