The latest short story collection from multi-award winning author Ursula K. Le Guin is an interstellar tour across the universe courtesy of a woman-waiting in an airport after having missed a flight-with the ability to visit bizarre societies and cultures not so unlike our own...

◎本書榮獲
美國雨果獎（Hugo Awards）最佳長篇小說獎
美國星雲獎（Nebula Awards）最佳長篇小說獎
永恆的性別與科幻文學經典
當代科幻小說在主流文學界奠定地位的重要代表作之一
一年到頭氣候均為嚴寒的冬星上，居民的外貌酷似地球人，卻有個重大差異：他們平日是中性，只在情慾勃發期時身體會變化出性別，具備性魅力以尋找性伴侶；一旦情慾期結束，又回復成無性的身體狀態。
星際聯盟男性使者真力．艾隻身來到冬星，自此踏入同體雙性的異文化世界。他一面研究此地社會文化，一面身負大任，希望說服國王同意加入聯盟，因而捲入詭譎的政治衝突。面對奇特的生理差異和複雜的社交文化，在信任與背叛之間，他該如何穿越內心的冰原？
光明是黑暗的左手，
黑暗是光明的右手。
二合為一，生命與死亡，
並肩躺臥，如情慾勃發的愛侶，
如緊握的雙手，
如同終點與道路。
娥蘇拉．勒瑰恩在長篇小說體裁中穿插了人類學田野日誌、民間故事採集記錄、任務報告、創世神話等多種文學形式，使得小說在外星使節真力．艾的個人經歷與思維之外展開了恢弘的多元文化視野。
「對我而言，我僅僅是在觀察－－以某種特定、歧異，並且適用於科幻小說的思考實驗模式來觀察－－倘若你在某些特定時節的特定時刻，仔細審視我們自己，我們早已經是雙性同體的存在。」
早已習慣以男女性別二分的視角來看待、思考事物的我們，忽略了什麼？長期研讀老子哲學的勒瑰恩，成功且迷人地在這部早期寫作生涯里程碑之作中闡述了她對二元分立的思考價值觀的反思。

同一个恒星系中，人类定居的两颗行星互为月亮，盈盈相望，却被不同的自然条件与社会形态隔绝成两个截然不同的世界。
阿纳瑞斯：贫瘠，荒芜。恶劣的自然条件迫使人类组成一个集体至上的社会，唯有这样才能保证人类的生存和延续。社会的约束虽然实现了对全体成员的保障，却渐渐成为一种禁锢。
乌拉斯：富足的资源为社会发展提供了强劲的动力，进而形成了激烈的竞争。鼓励竞争的世界富于创造性，但也造成了个人、集团的对立和鲜明的贫富差异。
本书体现了勒古恩对人类社会发展前景的深刻思考。主人公谢维克毅然脱离阿纳瑞斯，投奔乌拉斯，却在发现乌拉斯社会丑陋的一面后再次逃离，成为两个世界的叛离者。人类应该往何处去？勒古恩没有、也不可能提供明确的答案。
最优秀的科幻小说能让读者掩卷长思——也许答案就在读者的思索之中。

◎本書榮獲
〈賽亟黎星球情事〉獲小詹姆斯．提普翠獎
〈荒山之道〉獲軌跡獎、小詹姆斯．提普翠獎
〈孤絕至上〉獲星雲獎
〈世界誕生之日〉獲軌跡獎
假如我們有異星同胞，我們會照見怎樣不同的人生？
「地海」系列、《黑暗的左手》重量級作家
八個思索生命開始與終結、個體與群體、冒險與流浪、愛與恨、性與欲的人生詩篇
打破我們對自身人性想像的侷限，真正進入無限可能的宇宙
在瀚星世界中，人類移民太空已有很長的歷史，許多殖民星球已發展出與祖星瀚星或地球大為不同的社會文化制度，甚至連生理結構也演化出異變。星際聯盟「伊庫盟」致力探索散步宇宙各處的人類移民社會，在學者與使者的努力下，忠實記錄人類文明的種種可能面貌：
在格森星的雙性同體人類社會中，孩子轉大人，首次面對自身生理的巨大變化與勃發的陌生情慾－－那會是什麼樣的成年儀式？
賽亟黎星社會的性別制度是另一種相當倒反的關係，女男生活嚴格分隔，女性擔起整個社會的運作大任，男性除了各式體能競賽與表演之外，僅有提供性愛與生育的功能。當外星文化終於介入，這層嚴格的分際與規範是否受到衝擊？
如果一個社會徹底崇尚孤絕、獨立，致力避免以任何形式介入個人生命，會是什麼景況？一位來自瀚星的人類學家母親，帶著一對子女試圖融入這樣的社會，以期進行深入的調查研究，卻沒有想到這個獨特的孤絕文化對她的兒女各自造成什麼影響。這是一種文明退化閉鎖現象，還是性靈發展至極端的一種可能？
一艘移民太空船已航行宇宙長達五個世代。船上的移民無時無刻不為未來可能的登陸做準備，一切設施、制度、生活方式、教育方向都導向這個目標；然而，不同的聲音慢慢形成。新生代完全在人工環境中成長、學習、生活，「母星」只是種種知識的綜合體或模擬影像。這群人如何選擇、創造自己的未來？心目中的新故鄉、新樂園究竟何在？
八個異星紀事，帶我們航向宇宙最深處，也讓我們在離家最遠的地方返回最真實、最多樣的自我。
美國科奇幻代表作家娥蘇拉．勒瑰恩，充分運用科幻類型的無限想像特性，將人類社會型態發展的諸多可能，充分地演繹表達在這八個雋永的故事之中。勒瑰恩最擅長的乃以擬人類學田野觀察筆記與記錄側寫，將想像虛構的社會文化風貌，及其底下的現實人性問題，深刻地呈現出來，且毫無斧鑿痕跡，即便說教也說得趣味與餘韻十足。可以說，勒瑰恩從《黑暗的左手》與《地海巫師》開始至今所想要藉由文學去挖掘、思索、探討的諸多複雜議題，本書中的八個故事不僅是文字風格還是形式結構上，都堪稱典範。
「勒瑰恩的作品總是帶領我們超越對性別認知的尋常侷限，這部小說集也不例外。」
－－《紐約客》雜誌
「她是少數幾位能成功從科幻類型作家一躍成為重要作家的人。」
－－華盛頓郵報
「她筆下的人物性格豐富令人難忘，她的文筆更是以優雅不失強勁而著稱。」
－－時代雜誌
「勒瑰恩是位極為睿智且機智的作家，高明的說書人，幽默與力道堪比馬克吐溫。」
－－波士頓環球報
「再一次，勒瑰恩力道十足的作品證明：科幻小說不必然是逃避現實的東西，性別研究不一定都是尖澀刺耳的聲音，娛樂也不盡然是無腦的內容。」
－－洋蔥雜誌
「一道純粹的星光。」
－－科克斯評論
「勒瑰恩在本書所完成的，只能以「美」來形容。她探索了種種關係：我們可能對彼此感到陌生，甚至有如外星異客，但仍相愛。讀著讀著我甚至不知不覺流下淚來，我只知道我深深受到感動。」
－－牙買加裔加拿大科幻小說家、《午夜盜賊》作者／娜洛．霍普金森
「這是最偉大的科幻小說大師所寫的八篇睿智美妙的故事所集結而成的小說集，優美，深刻，令人著迷。」
－－美國科幻小說名家／羅伯．席維柏格

