Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Left Hand of Darkness cover art

The Left Hand of Darkness

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: George Guidall
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Complete Earthsea Series & The Left Hand of Darkness cover art
The Found and the Lost cover art
Kingdom of Clockwork cover art
Parable of the Sower cover art
Sailing to Sarantium cover art
The Birthday of the World cover art
Hyperion cover art
Kindred cover art
Hannay: His 5 Adventures cover art
Wanderer cover art
Children of Time cover art
Project Hail Mary cover art
Dune cover art
A Time of Changes cover art
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) cover art
House of Suns cover art

Summary

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.

©1969 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2016 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Left Hand of Darkness

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    298
  • 4 Stars
    170
  • 3 Stars
    78
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    223
  • 4 Stars
    159
  • 3 Stars
    84
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    282
  • 4 Stars
    129
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

awful audio performance

A good story ruined by an awful audio performance. The reader has a very odd, heavy voice which saturates all 's' and 'r' sounds, making it very difficult to understand what he's saying. I gave up in frustration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful book, shame about the narration

I love The Left Hand of Darkness and have read it often, but found the narration very difficult in places: the lack of distinction between characters, the indistinct words (not only alien words but English too) sounding half swallowed at times, the hurrying over passages which warranted more care. Disappointed in the narration, but not in the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Complex story and some excellent philosophy

I found it slow to get attached to the characters but this reflected the challenge the main character had also, so I found it interesting. I enjoyed the androgynous concepts and lifestyles that were developed. The journey accross the snows I found entrancing.
I liked the narrators voice however I didnt recognise too much change in tone for the different characters so often struggled to keep up with who was who and added to the complexity of the story.

Overall I enjoyed the philosphies of the cultures and concepts of living in an ice age. I recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Looked forward to this but spoiled by the reader

The voice literally sent me to sleep on several occasions. I had to concentrate really hard to take anything in. I’m not adverse to concentrating but this was tough. And there were different characters narrating but it was difficult to distinguish them until you’d really developed an ear. Such a shame as I’d been wanting to read some Le Guin and this seemed the best loved. I don’t feel it’s been done justice, sadly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful book

A single envoy from a federation of planets is sent as an envoy in order to eatablish first contact on a cold myseterious world were everyone is androgynous, through this narrative device the author explores attitudes to feminity and masculinity on our own world. A profoundly illuminating story from a visionary and sadly missed writer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story!

Loved this book. Such a great tempo. Like a laidback Dune - less epic but leaves more to think about.
I liked the narrator too. His voice seems a bit wobbly to start but you tune into it, and then it sounds just right.
Definitely recommended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Inspirational Novel

A wonderful book. A thought-provoking novel which is a fantastic introduction to the work of a truly innovative writer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Awful narrator

I couldn't follow this book at all because I just couldn't tune in to the narrator! I found it so difficult to follow what he was saying I could hardly take the story in. something about his pace, tone, cadence, I don't know, but I began listening again to the same story by a different narrator and it was like hearing it anew! I had missed so much! So I can't carry on with this version unfortunately

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A classic

An excellent and seminal story - one of the greats of SF.

The narration took some getting used to at first - the narrator's voice can be slightly difficult to understand in places, but after the first few chapters I was used to it and no longer found it difficult. He did a good job of converting the emotional tone of some parts - particularly the last section of the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Hard reading.

Not a fan myself, I've listened to the first hour and have genuinely no idea what's going on. I feel like I don't understand quite a few of the words in every sentence. I'm educated to masters level and thought I was reasonably clever, but feel like a novice reading this!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful