Rating: 
Summary: Essential SF Classic
Review: The Left Hand of Darkness is one of those science fiction books that belongs on every fan's "must-read" list. It's easy to see why it has gained the status of "classic" (and won both of science fiction's major awards): at the time it came out (1969), gender roles, women's lib, etc., were big deals, and this book delves head-on into those issues. What is interesting, to me, is the book was written by a woman, and it is told (mostly) first-person from a man's point of view. What's remarkable is that Le Guin writes the man well - better than most men do. Science fiction is often criticized for having flat, one-dimensional characters, particularly as regards to women. Many of its writers are often taken to task for portraying women innacurately and uninterestingly (Asimov, Clarke) or from a sexist point of view (Heinlein.) Consequently, many women writers who attempt to portray a man (and this trend is by no means restricted to science fiction) are often too sympathetic towards the women's cause - playing the "sexist" card - or end up portraying the man in exactly the way that they often claim the women are portrayed. What's remarkable is the Le Guin avoids all these pitfalls. Another of the book's strengths is that Le Guin has created a whole world - complete with a set of customs, language, and the like completely different from those of earth - an accomplishment comparable to the master creations in other classic science fiction novels (Dune, The Mote In God's Eye.) Le Guin is, principally, a philosophical writer, and the parts of the book that delve into the issues (of sexuality, ethical relativism, etc.) are its strong points. That said, however, her hand is less adept when she turns it to action. This type of writing is not her strength, and many of these sections come off as dry and boring when they are supposed to be exciting, suspenseful, and fast-paced. Particularly, the last section of the book (the winter trek) can be trying, and is, in my opinion, a mistake. Le Guin is much better when she sticks to the philosophical and ideological issues instead of trying her hand at action. Consequently, though all serious science fiction fans need to pick this one up at one time or another just to be able to say they've read it, those who prefer the genre's idea-exploring side will find it a much more satisfying read than those who go for good ol' rollicking action adventures.
Rating: 
Summary: More Than Just Great Science Fiction...Much More
Review: The greatest science fiction stories really aren't about the future at all, but about the present. A lot of readers will disagree with this statement, and they have the right to do so. Good science fiction can be enjoyed by many readers through various interpretations. Good science fiction tells us about ourselves and the world we live in. GREAT science fiction does this and more. After reading just a few pages of 'The Left Hand of Darkness,' I knew I was reading great science fiction...and maybe a little bit more.Ursula K. Le Guin's novel is the story of Genly Ai, a Terran representative who has been sent to Gethen, a planet where the harshness of winter is nearly constant. The coldness of the planet provides many challenges for Ai, but even more challenging is being the lone human in the midst of a sexless population. The inhabitants of the planet are neither male or female until the time of mating. Even during that time, the participants themselves have no way of knowing whether they will become male or female. After the mating period, they revert to being neutral. Ai is completely a stranger in a world he can't understand. He's not sure who to trust. The planet's inhabitants certainly aren't sure if they can trust a being who is always the same gender. Even when friendships begin to develop, Ai is not sure who he can trust. Things are never as they appear, which makes his mission more and more dangerous. 'The Left Hand of Darkness' was groundbreaking when it was first published in 1969. The roles of men and women were being questioned just about everywhere in this country and Le Guin addressed those issues brilliantly. This was an incredibly important for its time. Many readers have stated that the novel lacks impact today because of the progress that has been made in dealing with gender issues. Perhaps, but the issues that Le Guin targets are in some ways still with us. This is not a book to refer to and say, "Yeah, this book came out when we were searching for our male and female identities." The book is much more than just an allegorical look at gender issues in the 1960's. Le Guin's writing style keeps it from being remembered for that reason only. I once heard a major science fiction writer say that Ursula Le Guin walks on water. Her writing certainly does. Le Guin masterfully creates a word in which everyone is comfortable with the status quo except for Ai...and the reader. In the reader's mind, Gethen becomes a real place. I read the book in July and felt like I was constantly trying to warm myself on the icy planet. Not only is her setting well done, the characters tell us all we need to know, just enough so that the ending really means something to the reader. It's far more than simply the feeling of a satisfying ending. It's the feeling that you've read something that was important when published and continues to be important.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece that everyone will enjoy
