The Earthsea books were among my favourites as a child, and I still enjoy them today. This has reminded me that I should try and get a hold of the Hainish books, which have been on my radar for a while but which I've not yet got to.
I love literary as well as speculative fiction, and often feel that these genre boundaries are rather artificial! Like, if a book is packaged a certain way, with a certain style of cover design, it's shelved in sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but if it's packaged differently it becomes "literary". I'd encourage everyone who's hesitant about trying "genre" fiction to give it a go with some of these classic authors!
Absolutely agree! There can often be a bit of "snobbishness" I think around so-called "genre" fiction as opposed to "literary" fiction. Thank you for reading and commenting :)
Thank you for reminding me of this writer, whom I've yet to read, but more determined to find something of hers now as I've clearly been missing out. What a visionary she was.
Thank you for this profile. We just discussed The Left Hand of Darkness on our podcast, and though like you I typically read literary fiction, I quickly became obsessed.
I think I am drawn to her works because she seems to be interested not only in the biological and social sciences, but also the human aspect of everything - emotions and relationships and how it all ties together. Her skill at infusing genre fiction with literary writing is truly astounding!
Thank you for sharing this, Shruti! I know, I never realised before that this genre could be so literary. I shall have to check out your podcast - where can I find it?
Love her books.
She was such a genius! :)
The Earthsea books were among my favourites as a child, and I still enjoy them today. This has reminded me that I should try and get a hold of the Hainish books, which have been on my radar for a while but which I've not yet got to.
I love literary as well as speculative fiction, and often feel that these genre boundaries are rather artificial! Like, if a book is packaged a certain way, with a certain style of cover design, it's shelved in sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but if it's packaged differently it becomes "literary". I'd encourage everyone who's hesitant about trying "genre" fiction to give it a go with some of these classic authors!
Absolutely agree! There can often be a bit of "snobbishness" I think around so-called "genre" fiction as opposed to "literary" fiction. Thank you for reading and commenting :)
Le Guin is a writer I've been meaning to get to but, like you, sci-fi/fantasy is a little outside my usual reading fare. Thanks for the nudge, Kate :)
You're welcome, Tash! Hope you enjoy discovering her work 😀
Wonderful piece! I have yet to read this classic author - and am renewing my goal of reading her soon! 💮
Excellent! 😀
Thank you for reminding me of this writer, whom I've yet to read, but more determined to find something of hers now as I've clearly been missing out. What a visionary she was.
You're welcome, Nicola! I hope you enjoy discovering a new favourite author 😀
Thank you for this profile. We just discussed The Left Hand of Darkness on our podcast, and though like you I typically read literary fiction, I quickly became obsessed.
I think I am drawn to her works because she seems to be interested not only in the biological and social sciences, but also the human aspect of everything - emotions and relationships and how it all ties together. Her skill at infusing genre fiction with literary writing is truly astounding!
Thank you for sharing this, Shruti! I know, I never realised before that this genre could be so literary. I shall have to check out your podcast - where can I find it?
It’s called The Novel Tea, and you can find it on all podcast platforms. Here’s a page with direct links: linktr.ee/thenoveltea.pod
We’ve also been writing about the book on our newsletter lately, here’s the latest post: https://thenovelteapod.substack.com/p/art-aliens-and-anthropology
Would love to hear your thoughts! 😊
Great! Thank you for sharing, I'll check them out 😀
Kate, well written and insightful. I am a huge sci-fi fan, but strangely, I have read none of her books. I will need to remedy that!
Thanks, Matthew! :)
I read her work some time ago and loved it. Great research and I didn’t know how prolific she was. A great legacy.
Thanks! 😊
She was prolific and continually amazing.
For sure! :)
Fabulous work!
Thanks so much! She was a delight to research :)