Let’s say that I may only read one or two, as I’m not a prolific reader. What do you think I should get?
My personnal favorite is The Dispossessed - and it’s standalone.
The dispossessed was my favorite too. After I read the while earthsea collection then left hand and a colelcrion of short stories. Absolutely the best author in my book pun intended
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.
Arguably one of the most influential & philosophical works of the last century. Certainly of the last fifty years.
It’s been more than twenty five years since I last read it. It still creeps into my thoughts & influences my interactions at least biweekly.
By the end of those 22 pages you will have asked yourself questions about your relationship to the society you interact with. Your decisions will tell you more about yourself & your core values than possibly any other piece of similar length outside possibly, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
https://www.ursulakleguin.com/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas
Thank you for reminding me that I still need to read that. I heard about it after that whole “controversy” around an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds supposedly ripping it off and thought it sounded interesting, but then never got around to actually reading it.
That episode of SNW (1x06, “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”) was one of my favorite episodes so far. It felt a lot like one of the better TOS or TNG episodes, which were frequently classic sci-fi stories adapted to the Star Trek setting.
A Wizard of Earthsea.
That whole series is wonderful. Don’t let the “Young Adult” label keep you away from it. If you like fantasy at all, it’s some of the best ever written, IMO.
Its been a real long time but I remember really liking the first one but not liking the last one. It lost me at some point.
The first book was a big hit and the most immediately memorable / powerful. I think the later books stuck with me longer after reading them, though. Not as immediately entertaining / interesting as the first one, but more reflective.
The Left Hand of Darkness is brilliant. Also The Dispossessed.
I read the disposessed, because its often recommended in anarchist circles. It did not disappoint
There’s a fantastic Earthsea collection with illustrations by Charles Vess who is a freaking MASTER illustrator.
Oh wow! That looks absolutely amazing! Thank you!!!
I’m reading Always Coming Home and loving the solar punk vibes, but it’s not really a novel, more of an anthropologist’s field report.
