INCLUDES A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM DAVID MITCHELL'Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new' Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other is fleeing from a different kind of persecution. What they have in common is curiosity, about others and themselves, and an almost unshakeable belief that the world can be a better place. As they journey for over 800 miles, across the harshest, most inhospitable landscape, they discover the true meaning of friendship, and of love.The Left Hand of Darkness is a true fiction masterpiece from one of the great writers of the 20th century.'It's a giant thought experiment that's also a cracking good read about gender' Neil Gaiman

Set against a background of state-fuelled anxieties about the loss of power and national identity ... With immense subtlety, Le Guin describes the changes in a relationship that almost founders on misapprehensions and mistakes ...The Left Hand of Darkness is a rich and complex story of friendship and love - GUARDIANLike all great writers of fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin creates imaginary worlds that restore us, hearts eased, to our own - BOSTON GLOBENo single work did more to upend the genre's conventions than The Left Hand of Darkness ... Writers as diverse as Zadie Smith and Algis Budrys have cited [it] as an influence - PARIS REVIEWIt's a giant thought experiment that's also a cracking good read about gender