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Ursula K. Le Guin Books In Order

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Publication Order of Adventures In Kroy Books

The Adventure of Cobbler's Rune(1982)Description / Buy at Amazon
Solomon Leviathan's Nine-Hundred and Thirty-First Trip Around the World(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Annals Of The Western Shore Books

Publication Order of Catwings Collections

Tales of the Catwings(1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
More Tales of the Catwings(2000)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Catwings Books

Catwings(1988)Description / Buy at Amazon
Catwings Return(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Jane on Her Own(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
Cat Dreams(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Earthsea Collections

Tales from Earthsea(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Earthsea Cycle Books

A Wizard of Earthsea(1968)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Tombs of Atuan(1970)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Farthest Shore(1972)Description / Buy at Amazon
Tehanu(1990)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Other Wind(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Daughter of Odren(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Earthsea Non-Fiction Books

Earthsea Revisioned(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Earthsea Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Hainish Cycle Books

Rocannon's World(1966)Description / Buy at Amazon
Planet of Exile(1966)Description / Buy at Amazon
City of Illusions(1967)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Left Hand of Darkness(1969)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Word for World is Forest(1972)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Dispossessed(1974)Description / Buy at Amazon
Four Ways to Forgiveness(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Telling(2000)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Legends Books

Legends (By: Stephen King,Anne McCaffrey,Robert Silverberg)(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King (By: Diana Gabaldon,George R.R. Martin,Orson Scott Card,Terry Brooks,Robert Silverberg,Neil Gaiman,Elizabeth Haydon)(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Legends 3 (With: Terry Pratchett,Tad Williams,Robert Jordan,Robert Silverberg)(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Orsinia Books

Publication Order of Outspoken Authors Books

The Human Front (By: Ken MacLeod)(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Left Left Behind (By: Terry Bisson,Eleanor Arnason)(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Lucky Strike (By: Kim Stanley Robinson)(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Underbelly (By: Gary Phillips,Eleanor Arnason)(2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
Mammoths of the Great Plains (By: Eleanor Arnason)(2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wild Girls (With: Eleanor Arnason)(2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
Modem Times 2.0 (By: Michael Moorcock,Eleanor Arnason)(2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (By: Cory Doctorow,Eleanor Arnason)(2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
Report from Planet Midnight (By: Nalo Hopkinson,Eleanor Arnason)(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Science of Herself (By: Karen Joy Fowler,Eleanor Arnason)(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
Patty Hearst & The Twinkie Murders: A Tale of Two Trials (By: Eleanor Arnason,Paul Krassner)(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
New Taboos (By: John Shirley)(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
Raising Hell (By: Norman Spinrad,Eleanor Arnason)(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
My Life, My Body (By: Marge Piercy)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Gypsy (By: Carter Scholz,Eleanor Arnason)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Miracles Ain't What They Used to Be (By: Joe R. Lansdale,Eleanor Arnason)(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Fire. (By: Elizabeth Hand,Eleanor Arnason)(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Totalitopia (By: John Crowley)(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Atheist in the Attic (By: Samuel R. Delany,Eleanor Arnason)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
Thoreau's Microscope (By: Michael Blumlein,Eleanor Arnason)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Beatrix Gates (By: Rachel Pollack)(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
A City Made of Words (By: Paul Park)(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Metis Seçkileri Books

with Eduardo Galeano
We Say No (By: Eduardo Galeano)(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
We Say No: Chronicles 1963-1991 (By: Eduardo Galeano,Mark Fried)(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Exiled from Almost Everywhere (By: Juan Goytisolo,Peter Bush)(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of The Last Interview Books

Learning to Live Finally (By: Jacques Derrida)(2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Roberto Bolaño: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (By: Roberto Bolaño)(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Kurt Vonnegut (By: Kurt Vonnegut)(2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
Jorge Luis Borges (By: Jorge Luis Borges)(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
Hannah Arendt: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (By: Hannah Arendt)(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
James Baldwin: The Last Interview: and other Conversations (By: James Baldwin,Quincy Troupe)(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview (By: Ray Bradbury,Sam Weller)(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
Gabriel García Márquez (By: Gabriel García Márquez)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Lou Reed (By: Lou Reed)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ernest Hemingway (By: Ernest Hemingway)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Nora Ephron: The Last Interview (By: Nora Ephron)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Philip K. Dick (By: Philip K. Dick)(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
J. D. Salinger (By: J.D. Salinger)(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Oliver Sacks (By: Oliver Sacks)(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Jane Jacobs (By: Jane Jacobs)(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
David Bowie (By: David Bowie)(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Martin Luther King Jr.)(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Christopher Hitchens (By: Christopher Hitchens)(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Hunter S. Thompson (By: Hunter S. Thompson)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
Kathy Acker: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Kathy Acker)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
Julia Child: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (By: Julia Child)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ursula K. Le Guin: The Last Interview and Other Conversations(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
Billie Holiday: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Billie Holiday,Khanya Mtshali)(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
Graham Greene: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Graham Greene)(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
Toni Morrison: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Toni Morrison)(2020)Description / Buy at Amazon
Frida Kahlo: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Frida Kahlo)(2020)Description / Buy at Amazon
Shirley Chisholm: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Shirley Chisholm)(2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
Fred Rogers: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Fred Rogers)(2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
Johnny Cash: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Johnny Cash)(2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (By: Melville House)(2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
Janet Malcolm: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (By: Melville House)(2022)Description / Buy at Amazon
Kurt Cobain: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Melville House)(2022)Description / Buy at Amazon
bell hooks: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: bell hooks)(2023)Description / Buy at Amazon
Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (By: Melville House)(2023)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Unreal and The Real Books

