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?

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!

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.

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

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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)

Just realized it lists Anarres as the utopia, when it should be Urras! Anyone else’s? I tried to look up how common this is but couldn’t find any info- ISBN 0-06-105488-7

I'm teaching A Wizard of Earthsea for the second time to adults in online community education in October. Though I've prepared many material before (including dozens of questions for reflection) and scanned and saved some excellent articles, I'm always look for more discussion of the book, which has been my favorite novel for 51 years.

And I'm, pleased to find a chapter by chapter discussion here at Reddit -- https://www.reddit.com/r/UrsulaKLeGuin/comments/eoacbw/earthsea_reread_intro_invitation/

I did however start this thread as a place to add some of my own current comments here and hear yours. By the way, I have a background in Jungian psychology (focus a lot on the theme of integrating the shadow), was a psychotherapist for many years as well as a literature instructor, am a poet and have published four books.... so I pay a lot of attention both to the deeper meanings of the novel and Le Guin's lyrical craft. And some of themes -- such as naming and true names!

I also had a brief correspondence with Le Guin when I taught the book to honor 12th graders way back in 1975 -- before she was even knowledgeable about Jungian psychology. In fact, I sent her some of my best student essays, which she actually found enlightening! I'll never forget her comments.

My course starts Thursday eve October 8, EST and is still open. I send many articles and questions for reflection to registered students -- and in fact, will happily share my questions here.
https://lexingtoncommunityed.org/class/hugw/

Disclaimer: I am not paid more than the small amount I receive as a community ed instructor if any of you sign up so this isn't a profit-oriented solicitation. But I've already had one member from this forum, Anne, join many of my Ursula K. Le Guin courses (most recently, this year Birthday of the World, Five Ways to Forgiveness, Left Hand of Darkness) and in fact, she's contributed to some marvelous discussions! So I am definitely open to more lovers of Ursula K. Le Guin joining!
Tracy Marks

In this short video, Christopher Caldwell introduces his collection Call and Response: Stories of the Fantastic 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.

Fellow readers
I have been worried that Library of America wouldn’t publish more than one more LOA by Le Guin after the Earthsea editions. I have collected all of them so far, just waiting for the Earthsea books to be released in Sweden. Library of America replied that they’ll release two editions, of which there will be ”short stories galore!”. I expect them to print all short stories not already published, hopefully we’ll get some if not all essays as well as they aren’t that long each.

One edition fall of 2027 and one final in fall 2028!

I came across a post about this collection on the official Le Guin page on Instagram a couple of days ago, it was released September 22nd 2026. It looks very interesting, are any of you planning to read it?

Book description:

Revolution in the Heart is a collection of 15 brand new stories by a group of celebrated authors, all inspired by one of the iconic figures in all of science fiction and fantasy: the legendary and award-winning Ursula K. Le Guin.

From the appearance of her first work of short fiction in 1962 to the publication of the last in 2016, Ursula K. Le Guin was a master storyteller, winning innumerable awards, and achieving both commercial and literary success. She created the beloved stories of Earthsea alongside the urgent and essential stories of the Hain, pushing forward the form and concepts of science fiction and fantasy - reshaping them into forward-thinking genres.

This collection honours her legacy with stories from authors she inspired:

Ann Leckie
Molly Gloss
Kelly Link
Charlie Jane Anders
Sarah Pinsker
Chana Porter
Ai Jiang
Alaya Dawn Johnson
S. Qiouyi Lu
E. Lily Yu
Vandana Singh
Aliya Whiteley
Premee Mohamed
Darice Little Badger
Karen Joy Fowler

Welcome to the /r/ursulakleguin "What Le Guin or related work are you currently reading?" discussion thread! This thread will be reposted every two weeks.

Please use this thread to share any relevant works you're reading, including but not limited to:

• Books, short stories, essays, poetry, speeches, or anything else written by Ursula K. Le Guin

• Interviews with Le Guin

• Biographies, personal essays or tributes about Le Guin from other writers

• Critical essays or scholarship about Le Guin or her work

• Fanfiction

• Works by other authors that were heavily influenced by, or directly in conversation with, Le Guin's work. An example of this would be N.K. Jemisin's short story "The Ones Who Stay and Fight," which was written as a direct response to Le Guin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas."

This post is not intended to discourage people from making their own posts. You are still welcome to make your own self-post about anything Le Guin related that you are reading, even if you post about it in this thread as well. In-depth thoughts, detailed reviews, and discussion-provoking questions are especially good fits for their own posts.

Feel free to select from a variety of user flairs! Here are instructions for selecting and setting your preferred flairs!

Premee Mohamed’s short story collection 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.

I mean, in many ways they did not reach their goal, nor are they heading towards it.

They couldn't fight against the injustice in their homeworld, so they had to go to another planet hoping to create an utopia(?) free of hierarchy. Eventually their society oxidized and formed a different form of hierarchy. Their revolution sparked hope among the dispossessed in Urras, though. Even if it's a pipe dream, to them, Anaress is the proof that a better future is possible. Does that matter more?

I think I should reread this book

Hi everyone!

A while ago I read a quote from Ursula K LeGuin that basically talked about how creatures deemed to be mor eintelligent (aka humans) were given that in order to take care of other beings, not destroy them. I can't remember the exact words or where it was written. I have been looking for it like crazy but I can't find it anywhere.

If anyone has any idea I would really appreciate it!

Sorry if this is way too unspecific

My personal favourite is Prince Arren. He was very relatable to me, and I love his character development. He was annoying at first (at least to me) - he seemed very sheltered and naive, but that made his growth feel so much more meaningful. I also greatly admire his loyalty and sense of duty.

I also love Tenar. She went through so much, and yet she still found peace and happiness in life. Her maternal relationship with Tehanu was especially moving to me.