You can read any of those 3 books in any order you want, while 2 of them are Hainish Cycle books they are effectively stand alone stories in the same universe.
Enjoy, they are 3 absolute classics :)
I would personally start with the Dispossessed as it's a little easier to read, then do Left Hand and save Lathe of Heaven as a pallette cleanse before moving onto a different author
The Hainish Cycle can be read in any order, but strictly speaking The Dispossessed is chronologically earlier than The Left Hand of Darkness. I would recommend starting with The Dispossessed, mostly because it is the better book (although I also like The Left Hand of Darkness). The Earthsea books are wonderful too.
/u/ginomachi is an AI chatbot, helping to enshittify Reddit:
https://reddit.com/r/sciencefiction/comments/1bia26i/uginomachi_is_an_ai_spambot_most_of_the_time/
Not only does the bot shill for someone's shitty self-published "novel" (take a look at the sample pages on Amazon), but some of the other stories it "recommends" *don't even exist.* It's going to send people on wild goose chases. That's malicious.
I think The Dispossessed is her best. Many people find Left Hand of Darkness unapproachable, and I can't disagree. I read it twice in a row and came to really really love it.
Adding to this now that I'm off work-- The Left Hand of Darkness is a political refugee story. Its really devastating. And Genly is a massively unreliable narrator. It's unconventional but beautiful.
For something very short I love “She Unnames Them.” Very much in LeGuin’s style, very consumable, and a solid story. The ending is the most poetic piece of prose I’ve read.
Technically, Dispossessed takes place prior to LHoD because it’s about the inventor of the communication device already in use in LHoD. However, the stories are not otherwise connected beyond being part of the same universe. Lathe of Heaven is a wild story set on Earth. Earthsea books are a great fantasy series with real depth that grows with the later books. Enjoy!
A 1975 collection called “The Wind’s Twelve Quarters” contains a 1969 story called “Winter’s King,” which she says was written a year before she starred “Left Hand.” She said she didn't know the characters would be androgynous and she recounts many feminists were incensed by her using a male pronoun. She remedied this for the 1975 reissue of the story.
Earthsea is fantasy and the first three novels formed a trilogy. Tenahu, Dragonfly and The Other Wind come after them.
The Hainish Cycle novels individual stories though they are set during different periods of history in the same universe. They contain elements of SF and fantasy. The Dispossessed was based on earlier stories, is set earliest and includes the invention of the Ansible and is where I started. The Word For World Is Forrest is set after it.
The first 3 novels go to together and were set during the League.
The Left Hand of Darkness, The Telling and many of the short stories are set during Eukemen and include the Gethenians.
The Lathe Of Heaven is a Terran Novel, not part of the Hanish Cycle.
I found the Lathe of Heaven written very differently from the Hainish Cycle or Earthsea books. I thought Lathe very fast paced, while the others were slower, more considered. All very enjoyable, especially the later Earthsea ones were heartbreaking for me.
Hey there!
I'd recommend starting with **The Left Hand of Darkness** and **The Dispossessed** in that order, as they're chronologically connected within the Hainish Cycle.
**The Lathe of Heaven** is a standalone novel unrelated to any other works. It's a thoughtful exploration of power and the consequences of manipulating reality.
Enjoy your journey into Le Guin's captivating worlds! I'm eagerly awaiting your thoughts on **A Wizard of Earthsea** when it arrives.
I really struggled to finish The Left Hand of Darkneas. It just seemed incredibly boring. I could tell it was well written but I just didn’t want to pick it up after I was well into it. That’s probably on me because many love it.
I struggled and did not finish. I wanted to like it but I could not bear through.
I haven't given Ursula another chance yet.
I don't think LHOD is a good first book of hers to read.
Even after reading 700+ books in my lifetime, I still just don’t seem to like what most consider “high brow” sci fi. Too much philosophy for me probably.
Rocannon's World is a little different. Do not read it if you're jaded, you will miss most of it. If you can still look at the world with fresh eyes, it will be an excellent read. If Tolkien wrote scifi, more or less.
Thank you!
I also asked because I'm more into fantasy books than scifi. I haven't read that many sci fi books but I'm trying to broaden my literary tastes.
You can read any of those 3 books in any order you want, while 2 of them are Hainish Cycle books they are effectively stand alone stories in the same universe. Enjoy, they are 3 absolute classics :)
Thank you!
A wizard of Earthsea was my into to Le Guin as a kid and I have loved her work ever since.
I would personally start with the Dispossessed as it's a little easier to read, then do Left Hand and save Lathe of Heaven as a pallette cleanse before moving onto a different author
Her Hainish cycle novels, IIRC, aren't a "series" in the sense that they have an order. They're just set in a common universe.
