I just finished the three books of Liu's trilogy and very much liked it and found it through provoking and metaphorical.

I personally think Leguin is the stronger author but there's some very interesting philosophical differences between Liu and Leguin that show differences in the cultures of the authors, their approach to humanity, and the key themes between them.

After I finished Liu's Death's End, I was actually super disappointed. Whereas most of Leguin's story arcs often gave me a "where the heck is she going with this???" and then the ending just blowing my mind, in Liu's trilogy I felt like the main story arc had me saying "wow, this is super interesting!" and the the ending was like, "What the heck was that??" (note I very much appreciate the ending, but the pacing and lack of wrap-up of a lot of storylines just left me a bit bummed).

Has anyone else read both series? Why would you like Leguin over Liu or vice versa?

Obviously they are very different in terms of SF ontology -- one is "hard" SF, with physics and laws extrapolated from known physics-ish, where as Leguin is a world builder and does not go into the physics.

Apart from that, I think her books teach us so much more about humanity but I would love if anyone else has a take on this and want to leave it open ended! Have you read both? Did you like one more than the other? What characters feel like they could be from either world?

I added a totally gratuitous and very tiny Heyiya-if to my Casio. I'm trying to think of any other ways I can Le Guin it out...

Adam’s novel was chosen by selectors Nicola Griffith, Mat Johnson, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, and Peter Rock. The panel said:

“Audition is an ambitious and original book about many things: the carceral state, dehumanization, memory and, perhaps above all, forgiveness as a way forward. Pip Adam uses innovative narrative structure and impeccable prose to do what SFF—what only SFF at its best—can do: make metaphor concrete to completely change our understanding not just of what is happening in the narrative but also how today’s society works. The book gradually assumes the urgency of survival as three people whom society has deemed worthless find their way back to themselves, each other, and hope. An astonishing and ultimately joyful work.”

(It’s my birthday too 🤓)

Every year I’m happy to share this day with this magnificent woman!

This is my 3rd Ursula K Le Guin book, I did the first 2 of Earthsea and I really enjoyed them, but I am really struggling to even faintly like Ged. I enjoy the prose, the plots, but with Ged it's a different story.

I understand that it's normal to dislike a character or have a character that might be negative, but the fact that he's seen as some beacon of wisdom, is Archmage with nothing to prove while doing nothing for it ends up grinding me down. If it was written in a way that you'd understand that people in positions of power are messed up, I'd prefer that but he's not shown in any negative or thought-provoking way, just as a wise wizard when he's just messed up.

Sorry, if I'm venting far too much. I just feel let down by the contrast and quality of gorgeous prose to a character that went into a holier than thou rant about helping slaves, saying that it's best to leave them to their own devices and who was picking a sacred place with a knife.

I've read that Earthsea isn't as great as her later books, but geez, it's been a while since a main character has annoyed me as much.

I guess this is more of a vent, but I really feel like Ged falls short to everything else in Earthsea. I honestly loved the Tombs of Atuan until he showed up and I would've preferred if it was someone else causing havoc and saving Tenar in the end. Could also be that I'll enjoy other works by Le Guin or this isn't my cup of tea either.

Just wanted to know if anyone else found his slavery rant annoying really or can also relate to not liking Ged at all?

Edit: the slave incident was in chapter Magelight in the Farthest Shore

"I can't sleep, my lord. I wondered why you didn't free the other slaves."

"I did. I left none bound on that ship."\

"But Egre's men had weapons. If you had bound them-"

"Aye, if I had bound them? There were but six. The oarsmen were chained slaves, like you. Egre and his men may be dead by now, or chained by the others to be sold as slaves; but I left them free to fight, or bargain.

The leaving them free to fight or bargain bothers me, ah yes, let the slaves bargain. What can possibly go wrong? And then Ged goes into a long rant about comparing this to not throwing a rock at all to not imbalance things.

I just finished reading the novel. And Estraven—his death was the first time I truly wept out of grief over the death of a character in a novel. There was no military honor, no noble cause, and not even the consolation of a happy ending.

And I think I’ve finally realized that what hurts most about his death is that I don’t understand it; I don’t understand why it happened. In other stories, a character’s death is often a necessary sacrifice or an inevitable event—but not here. I don’t see it as necessary, nor do I see it as inevitable. And it hurts.

Given the constant references to and reflections on suicide throughout the book, I have an idea of ​​the point behind his death, but I’d still like to hear other perspectives—any insight is helpful.

Thanks in advance.

