[igneouscarl]

'Left Hand of Darkness' is an excellent introduction to Le Guin. The Gethenians are definitely an interesting race of humans and the concept of ambassadors from a league of planets; the Ekumen acts a great tool for exploring the culture from an outsider’s perspective.

I think Le Guin herself acknowledged her interests in an anthropological perspective in the foreword to 'The Birthday of the World' or somewhere else I'm not 100% positive but read it somewhere. Now 'The Birthday of the World' is a real Le Guin gem, which is a collection of short stories- many of them set in the Ekumen universe.

An incredibly long and detailed analysis of 'Left Hand of Darkness' can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/ny/gaybooks...fdarkness.html

Carl