Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin (October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was a prolific writer best known for her Speculative Fiction novels, although she also wrote poetry, nonfiction, and young adult novels. Her works often explore cultural, sociological, ecological, or feminist themes; anarchism and Taoism also occasionally shows up subtly (she was probably the best-known Western Taoist and wrote both a commentary on and translated the Tao Te Ching) or, in the case of The Dispossessed, not so subtly (Anarres is an anarcho-communist society; but then again, the subtitle is An Ambiguous Utopia, and a central theme of the work is that Anarres has decayed in the years since its founding due in no small part to ideology and bureaucracy replacing revolutionary fervour). Her works have greatly influenced modern Fantasy and Science Fiction authors, with systems, words, and ideas from her works showing up so often that some have become tropes in and of themselves. One of these was her coining of the word ansible, which has appeared in numerous scifi works since.

Her Earthsea novels have twice been adapted to visual medium. One is the oft-maligned SciFi channel miniseries and the other is the Studio Ghibli film Tales From Earthsea. Le Guin made no secret of the fact that she was not particularly fond of either adaptation though she was rather more charitable towards Studio Ghibli.

Her story "The Word For World Is Forest" was included in Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions.


 * The Earthsea novels
 * A Wizard of Earthsea
 * The Tombs of Atuan
 * The Farthest Shore
 * Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea
 * Tales from Earthsea
 * The Other Wind


 * The Hainish Cycle
 * Rocannon's World (In which the Subspace Ansible is named.)
 * Planet of Exile
 * City of Illusions
 * The Left Hand of Darkness
 * The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
 * The Word for World is Forest
 * Four Ways to Forgiveness
 * The Telling


 * The Catwings Collection
 * Catwings
 * Catwings Return
 * Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings
 * Jane on her Own


 * Annals of the Western Shore
 * Gifts
 * Voices
 * Powers


 * The Lathe of Heaven
 * The Eye of the Heron
 * Malafrena
 * The Beginning Place
 * Always Coming Home
 * Lavinia
 * Direction of the Road
 * A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else
 * Leese Webster
 * Solomon Leviathan's Nine Hundred and Thirty-First Trip Around the World
 * A Visit from Dr. Katz
 * Fire and Stone
 * Fish Soup
 * A Ride on the Red Mare's Back
 * Tom Mouse
 * The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
 * Changing Planes