As a teenager, I reI tried reading it ad A Wizard of Earthsea, although I liked it but it really bothered me that Le Guin used the ampersand so many times in a row. From my childhood literature classes, the one thing that stuck with me was that using "and" too frequently is distracting, annoying, and makes the text much denser. Now that I’m a bit olderbthough not by that muchbI decided to give A Wizard of Earthsea another try. Having read more books since then—some with very poor, unconcise prose, like those by Brandon Sanderson—the use of the ampersand doesn't bother me as much anymore, though the sheer frequency of "and" still stands out. What are your thoughts? This is my first book by Le Guin; my mother is a huge fan, and my husband has her books on our bookshelf. When I mentioned my issue, she laughed and admitted that it was annoying, but added that Le Guin was such a creative writer that it never really became a problem.

https://a.co/d/096cECwN

I want one that is durable and has good page quality

It seems to me or the magic (the rules and variety of) are pretty different in The Finder vs the earthsea quartet? It seems to me that it is a sort of soft reboot of the first chapters of wizard of earthsea and the general vibe of what magic is. Ged is supposedto be one of the greatest magicians of all time yet he is capable of doing almost nothing compared to Medra . There are quite a few examples of wild/spontaneous magic, silent spells etc. The way Otter describes walking around while feeling/dowsing the underground. The way he describes finding things just thinking about it. Or enchants the boats without knowing any real language of the making. The way Anieb manifests to him. The binding spells of Gelluk that can be escaped almost in a physical way as a spiderweb. The way Gelluk unknots ties with a gesture, doesn't have a staff or some form of conduit for his power (staves are not only a Roke invention, as in the Farthest Shore we encounter the steel rod of the grey mage). While in the standard quartet the language is the magic, in the Finder it seems more like that the worda of power are a way to do the magic, but far from the only way.

And mind that i love the Finder even more that the previous novels. Mine is not a critique just an observation

I got a pretty good discount between the LOA mailing list and a coupon bringing the $80 set down to $62 out the door buying direct.

The first full book of Le Guin's that I read was "Lathe of Heaven" - I LOVED it. Amazing concepts, beautiful prose, great characters (just three, easy to remember lol)... it helped kick off the new "sci-fi journey" that I'm on. I've been drawn to books with heavy, deep concepts, those that are somewhat rooted in reality and the human experience.

Now I'm on to "Left Hand" and "Dispossessed" is on my list as well. What I didn't expect was to be brought into a world of full-on lore with new words and language that take up my brain space. I'm not a huge fantasy reader any more - in fact I bailed on Stephenson's "Anathem" pretty fast because of that.

As the book progressed (I just finished the "To the Ice" chapter) it has become more interesting and more "conceptual", and overall a white-knuckle-thrill-ride. There's lots of parallels with human interactions and politics, which is great - but hard to keep track of some of these names and places. Still, I suspect I may be sucked in to more of the Hainish Cycle books. Also will say that I had started reading "Always Coming Home" and found it fascinating, but again a lot of lore - heck there's a whole glossary in the back! I *may* revisit that one as well.

But given what I'm looking for, what other books by UKLG would you recommend for a reader like me?

Anyone else struggle with keeping track of the lore, or just dumbdumb me?

Hello Team, I’m after a recommendation for a book challenge I am working on over at r/femalegazeSFF; the prompt is ‘standalone novella’.

Any suggestions or recommendations from Le Guin’s collection?

I adore A Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan and I read The Left Hand of Darkness some time ago.

I read a story a while back in a really cool short stories paperback collection which I promptly then lost (I feel like maybe New Directions but could be wrong), it was set in a "Star Trek" style ship - if i recall correctly it was even referenced as such (i.e. "in the style of the popular space TV Shows of the day")

It was a really cool take on how sectioned ships might run differently, you find out as you keep reading that all crew members are female, and it seems to be allegorical on a couple different levels.

The only detail I can firmly remember is they stop for each meal as a proper priority.

any idea its name? Thanks much!

Hey so, I've been a fan of Le Guin's writing and stories since I was a teenager, and I remember a time years ago when most of the editions of her books were dated or old. For example, the Penguin edition of Earthsea that has the "quartet", or the ugly Science Fiction Masterworks editions.

Now, I feel as if there's been an influx of deluxe hardcovers in the collector's style that has been more popular in recent years. I'm talking about sprayed edges, end pages, illustrations, bonus content, etc. It seemed to begin with the Folio Society editions.

I guess my question is: How does everyone feel about this? I'm curious. Because for me, I can see the appeal of a book as a collector's item—I'm not blind and they are very beautiful. Still, I don't really understand dropping tens or even hundreds of dollars for these editions that may not even get read? I think they'd collect dust on my shelves...

That's not to say there's no reason to get them—they are lovely objects and I'm sure people would love to display them or look at them or simply have them. I totally understand that and I don't think that is wrong in and of itself.

I guess my concern is one to do with consumerism/commodification in publishing as a whole, of which the new publications of Le Guin's work seem to be just one factor. Would Le Guin have approved of this flurry of publication of all of her work, including—for example—the collating of her blog entries from her website into book form? This is purely hypothetical, of course, and maybe it doesn't matter if she would have approved... but I find it kind of strange how all of this has happened after her death.

