Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories: A Library of America Boxed Set

By Ursula K. Le Guin

For the first time, a deluxe collector's edition of the pathbreaking novels and stories that reinvented science fiction, with new introductions by the author.

Winner of the 2018 Locus Award for Best SF Collection.

In such visionary masterworks as the Nebula and Hugo Award winners The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin redrew the map of modern science fiction, imagining a galactic confederation of human colonies founded by the planet Hain, an array of worlds whose divergent societies--the result of both evolution and genetic engineering--allow her to speculate on what is intrinsic in human nature. Now, for the first time, the complete Hainish novels and stories are collected in a deluxe two-volume Library of America boxed set, with new introductions by the author.

Volume one gathers the first five Hainish novels: Rocannon's World, in which an ethnologist sent to a bronze-age planet must help defeat an intergalactic enemy; Planet of Exile, the story of human colonists stranded on a planet that is slowly killing them; City of Illusions, which finds a future Earth ruled by the mysterious Shing; and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning masterpieces The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed--as well as four short stories.

Volume two presents Le Guin's final two Hainish novels, The Word for World Is Forest, in which Earth enslaves another planet to strip its natural resources, and The Telling, the harrowing story of a society which has suppressed its own cultural heritage. Rounding out the volume are seven short stories and the story suite Five Ways to Forgiveness, published here in full for the first time.

The endpapers feature Le Guin's own hand-drawn map of Gethen, the planet that is the setting for The Left Hand of Darkness, and a full-color chart of the known worlds of Hainish descent.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1598535374
• ISBN13: 9781598535372
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Library of America
• Length: 1921 Pages
• Weight: 3.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.9" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely amazing!

Took me way too long to appreciate LeGuin’s style of storytelling, but once I did, wow, were my eyes opened. Stories are supposed to be about the characters, and that’s what LeGuin writes. If you’re looking for “junk” reading, which have fast-paced plots and plenty of action (to distract you from the massive plot holes), best to avoid LeGuin. But if you want a story that sticks with you, pick up LeGuin Even her series are so well laid out you can pick them up anywhere. When I first started reading her fantasy, I picked up the fourth story in the series first. The story was worked so deftly there was no need to stop until I’d read the first three books. She’s an amazing storyteller.

Life changing

This is my favorite book series of all time. I’m getting a tattoo to commemorate it.

Not very exciting

There's no doubt that LeGuin had a very fertile imagination. After all, she came up with new planets, new civilizations, various forms of alien life and their languages. The problem is that most of it is too complex and very drawn out. Boring is the word that comes to mind but that doesn't quite fit because the stories ARE interesting. Probably her best novel - and the one she herself recommends you should read first - "The Left Hand of Darkness" -is a good example. At 225 pages, it's way too long and not very very believable. It's set on a planet named Gethen that humans refer to as Winter, because the temperature is always between about 40 degrees to negative 60 degrees. Many of the population go naked because over the course of millennia, their bodies have become used to the extreme cold and at a temperature of 40 degrees or so, they become very hot. OK, but the alien on the planet (a human from Earth) sometimes is forced to go naked himself at times (against his will) even when it's quite colder than below 0. For days! And when in 60 below weather, she does mention that his breath would sometimes freeze as he exhaled. She also even mentioned the people, including the human, relieving themselves in the extreme cold. Are we to believe that even though breathing is a hardship, relieving oneself in that temperature isn't a problem? I do have to give her credit for even bringing up the subject, as most science fiction writers avoid it at all costs. Think of this, though, if you're surmising she was an innovator: Actually, there were many authors before her that touched on (or even created) many similar scenarios - not to mention that Einstein's "Theory of Relativity" was published in 1915. I mention this because the effects of space travel - which is a big part of her writings - would not be possible to accurately explain without it. The authors that I refer to are H G Wells ("The Time Machine), George Orwell ("1984"), Isaak Asimov ("I, Robot"), Philip K Dick (Minority Report, Total Recall, Blade Runner, Paycheck), Arthur C Clarke (2001: A Space Oddity) and Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Fahrenheit 451), to name just a few. ALL of the previously mentioned books were written before 1966-69, when LeGuin released her "Hainish" novels. I would highly recommend reading all of the above novels instead of LeGuin. Then there's THE KING: Stephen King, if you want some REAL excitement ("The Dark Tower" books, in particular, are phenomenal and FULL of excitement and astounding creatures - including a suicidal train!). If you do feel compelled to read LeGuin because of all the hype associated with her writings, as I did, then, by all means, go right ahead. Just keep in mind, the way they're written is pretty confusing. For example, each chapter may be narrated by different characters (as in "Left Hand...") - but it's up to you to determine who it is at each juncture, because she doesn't always say before they begin. In any case... Keep on Reading in the Free World!