Review: Some science fiction works are optional. "The Left Hand of Darkness" is not. It is one of the most important novels in the development of modern SF, and it also includes some of the best writing in the history of the genre. The story is set entirely on a planet called Gethen, where people have no specific gender. This detail is not included just as a gimmick. Le Guin looks in depth at the implications of such an idea. The society that she imagines is one that has no warfare and no well-defined concepts of a family. She includes lots of interesting and sometimes humorous snapshots of what a genderless culture means, such as a character whose behavior appears 'female', but who has actually been the father of four children. By describing this alien society, Le Guin makes some hard-hitting points about the way that gender and sex have shaped our world. And by tackling issues that most earlier science fiction authors had ignored, she helped open the door to a new generation of literary SF works. In case the above paragraph makes "The Left Hand of Darkness" seem boring or preachy, let me just emphasize that it also has a suspenseful, fast-moving plot. An ambassador from another planet is trying to convince the leaders of Gethen to join an organization that allows for trade and communication between worlds. Despite his good intentions, he ends up caught in a web of political deception; some people would prefer that Gethen remain isolated. Throughout the book, the characters' reactions to the events around them is entirely believable, helping to create a vivid portrait of a society as it faces a tremendous change. The last hundred pages take a radically different turn from the earlier parts of the book. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that Le Guin decides to focus the reader's attention on the two main characters and the way that the differences between their bodies and minds affects their relationship. Let me add one more important fact: the writing in this book is outstanding. It's clear that Le Guin put a great deal of effort into developing each chapter. The dialogue is well-written and meaningful, and the descriptions of setting on the planet of Gethen are unforgettable. The author can find the beauty in everything, even in a hostile landscape of rock and ice. Touches like that make "The Left Hand of Darkness" one of my favorite novels of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Two are one
Review: The raging reviews over the billiance of this book and the fact that it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards are what tempted me to buy it at first. I had found the first several chapters to be extremely dull and somewhat trite... It took me a week to drag myself through the beginning. However the character development and plot quickens during the confrontation of the envoy, Genly Ai, and the prime minister, Estraven. After that point the story does get quite interesting and one does become genuinely concerned for the principle characters (I know that I did). Le Guin had made it a point that the characters be as real and as flawed as people are in actuality despite the incredulous setting of their world. By the end everything makes sense...from the stuffy beginning to even the title of the book itself. This story is a true testament to the universality of human spirit (regardless of the most harsh nature of the environment). Likewise, it reinforces the notion that all people ARE people no matter how odd the culture or how "alien" the appearance. The world she has created feels so REAL even though it is so different! This book is by no means among my favorites... However, I am glad that I did take the time to read it and that I didn't give-up in the beginning. I'd suggest it for the more patient reader and for people with a relatively mature mindset. This certainly is no action adventure afterall.
Rating:
Summary: My all-time favourite book, essential for any fan
Review: I have never read a better book than this one. Such wonderful description, such deep and emotional characters, such vast scope and yet told so simply.... This is one of the true masterworks of science fiction. LeGuin, among other things, is the best writer of male characters since George Elliot. Imagine a female author, writing as a male character (Genly Ai), trying to explain to an androgyne what women are like! Yet, she pulls it off, and beautifully too. I admit that this book is a bit hard to get into, and I had difficulty my first time, but if you're just patient and see it through, you won't be disappointed. LeGuin has created a wonderful world and an incredibly real-seeming race of people. This book does so well what only a few do: it uses the future to comment on us, now. The two nations, Karhide and Orgoreyn, and so easily comparable to the two super powers of the 1970's and 80's and are relatively interchangeable, both wanting the power but unable to believe in Genly Ai's incredible story, or have the faith or the vision to believe in him and his offer to them to join a League of Worlds, or to keep the information as anything but a state secret. Yet at the same time, they are two sides of the same coin, just as each Gethenian is both sexes, and cannot exist without the other. There simply isn't enough room here to tell you all the good things about this book. Just read it! It'll be the best thing you read all year.
Rating: 
Summary: dissapointed
Review: Being an honors lit. student thu high scool and college, I am no stranger to classic lit. My taste is sophisticated, but after 6 chapters of this book, I am putting it away. I find the use of made up language difficult to interpret, the jumping from old folklore stories on the planet and the tale being told distracting and scattered. There is no depth of character or feeling coming thu. I have stuck with other books that get off to a slow start, but after reading Joan D. Vinge's Snow Queen I can not imagine how this book won any kind of an award. I am sorry I wasted the money.
Rating:
Summary: good
Review: i liked the introduction on fiction writers...that has stuck with me ever since i read it....