The Unreal and the Real, Vol. 1: Where on Earth(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Unreal and the Real, Vol. 2: Outer Space, Inner Lands(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Wind's Twelve Quarters Short Stories/Novellas

April in Paris(1962)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Masters(1963)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Word of Unbinding(1964)Description / Buy at Amazon
Things(1970)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Good Trip(1970)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Trip to the Head(1970)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Stars Below(1974)Description / Buy at Amazon
Direction of the Road(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Darkness Box(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Day Before the Revolution(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Semley's Necklace(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Rule of Names(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Winter's King(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Lathe of Heaven(1971)Description / Buy at Amazon
Very Far Away from Anywhere Else / A Very Long Way from Anywhere Else(1976)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Eye of the Heron(1978)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Beginning Place / Threshold(1980)Description / Buy at Amazon
Always Coming Home(1985)Description / Buy at Amazon
Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand(1991)Description / Buy at Amazon
Changing Planes(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
Lavinia(2008)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Nine Lives(1968)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas(1973)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Field of Vision(1973)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Water is Wide(1976)Description / Buy at Amazon
Leese Webster(1979)Description / Buy at Amazon
Gwilan's Harp(1981)Description / Buy at Amazon
Solomon Leviathan's 931st Trip Around the World(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Visionary: The Life Story of Flicker of the Serpentine of Telina-Na (With: Scott Russell Sanders)(1984)Description / Buy at Amazon
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight (With: Susan Seddon Boulet)(1987)Description / Buy at Amazon
Unchosen Love (Amazing Stories #591)(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Matter of Seggri (in Crank!)(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Forgiveness Day(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Solitude (in F&SF)(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Man of the People (in Asimov's)(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Woman’s Liberation (in Asimov's)(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ether OR(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
Mountain Ways (in Asimov's)(1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wild Girls (With: Eleanor Arnason)(2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
Dangerous People(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Volume 1(1975)Description / Buy at Amazon
Wild Angels(1975)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Volume 2(1978)Description / Buy at Amazon
Hard Words and Other Poems(1981)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Compass Rose(1982)Description / Buy at Amazon
In the Red Zone(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon
Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences(1987)Description / Buy at Amazon
Wild Oats and Fireweed(1988)Description / Buy at Amazon
Blue Moon Over Thurman Street (With: Roger Dorband)(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Going Out with Peacocks and Other Poems(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Unlocking the Air and Other Stories(1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
Sixty Odd(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Birthday of the World and Other Stories(2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
Science Fiction Stories(2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
Incredible Good Fortune(2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
Walking in Cornwall(2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Finding My Elegy(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
Late in the Day: Poems, 2010-2014(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Found and the Lost(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Five Ways to Forgiveness(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
So Far, So Good(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Picture Books

A Visit from Dr. Katz(1988)Description / Buy at Amazon
Fire and Stone(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Fish Soup(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Ride on the Red Mare's Back(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon
Tom Mouse(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

From Elfland to Poughkeepsie(1973)Description / Buy at Amazon
Dreams Must Explain Themselves(1975)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Language of the Night(1979)Description / Buy at Amazon
Way of the Water's Going(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (With: Laurence Davis,Peter Stillman)(2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Cheek by Jowl(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (With: Richard D. Erlich)(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Words Are My Matter(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
No Time to Spare(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing (With: David Naimon)(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of About Writing Non-Fiction Books

Dancing at the Edge of the World(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Steering the Craft(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wave in the Mind(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon
Conversations with Ursula K. Le Guin (By: )(2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel(2025)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Best Science Fiction of the Year Books

The Best Science Fiction of the Year 1(1972)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 2(1973)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3(1974)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 4(1975)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 5(1976)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 6(1977)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 7(1978)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 8(1979)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 9(1980)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 10(1981)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 11(1982)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 12(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon
Best Science Fiction of the Year 13(1984)Description / Buy at Amazon
Best Science Fiction of the Year 14(1984)Description / Buy at Amazon
Best Science Fiction of the Year 15(1986)Description / Buy at Amazon
Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 16(1987)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Year's Best Fantasy Books