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America's most respected writers. More than five years in creation, it is a novel unlike any other.

A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork, and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kesh, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific Coast. The author makes the inhabitants of the valley as familiar, as immediate, as wholly human as our own friends or family.

Spiraling outward from the dramatic life story of a woman called Stone Telling, Le Guin's Always Coming Home interweaves wry wit, deep insight and extraordinary compassion into a compelling unity of vision.

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.

The story 'Omelas" was first published in 'New Dimensions 3' (1973), a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won the prestigious Hugo Award for best short story.

The work was subsequently printed in Le Guin's short story collection 'The Wind's Twelve Quarters' (1975).


Ursula K Le Guin
(1929–2018) was an American writer who published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry & four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, and more. She was known for her treatment of gender ('The Left Hand of Darkness' (1969), 'The Matter of Seggri' (1994)), political systems ('The Telling' (2000), 'The Dispossessed' (1974)) and difference/otherness in any other form.

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea,  but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless  youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered  with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow  upon the world. This is the tale of his testing,  how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an  ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to  restore the balance.

Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability--with a glance, a gesture, a word--to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.

In this beautifully crafted story, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world's darkness, gifts of light.

WHEN YOUNG TENAR is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away -- home, family, possessions, even her name. For she is now Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. While she is learning her way through the dark labyrinth, a young wizard, Ged, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic, and together, he and Tenar escape from the darkness that has become her domain. With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

An exhilarating workout for writers of narrative fiction or nonfiction. With her sharp mind and wit and a delightful sense of playfulness, Le Guin has turned a successful workshop into a self-guided voyage of discovery for a writer working alone or for a writing group or class.

DARKNESS THREATENS to overtake Earthsea. As the world and its wizards are losing their magic, Ged -- powerful Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a sailing journey with highborn young prince, Arren. They travel far beyond the realm of death to discover the cause of these evil disturbances and to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it. With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Years before, they had escaped together from the sinister Tombs of Atuan -- she, an isolated young priestess, he, a powerful wizard. Now she is a farmer's widow, having chosen for herself the simple pleasures of an ordinary life. And he is a broken old man, mourning the powers lost to him not by choice.A lifetime ago, they helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Now they must join forces again, to help another -- the physically and emotionally scarred child whose own destiny remains to be revealed.With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

"In this stellar collection...Ursula K. Le Guin makes a triumphant return to the magic-drenched world of Earthsea."* Featuring a new Earthsea novella, two original stories and two classic tales, plus new maps and a special essay on Earthsea's history, languages, literature and magic, this is "a major event in fantasy literature" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
"A writer of depth who recognizes that not all fantasy venues are created equal...Le Guin's combination of opaque simplicity and transparent complexity, the quotidian and the miraculous, as well as her sharp and subtle characterizations, make for stories that stand shoulder to shoulder with ancient archetypal fairy tales and fables." (Washington Post Book World)

The wizard Alder comes from Roke to the island of Gont in search of the Archmage, Lord Sparrowhawk, once known as Ged. The man who was once the most powerful wizard in the Islands now lives with his wife Tenar and their adopted daughter Tehanu. Alder needs help: his beloved wife died and in his dreams she calls him to the land of the dead - and now the dead are haunting him, begging for release. He can no longer sleep, and the Wizards of Earthsea are worried. But there is more at stake than the unquiet rest of one minor wizard: for the dragons of Earthsea have arisen, to reclaim the lands that were once theirs. Only Tehanu, herself daughter of a dragon, can talk to them; it may be that Alder's dreams hold the key to the salvation of Earthsea and all the peoples who live there.

The first book of "Earthsea" is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows. The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.