Reviews

As a feminist Science Fiction fan, I always feel a bit ashamed that I haven’t read more Le Guin and that (frankly) I don’t enjoy her work more than I do. I found the first 2/3 of this book relatively tedious to get through but the final third was engaging. It’s a lot of politics. I also understand that her interest in exploring gender and sex was revolutionary at the time, and admire and respect that, but in modern reading, the constant discussion of the technicalities gets a little old.

shibh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rinoftheforest's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

artemisjohnson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

For a book exploring the complexities of gender written in the 60s, this is a surprisingly nuanced take on how gender affects how we perceive others and how society treats us in accordance with our perceived gender.

That being said, it is still limited by the time it was written. Le Guin herself in later writings admitted that she failed to properly explore how the lack of gender impacted Gethenian culture. The Gethen are solely referred to by he/him pronouns, despite a gender-neutral pronoun probably being more appropriate. Le Guin also admitted that she failed to show the Gethen in nurturing or familial roles, solely portraying them in traditionally masculine roles.

Overall, I really enjoyed TLHoD as an exploration of another culture in an attempt to reveal more about our own. Not always successful, but always earnestly tackling some thorny issues that are just as relevant today as when Le Guin first wrote about Gently Ai and Estraven

sageofthe6pack's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

out of all of the books i’ve read from the hainish cycle so far, this one took the longest to grip me, probably about 60% through. but it was the most intimate and touching so far.

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