The Dispossessed, published in 1974, was my introduction to a reader-friendly explanation of comparative ideologies – I suspect it was the same for many people.īut it was also a story about scientists, and the duty they have to be responsible, ethical and honest. These are portrayed in the film The Last Train Home, where the lives of those in the “developed world” become more comfortable, but at the expense of people we don’t know and can’t see. The power of this writing has only increased with time, as we become more aware of “ethical outsourcing” and labour inequalities. Her short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, written in 1973 is a devastating, slow-burn exposition of the implications of taking the utilitarian route in our exploitative relationships with other people. She was consistently writing at the coalface of cultural change, or anticipating it.įriday essay: science fiction's women problem Where writer Philip K Dick might be considered the expert of the “what if” scenario in science fiction, for me Le Guin is the expert at “what is?” She asked questions about our nature, aims and desires. More than many other author, she employed language, culture and concept in service of writing significant stories about the condition of being human. Her employment of what were to become tropes of science fiction and fantasy was in service of the story, not the other way around, and this was a characteristic of her work. Yet, in her 1976 introduction to this novel, Le Guin maintained that androgyny was not what she considered the theme of the book – it was more to do with essential human feelings about fidelity and betrayal. The Left Hand of Darkness, published in 1969, inspired and informed a generation of gender writing in fantasy and science fiction. Christopher Benjamin Menadue, Author provided My own much loved, much lent copy of The Left Hand of Darkness (Granada Publishing, 1973). He was one of a range of famous admirers including Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry and Billy Bragg who have been tweeting their sorrow. I have an original and much-thumbed copy of the elegantly titled (and naturally masterfully written) Steering the Craft: a 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story, published in 1998: it didn’t make me a better writer, but it made me respect and appreciate the craft of writing.ĭavid Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, waxed lyrical about Earthsea. Le Guin maintained an interest in encouraging writers and sharing her art. I consider her short story Semley’s Necklace – first published in 1964 and later included in The Wind’s Twelve Quarters – to be the finest of its kind in fantasy writing, its crystalline prose equal to Semley’s tragic fate. Style is something Le Guin seemed to be able to master effortlessly and consistently. In 1973, she made a humorous critique of the problems faced by writers trying to make their worlds fantastical and strange in From Elfland to Poughkeepsie, encouraging and emphasising the importance of appropriate style. Le Guin was fiercely protective and supportive of other authors. It’s heavy, but significant and humanly realistic reading for a teenager. In the Earthsea series, we are introduced to the complex responsibilities of becoming an adult, and asked to consider the values of life and the nature of death. Rowling “ripped me off” in her Harry Potter series, but felt that Rowling should have been “ more gracious about her predecessors”. Regarding the story of Ged in A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin didn’t say that J.K. If this sounds familiar, you’re not the first to note it.
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