#5: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin

A lone envoy from a galactic federation lands on a frozen world in Ursula K. LeGuin's notable science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness.

After reading and enjoying LeGuin's Earthsea fantasy novels I tackled this series of related sci-fi books (beginning with Rocannon's World).  This, the fourth one, is one of LeGuin's best-known tales, a sophisticated, philosophical adventure set on an ice planet populated with an asexual race who become male or female only a few days a month.  How this impacts politics, war, nation-building and more, was I'm sure pretty heady stuff in 1969 and is still pretty interesting today.  It is as fully-realized an alternate world as I have seen.

But The Left Hand of Darkness is also quite exciting.  The novel is basically broken into three parts: in the first, the envoy deals with a mad king; in the second, he goes across the border into a socialist-type country and is promptly put into a gulag; and in the third, a friend rescues him, and they have a Jack London-style race across a glacier field back to civilization. 

I have held onto this paperback for a long time and am glad I finally tackled it.  It is a great, rewarding read for science fiction and fantasy fans.  Recommended.

#21: Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin

A former adventurer, who eventually chose life as a farm wife, finds herself thrust back into the spotlight when she helps a dying wizard and an abused child in Ursula LeGuin's Tehanu.

I recommend Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy to anyone (and just recently hooked my brother up with the first one) not only a great young adult fantasy trilogy but just a great fantasy trilogy in general.  This entry was written long after the original series of novels and features older and more reflective versions of the main characters from the earlier works.

Light on action, this book--billed as the last Earthsea novel--is more meditative, focusing a lot on the roles of women in the world.  It is a worthwhile adult conclusion to a series mostly read by younger eyes.

I picked this up at a library book sale for a quarter and read it over a few days on a trip to Europe.

#20: City of Illusions by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Shing have destroyed the League of Worlds, keeping the planets apart and in a semi-barbaric state; until an alien-eyed man with no memory appears on Earth ready to challenge the status quo in Ursula LeGuin's City of Illusions.

This novel is an early entry in what became known as LeGuin's Hainish Cycle, which features some of her best-known works, including The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed.  Nonetheless it really stands on its own, though the main character hails from the planet featured in Planet of Exile. 

This is a trippy sci-fi adventure from the 60s with a lot of neat ideas in a straightforward quest-style plot framework.  I got this from www.paperbackswap.com in a bound edition with two earlier works in this series, Rocannon's World and Planet of Exile, good reads all.

#7: Planet of Exile by Ursula K. LeGuin

Human colonists land on a remote planet, intending to learn whether the indigenous people can join the League of Worlds and fight an intergalactic menace; but the colonists lose contact with the League, and generations pass, with the colonists ending up facing a savage planetary threat instead.

Ursula LeGuin's Planet of Exile is the second in her loosely-connected series called The Hainish Cycle. It follows Rocannon's World, a robust high-fantasy/sci-fi mashup which I read and enjoyed recently. This novel shares many of the same themes as the colonists--branded witches by the local population--have to set aside their differences to band against shared enemies and relentless nature.

I am a big LeGuin fan and have been seeking out more of her work recently. I got this one from www.paperbackswap.com as part of a collection called Three Hainish Novels. I am sure I will read the third in this series, City of Illusions, before long.

#46: Rocannon's World by Ursula LeGuin

Rocannon is a scientist for the League of Worlds, learning about civilizations on uncharted planets; but when a space rebellion leaves him stranded on a Bronze Age-style planet, Rocannon takes up a sword and flying steed and goes after his starborn enemies.

Admirable pulp, and the rookie novel from the great Ursula LeGuin. However, unlike some of the debut works of other sci-fi authors, which often has to come with allowances made for early writings, LeGuin's novel comes out fully-formed and engaging.

I was pleasantly surprised by this short novel, and that it takes place in the same "universe" as some of LeGuin's most well-known science fiction, including The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Interestingly, this is also the first appearance of LeGuin's creation the Ansible, a device for talking between words that others (including Orson Scott Card and his Ender series) have picked up on and used for their own over the years.

A good read for both sci-fi and fantasy fans. I nabbed this off of www.paperbackswap.com, an Ace Double with Avram Davidson's The Kar-Chee Reign on the flip side.