Classic Science Fiction Novels, March 2012

Ursula LeGuin released this novel of marvelous scope in 1969 and has been credited as producing the first major novel of feminist science fiction. An Earth envoy named Genly Ai travels to the planet Gethen (aka Winter) in a bid to convince a country on that planet to join up with the Ekumen, a universal organization promoting commerce and communication. On Gethen, Genly Ai is considered a pervert because he is a fixed gender. The people of Gethen are neither male nor female. Due to the lack of dividing gender issues, the people of Gethen have no concept of war and they are disturbed by the notion of whole worlds separated by gender lines. It is a brilliant examination of the divide between male and female as well as looking at religious and political fractures between cultures.