The Dispossessed | Ursula K Le Guin

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, was raised on Anarres, a barren moon with no government, army, laws, or police that has long been isolated from other worlds because of its rigid dedication to radical equality.

Shevek’s work promises a breakthrough that could alter the course of human civilisation, but to realise it, he must journey to Urras: a planet dazzling in its beauty and advancement yet fractured by hierarchy.

Though initially welcomed by this unfamiliar civilisation, Shevek soon finds himself caught between competing visions of freedom, a bridge – and a threat – to both. In the conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs, even as he ignites the fires of change.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes 23 novels, 12 volumes of short stories, 11 volumes of poetry, 13 children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA’s Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other 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.