Year's Best Fantasy (By: George R.R. Martin,Terry Goodkind,Michael Swanwick,Robert Sheckley,Nalo Hopkinson,Kathryn Cramer,Nicola Griffith,Alice Coppel-Tosic)(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 2 (By: David G. Hartwell,James K. Morrow,Kathryn Cramer)(2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 3 (With: Kage Baker,David G. Hartwell,Charles de Lint,Neil Gaiman,China Miéville,Nalo Hopkinson,Kathryn Cramer,R. Garcia y Robertson,William Mingin,Patricia Bowne)(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 4 (By: Terry Bisson,David G. Hartwell,Kathryn Cramer)(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 5 (By: David G. Hartwell,Kathryn Cramer)(2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 6 (By: David G. Hartwell,Neil Gaiman,Kathryn Cramer)(2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 7 (By: David G. Hartwell,Kathryn Cramer,L.E. Modesitt Jr.)(2007)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 8 (By: David G. Hartwell,Kathryn Cramer,David Ackert)(2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Year's Best Fantasy 9 (By: David G. Hartwell,James K. Morrow,Kathryn Cramer)(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Anthology series.

Publication Order of Isaac Asimov's Anthology Books

Isaac Asimov's Worlds of Science Fiction (By: Isaac Asimov,Tanith Lee,Phyllis Eisenstein,Gene Wolfe,Barry B. Longyear,John M. Ford,Arnie Bateman,Alan Dean Foster,Martin Gardner,Randall Garrett,Rob Chilson,Ted Reynolds,George Scithers,Richard S. McEnroe,Jeff Duntemann,R.N. Bracewell,K.W. MacAnn,G. Richard Bozarth)(1980)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Near Futures and Far (By: Isaac Asimov,Frederik Pohl,Carter Scholz,Barry B. Longyear,John M. Ford,Jack Williamson,Darrell Schweitzer,John Brunner,Juleen Brantingham,Martin Gardner,Richard Wilson,Milton A. Rothman,Elizabeth Anne Hull,Sharon Webb,Somtow Sucharitkul,Lee Weinstein,Ted Reynolds,George Scithers,F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre,William Tuning,Francis E. Izzo,Paul David Novitski,Lee Russell,Seth S. Horowitz,Tol E. Rant,S. Dale,Julie Flores,Tony Sarowitz)(1981)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Space of Her Own (With: Connie Willis,Pat Cadigan,Joan D. Vinge,Tanith Lee,Pamela Sargent,Lee Killough,Mary Gentle,Mildred Downey Broxon,Shawna McCarthy,Sharon Webb,Leigh Kennedy,Stephanie A. Smith,Cherie Wilkerson,Julie Stevens,Sydney J. Van Scyoc,Cyn Mason,P.A. Kagan,P.J. MacQuarrie,Janet O. Jeppson,Beverly Grant,Hope Athearn)(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Fantasy! (By: Shawna McCarthy)(1985)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Fantasy! (By: Connie Willis,George R.R. Martin,Ron Goulart,John Kessel,George Alec Effinger,Robert Thurston,Tanith Lee,Lucius Shepard,Scott Baker,Lillian Carl,Juleen Brantingham,Lee Killough,Ian McDowell,Daphne Castell,Sharon N. Farber,Richard Kearns,Shawna McCarthy,Leigh Kennedy,Gregg Keizer,Kristi Olesen)(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Aliens (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1991)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Robots (By: Isaac Asimov,Rob Chilson)(1991)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's SF-Lite (By: Isaac Asimov,John M. Ford)(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's War (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Cyberdreams (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Skin Deep (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Ghosts (By: Isaac Asimov,Terry Bisson)(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Christmas (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1997)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Camelot (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois,Eleanor Arnason)(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Detectives (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Werewolves (By: Isaac Asimov,Suzy McKee Charnas,Gardner Dozois)(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Solar System (By: Gardner Dozois)(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Utopias (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(2000)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Father Day (By: Isaac Asimov,Gardner Dozois)(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
Isaac Asimov's Halloween (By: Isaac Asimov)(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
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Publication Order of Anthologies

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Ursula K. Le Guin is an American author that is best known for her fantasy and science fiction novels for children. The author has also produced poems and essays. Le Guin’s work has been commended for delving into alternative realities with differing ideas on gender, religion, and sexuality.

+Biography

Ursula was born in 1929 to a UC Berkley Anthropologist and a Writer by the names of Alfred Louis Kroeber and Theodora Kracaw. Ursula has described her childhood as an easy and happy one.