Rating:
Summary: One of science fiction's most famous novels---a must-read
Review: Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness has never been out of print since its publication. And it won major science fiction awards. With good reason...this is one book that should be making you click madly on the "buy this book" button if you haven't read it yet. The story is innovative: Genly Ai, an envoy from The Ekumen, is assigned the task of getting the planet Gethen to join with this consortium of planets. The purpose isn't trade--distances are so great that only the transmission of ideas is possible. Messages can travel great than light speed by virtue of the Ansible, a device that simultaneously transfers information. The Gethenians are unique among the sentient beings of the known planets; they are monosexual, undergoing a kind of estrus or heat once a month where they morph into female or male, completely by chance. Gethen is called Winter because it is perennially cold. The cold, and the ambiguous sexuality of the Gethenians makes for a hostile, foreign yet alluring environment. Genly Ai has allied himself with Estraven, an advisor to the King of Karhide, one of the nations on the planet of Gethen. But Estraven falls out of favor with the unstable king, and Ai is dragged into the snare of court intrigue. What started out as a peaceful mission of communication is now deadly dangerous. Ai finds himself inextricably entwined with Estraven, and the resulting adventure reads like the best science-fiction saga mixed with something like Earth's polar exploration adventures. I am not sure if the sexual device of a mostly-neuter people worked well here--supposedly Gethenians have both male and female attributes, but they seemed primarily male in the book. Nonetheless, this is one of science fiction's greatest adventures and tales of friendship and if you haven't read it, you are in for a huge treat.
Rating:
Summary: One of sci-fi's essential classics
Review: "The Left Hand of Darkness," by Ursula K. LeGuin, is a science fiction novel that takes place in humanity's future. In LeGuin's universe, the various offshoot races of humanity have discovered each others' civilizations on many different worlds, and have united in a sort of commonwealth known as the Ekumen. "Left Hand" focuses on the mission of Earth-born Genly Ai to the planet Gethen, where he serves as the Ekumen's first formal envoy to the planet. Like any ambassador/explorer, Ai faces a degree of culture shock. But his experience is complicated by an extraordinary Gethenian quality which makes them unique among the human races: they are hermaphrodites -- each one with both female and male potential -- and have a remarkable sexual cycle that has radically shaped their culture. The sexual element in "Left Hand" may sound like a sci-fi "gimmick," but it is not. It is, rather, one aspect of a complex and brilliantly realized total tapestry that is the world of Gethen. LeGuin adeptly weaves together geology, anthropology, folklore, politics, history, sociology, and alternative theologies as she creates a totally compelling and believable world. And as important to Gethen as its people's unique sexuality are the harsh climate and landscape: the world is in the grip of a fierce ice age. LeGuin constructs this story with superb intelligence and artistry; one technique she uses skillfully is the incorporation of multiple narrative voices. Again, this is no "gimmick," but is a well-woven part of the whole novel. "Left Hand" is many things: a brilliant feat of the imagination; a political thriller; a harrowing tale of adventure and survival; and a deeply moving personal drama. It is a book written with keen insight and profound compassion: a book which daringly asks what it means to be human, what it means to love, and what it means to have a vision for humanity. Not only is "The Left Hand of Darkness" one of the essential classics of science fiction, it is also, in my opinion, one of the great novels of the 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: A descriptive (rather than predictive) SF classic
Review: The premise is startlingly original: Le Guin creates a world populated by hermaphroditic humans and then describes what might happen when individuals on this planet first encounter a lone representative from "normal" (dual sexual) human civilizations. Like the best science fiction novels, this one borrows heavily from other genres. The first two hundred pages read like a political/espionage thriller and then, surprisingly, the story turns into a tale of adventure and survival (clearly influenced by Jack London), as two fugitives cross the uninhabitable tundra of the planet of Gethen (or Winter). It is the last part of this book, I suspect, that some diehard SF readers find especially boring or disappointing; it could have easily taken place in our own Artic zone. Rather than focus on how the people of Gethen as a whole might react to the arrival of alien beings (a la "Independence Day"), Le Guin concentrates on the plight of two individuals, and, quite believably I think, explores how they come to accept each other, even though they are from different worlds and of different sexualities. As Le Guin herself notes in the introduction, this book is not "extrapolative"; her fiction is not in the business of predicting the future. Instead, she invents a civilization that resembles our own, since, in many ways, we all are confusedly androgynous. As a result, she succeeds in creating a profoundly humane and deeply moving book.
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