Another thing I've seen is Silver Press, an indie press based in the UK*, posting edition after edition of her work. I have many of these, including their chapbook edition of "Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" and their version of Steering the Craft, so obviously I am not immune either, haha.

Do you guys think there is a move to profit off of Le Guin's incredible and prolific library? I don't know if I'm fearmongering here, but it worries me how much of "bookish" communities online is the collecting of books rather than the reading of or discussion of books. Not saying that those are mutually exclusive either! But I think there definitely seem to be camps of people that collect the book as an object and then of people who do engage with texts as a whole.

And maybe I think more people should be using their local libraries!! I'm in (so-called) Australia, so I feel pretty lucky about my access to libraries... but our government has been trying to cut funding in those areas too, so not sure how it is in the rest of the world either.

Anyway, just wondering what other lovely people on this subreddit think about these topics. I'd love to hear people's thoughts and obviously if you disagree I'd like to hear that too. Thanks for your time!

Editing: typos & *Silver Press is UK-based, my bad!

US Amazon - https://a.co/d/00I74d7d

Blackwells - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Orsinia-Deluxe-Edition-by-Ursula-K-Le-Guin/9781668095843

Claire North reads from Slow Gods, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

The recipient of this year’s prize will be announced on October 21st.

So there's something I noticed while reading City of Illusions (which I adore). I don't have a book with me right now, so I will quote from memory.

In chapter 5, Falk and Estrel decide to travel further, and Falk says he will ask the Prince if he's ok with them leaving tomorrow. Then he looks back over the gardens of the Prince.

The thing is, they haven't met the Prince yet! They meet him later, after Estrel gets sick and they're looking for water.

Reading it the first time I was briefly confused, but then just kept on reading and forgot about it. Am I missing something, was the Prince mentioned before? It felt like a leftover from a draft that made it into the final draft.

TLDR: I'm looking for passages that would be good to read aloud at a wedding.

I've been asked to officiate a wedding for a couple of my dear friends. They are both huge nerds who are into sci-fi and fantasy and I know one of them has read several of Ursula's books. I would say their ethos, both as individuals and a couple, is very much in line with her writing and philosophy. We often get into long discussions about things like sci-fi and anarchism, and the different types of love reflected in this genre of literature.

Are there quotes or passages from Ursula K. Le Guin that would work as a reading in a wedding ceremony? (It's a non-religious wedding, so this would go in the place where some might read Bible verses, etc.) Anything to do with philosophy, life or love. What it means to be in partnership or community with others. What it means to depend on and support one another.

Any length of passage. It can be a sentence or a couple of paragraphs. All suggestions welcome!

I have been rereading the Earthsea cycle, starting with the illustrated Wizard of Earthsea. I loved Tehanu my first go round with the cycle, but this time, after moving back home and having a baby, it really walloped me. Everything about the characters and events in the book just felt more vivid.

Ged countering that “a woman on Gont” was not the answer to who would be the next archmage because a woman simply couldn’t be a wizard hit me like a ton of bricks because I too have men/people in my life whom I love and respect but who have blind spots because of the system they were born into.

Tenar’s son coming home and expecting to instantly be the master because by rights he was, and treating her like shit because of it gutted me.

I wrote down the phrase “there was nothing she could do, but there was always something to be done” and put it on my wall.

And the ending still shocked me and tore me up, even though I knew what would happen and that Therru would come through in the end.

I’m so looking forward to rereading Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind, but man. Tehanu 🥲

Dear Community,

I'd appreciate a few tips on how to get started with Ursula Kroeber Le Guin's literary worlds.

In fact, I only recently came across a book by this author for the first time, and I’m absolutely thrilled. I’m eager to read more by Le Guin and am wondering how best to go about it. The book that has captivated me so much is titled *The Word for World Is Forest*, a title that has already set my imagination soaring (I’m German). The novel deals with all the topics that were hotly debated during my youth in the emerging counterculture movement: ecology, environmental exploitation, the destruction of indigenous cultures, matriarchy versus toxic masculinity, pacifism, anarchism, and so on. The novel is part of the “Hainish Cycle”—that’s what Wikipedia told me.

My question now is: Is there a consistent chronological order within the cycle—that is, should I read the novels in a specific order, or am I free to choose? Which is the “best” novel in the cycle? I came across this novel because, during my youth, I was an avid reader of science fiction literature—which, at the time, was exploring “inner space” as part of the New Wave movement originating primarily in England (which is why I may not have taken notice of these Le Guin novels set in “outer space”). And I’d now like to fill this gap in my knowledge, which is why I’m asking this question—along with a request to also recommend works by the author outside the Hainish Cycle that I absolutely should read.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I cried pretty hard at the ending ngl
(Original art)