Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was a trailblazing feminist science fiction author whose body of work includes novels, short stories, poetry, children's, five essay collections and works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work, including the iconic fantasy series The Earthsea Cycle, which began in 1968, earned her countless literary awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.
The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin -- Roddy Doyle * THE TIMES * An extraordinary work ... [Le Guin] created a working society in exquisite detail ... a fully realised hypothetical culture [as well as] living breathing characters who are inevitable products of that culture -- Baird Searles A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again * THE TIMES * A deeply imagined work of art * Encyclopedia of Science Fiction * Le Guin's book ... is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive Utopias for at least 10 years * NEW YORK TIMES * [Le Guin had] the heart of a poet who knew all too well the difference between miracle and eureka, revelation and revolution * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * Le Guin's storytelling is sharp, magisterial, funny, thought-provoking and exciting, exhibiting all that science fiction can be * Empire * Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power * OBSERVER *