The Left Hand of Darkness

[Brunhildax]

I cut my teeth on Heinlein , Asimov and Clarke , in the 1950s, and I still love them, at one time they would have been in my top ten , when I got into my 20s in the 1960 I put Ted Sturgeon, in particular More Than Human in my to spot , it stayed there until 1969 and Left Hand of Darkness. No nothing like since, I love Chad Olivers' "Blood's a Rover" but it's not the same.
Left Hand of Darkness is SF's most unique novel.

I'm not familiar with Ted Sturgeon or Chad Oliver's. I'll toss those books on my endless and eternal "To Read" list.

The Left Hand of Darkness is still one of my all time favorite books. I tend to be slow to finish the work of authors I love and, as such, haven't read all of Le Guin's. I'm dragging it out, especially since she is no longer with us. I think The Dispossessed is next.

 

[Al Jackson]

Steven King wrote Ted Sturgeon's obituary in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction , calling him a 'writer's writer'. Sturgeon did touch the lives of a great number of science fiction and fantasy writers both personally and with his stories. Kurt Vonnegut knew and loved Sturgeon so much that he became a character in Vonneguts's works , Kilgore Trout. I rank Sturgeon's novel More Than Human as the 2nd best SF novel I have ever read.

 

[Brunhildax]

Interesting to learn learn that is where Kilgore Trout came from! I'll prioritize More Than Human as you've piqued my curiosity.

 

[Avelino de Castro]

Left Hand of Darkness is one of my favorites. It is truly unique. I suspect LeGuin was on some level influenced by reptiles that change their gender in situations where there are too many males or females for breeding to occur in good order. Recently, I heard a story on NPR of a Komodo Dragon that impregnated herself without a male at all! Even more fascinating.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I read this very recently and wasn't a fan. I really liked Lathe of Heaven and all of the Earthsea books (bar Tehanu), but from what I've read I don't seem to get along with the Hainish Cycle (City of Illusions, The Dispossessed, Left Hand of Darkness). LHoD was just too dry and political for me, and for such a short book the plot felt spread thin.