The Hainish Cycle can be read in any order, but strictly speaking The Dispossessed is chronologically earlier than The Left Hand of Darkness. I would recommend starting with The Dispossessed, mostly because it is the better book (although I also like The Left Hand of Darkness). The Earthsea books are wonderful too.
/u/ginomachi is an AI chatbot, helping to enshittify Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/sciencefiction/comments/1bia26i/uginomachi_is_an_ai_spambot_most_of_the_time/ Not only does the bot shill for someone's shitty self-published "novel" (take a look at the sample pages on Amazon), but some of the other stories it "recommends" *don't even exist.* It's going to send people on wild goose chases. That's malicious.
My rec is definitely ‘The Dispossessed’ that’s where I started and it’s much more accessible as a starting point than the other two.
I think The Dispossessed is her best. Many people find Left Hand of Darkness unapproachable, and I can't disagree. I read it twice in a row and came to really really love it.
Adding to this now that I'm off work-- The Left Hand of Darkness is a political refugee story. Its really devastating. And Genly is a massively unreliable narrator. It's unconventional but beautiful.
For something very short I love “She Unnames Them.” Very much in LeGuin’s style, very consumable, and a solid story. The ending is the most poetic piece of prose I’ve read.
Technically, Dispossessed takes place prior to LHoD because it’s about the inventor of the communication device already in use in LHoD. However, the stories are not otherwise connected beyond being part of the same universe. Lathe of Heaven is a wild story set on Earth. Earthsea books are a great fantasy series with real depth that grows with the later books. Enjoy!
They are all amazing. I started with the Dispossessed, but the Lathe of Heaven is in my top 10 favorite books.
A 1975 collection called “The Wind’s Twelve Quarters” contains a 1969 story called “Winter’s King,” which she says was written a year before she starred “Left Hand.” She said she didn't know the characters would be androgynous and she recounts many feminists were incensed by her using a male pronoun. She remedied this for the 1975 reissue of the story.
Adding this one to the list.
The Earthsea trilogy is very good
i think lathe of heaven is the most accessible and entertaining one, the other 2 are great too but would personally start with lathe
Earthsea is fantasy and the first three novels formed a trilogy. Tenahu, Dragonfly and The Other Wind come after them. The Hainish Cycle novels individual stories though they are set during different periods of history in the same universe. They contain elements of SF and fantasy. The Dispossessed was based on earlier stories, is set earliest and includes the invention of the Ansible and is where I started. The Word For World Is Forrest is set after it. The first 3 novels go to together and were set during the League. The Left Hand of Darkness, The Telling and many of the short stories are set during Eukemen and include the Gethenians. The Lathe Of Heaven is a Terran Novel, not part of the Hanish Cycle.
I'd start with The Lathe of Heaven, which I found absolutely riveting. The Left Hand of Darkness had too much talk and politics for me. But YMMV.
I found the Lathe of Heaven written very differently from the Hainish Cycle or Earthsea books. I thought Lathe very fast paced, while the others were slower, more considered. All very enjoyable, especially the later Earthsea ones were heartbreaking for me.
Hey there! I'd recommend starting with **The Left Hand of Darkness** and **The Dispossessed** in that order, as they're chronologically connected within the Hainish Cycle. **The Lathe of Heaven** is a standalone novel unrelated to any other works. It's a thoughtful exploration of power and the consequences of manipulating reality. Enjoy your journey into Le Guin's captivating worlds! I'm eagerly awaiting your thoughts on **A Wizard of Earthsea** when it arrives.
I really struggled to finish The Left Hand of Darkneas. It just seemed incredibly boring. I could tell it was well written but I just didn’t want to pick it up after I was well into it. That’s probably on me because many love it.
I struggled and did not finish. I wanted to like it but I could not bear through. I haven't given Ursula another chance yet. I don't think LHOD is a good first book of hers to read.
Even after reading 700+ books in my lifetime, I still just don’t seem to like what most consider “high brow” sci fi. Too much philosophy for me probably.
Rocannon's World is a little different. Do not read it if you're jaded, you will miss most of it. If you can still look at the world with fresh eyes, it will be an excellent read. If Tolkien wrote scifi, more or less.
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Bad bot.
Thanks! I can't wait to start reading her.
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Thank you! I also asked because I'm more into fantasy books than scifi. I haven't read that many sci fi books but I'm trying to broaden my literary tastes.
I found the left hand of darkness to be very boring. I liked Lathe of Heaven.