Hainish Cycle:
The Left Hand of Darkness IV.
1969
A pearl that is all too unknown in Continental Europe. How come? I discovered it through the movie The Jane Austen Book Club ! I've never read any other sci fi in my life but I'd always imagined it to be more 'sci' than 'fi' and more 'pro science' than 'pro life' ; Le Guin threw me aback. I loved it! As a s-fantasy fiction, everything that one expects is in there and more thought through and better 'scripted' than in The Earthsea Series. As a novel, it easily beats up some of the classics of literature. Its depth doesn't stop at a show of wit and a few clever sentences here and there, but goes on to actually form the basis of the whole book. Recommended to anyone who loves fantasy fiction, philosophy, social theory, or suspense. This is good writing without pretension, a strong story without an ounce of show.
P.S. Also, another incentive: it's very rare, at least in fantasy, to have a black male as the main character, particularly given the late 60s context.
Tags: gender structure and relations, androgyny/transsexuality, feminist thought, the "what-the-hell-are-we doing-here" question, racial relations, "homosocial" relations, roman de mœurs, socio-political structure, far far away planets
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