Imagine a world where freezing arctic conditions exist all year round, Machiavellian style politics and intrigue prevail, and the inhabitants have the capability to change their gender. These are some of the conditions that face Genly Ai, a lone envoy sent to the planet Winter to offer this alien world a chance to join a trade federation of other planets.
Le Guin's novel is not a new book. It was written back in 1969, but it is well regarded as classic of science fiction. I came across it recently by chance at my local library. The androgynous genderless nature of the near-human citizens on Winter, is one of the central challenges for Ai (and the reader) to cope with, as he has no initial reference point to determine the thinking of those he deals with, and those alien thought processes change as they transform into men or women during the process of 'kemmer' - the sexual reproductive cycle of the inhabitants.
Ai's friendship with Estraven, an exiled dissident on Winter, highlights many of the personal issues that Ai must negotiate. Late on in the book, Estraven metamorphizes into a woman during 'kemmer', challenging the previous platonic basis of their relationship. Estraven's untimely demise and the subsequent grief that Ai feels is one of the more poignant incidents in this novel.
'Left Hand of Darkness' certainly makes you think at many levels, and I give this a 9 out of 10.
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