Kindle Spotlight: Ursula K. Le Guin

On Tor.com, Jo Walton’s re-reading series has been a blast, revisiting older science fiction and fantasy literature with a practiced eye.

Here she talks about Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed:

The Dispossessed has the subtitle “an ambiguous utopia” and I think its strength lies in Le Guin’s clear-eyed acknowledgment of that ambiguity.

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The Dispossessed is available in the Kindle store.

But what about her other works, like Left Hand of Darkness, also set in the same “Hainish” universe, or the Earthsea series?

As of this writing, unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of Le Guin in the Kindle store. These days, new books are more and more often released side by side with the Kindle edition. Somewhat older books are slowly migrating onto the Kindle, and none of Le Guin’s have yet expired copyright, so you won’t find her stuff through Feedbooks or ManyBooks.net.

But here’s what you will find in the Kindle store (and yes, along with the Fictionwise and Mobipocket stores):

• The Dispossessed, discussed by Jo Walton above.

• The Birthday of the World and Other Stories, a collection of stories set in the same world as The Dispossessed, including the following:

  • “Coming of Age in Carhide”
  • “The Matter of Seggri”
  • “Unchosen Love”
  • “Mountain Ways”
  • “Solitude”
  • “Old Music and the Slave Woman”
  • “The Birthday of the World”
  • “Paradise Lost”

• Selected Stories of H.G. Wells, where Le Guin guides us through some of Wells’ greatest stories with deep and excellent commentary.

• “The Bones of the Earth”, a short story about the Earthsea wizard Ged, a Hugo Award nominee in the past.

• “The New Atlantis”, a short story about Atlantis re-rising in a future ruined ecology; Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee, and Locus Award Winner.

• “The Shobies’ Story”, a short story set in the “Hainish” world; Locus Award and Nebula Award nominee.

• “The Diary of the Rose”, a short story with telepathic psychotherapists; Locus Award and Hugo Award nominee.

• “The Day Before the Revolution”, a short story directly related to The Dispossessed; Nebula Award and Locus Award winner, Hugo nominee.

• “Vaster than Empires and More Slow”, another short story in the Hainish universe; Locus and Hugo nominee