Ursula and her three older brothers found their worldview shaped by their parents’ dynamic friends to whom they were frequently exposed. It helped that Ursula and her siblings spent so much of the year in Berkley only to retreat to an old ranch in Napa Valley for the summer.

Ursula had the privilege of walking amongst congregations of students, writers and scientists and this allowed her to listen in on all manner of conversations. It was during these years that the author’s love for Biology and Poetry was strengthened.

Ursula, in particular, took to reading at an early age and nurtured a love for science fiction and fantasy.

By the time she was eleven, the author had submitted a story to the ‘Astounding Science Fiction’ Magazine for publication. However, it still wasn’t a given that Ursula K. Le Guin would go the way of publishing.

Though, her interest in literature was difficult to ignore. After all, her Radcliffe College degree was in Renaissance French and Italian Literature, not to mention the French and Italian Literature M.A. she got from Columbia University.

Ursula K. Le Guin was initially determined to pursue a doctorate centered on a poet by the names of Jean Lemaire de Belges. But then she met Charles Le Guin in France during her travels and, after their marriage, she saw fit to abandon her studies in that arena.

The historian had his sights set on an Emory University Ph.D. so Ursula followed him back to the United States. It was during these years that the author began to experiment with writing. Finding the time wasn’t easy, not when she was trying her hand at secretary work and even teaching French in college.

The birth of her children complicated matters and so did all the moving the family kept doing. But she persisted in her writing. By 1951, even before she met and married Charles, Ursula had written her first novel.

By 1961, the author had five books under her belt, all of which publishers had rejected for various reasons. So Ursula seemingly gave up on fiction and went to poetry. She eventually returned to fiction professionally in 1964, producing ‘The Word of Unbinding’, a short story that paved the way for the ‘Earthsea Trilogy’, the books for which Ursula is best known.

She followed up the original trilogy with three more books in the ‘Earthsea’ world before branching out to write ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ and ‘The Dispossessed’, books that made Ursula K. Le Guin the first author to win a Hugo and Nebula Award for the same two books.

Ursula cites Philip K. Dick and J.R.R. Tolkien as her influences. Ursula’s Taoism beliefs and anarchism manifest prominently in her work. She also draws upon psychology, sociology and anthropology to produce stories that challenge a reader’s understanding of culture and reality.

+Ursula K. Le Guin Adaptations

Ursula K. Le Guin has had the pleasure of seeing many adaptations arise from her books. In fact, ‘The Lathe of Heaven’, her 1971 novel, was adapted twice. Ursula participated in the 1979 film adaptation and she considers it to be the only true adaptation of her work. A second adaptation was created in 2002.

Ursula had an opportunity to have Hayao Miyazaki adapt her Earthsea books into an anime series. But she didn’t know his work so she turned him down. An animated version of the Earthsea books eventually surfaced in 2006, simply titled ‘Tales from Earthsea’. The movie was directed by Miyazaki’s son and Ursula expressed great disappointment with the liberties it took, especially with regards to the moral message. By this point in time, Ursula had become a massive Miyazaki fan.

Lesser known adaptations include a Chicago’s Lifeline Theater adaptation of ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ and a ‘Legend of Earthsea’ miniseries that the SciFi Channel adapted from the first two Earthsea books.

+A Wizard of Earthsea

There was a time when Ged was considered the greatest of sorcerers in all Earthsea. But that was before his hunger for power and confidence in his own knowledge got the better of him. A shadow was released into the world, beginning Ged’s testing.

Ursula K. Le Guin’s first book in the Earthsea novels introduces Ged to readers. At the start, Ged is quite the cocky and brash boy. He grows so arrogant that he inadvertently unleashes a terrible shadow.

To survive the coming turmoil, Ged is forced to mature, growing comfortable with his dark side.

This book isn’t traditional fantasy and readers looking for a rollicking ride through a fantastical realm will be disappointed. Instead, the first Earthsea book is short, simple and introspective.

The book, which is told like a fairy tale, aims to explore the underlying elements of morality in the overall battle between good and evil. Ged is forced to go on a journey of self-discovery.

He must learn to accept the darkness that lies within him.

+The Tombs of Atuan

Before Arha became high priestess and gained administration over the nameless powers of the Earth, she was just a young girl called Tenar. In becoming high priestess, Arha lost everything, even her name, consigning her life to the task of guarding the ominous Tombs of Atuan.

Arha’s life takes an unexpected turn when Ged infiltrates the Tombs with the intention of stealing a treasure. Drawn to the light of his magic, Arha joins Ged and they escape the dark labyrinth.

The second Earthsea novel introduces the character of Arha to readers. Arha is Priestess over the power of Shadow and it is her job to protect the Tombs of Atuan from intruders. Arha’s life is one of darkness and gloom, and she quickly comes to realize that she is a victim of powers she cannot understand.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Ursula K. Le Guin

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