Summary Ursula K. Le Guin was a prolific author in the sci-fi genre, but her best books encapsulate much more than the traditional narratives readers associate with science fiction. Two of her most famous series are the Hainish Universe and the Earthsea novels. They incorporate fantasy elements and take place on far-flung planets or within unbelievable versions of reality, but the characters that inhabit them feel undeniably real.
10 The Farthest Shore This is the third book in the Earthsea series, which is regarded as the original trilogy's conclusion. Though there are many books in the Earthsea series, there was a large gap between the publication of the first three books and the fourth. This allows readers to draw a line between the tales and view The Farthest Shore as a conclusion.
There are many great books, shows, and fantasy movies based on Greek myths, but Lavinia was an early indicator of the direction that tales of Greek mythology were going to take. Always ahead of the curve, Le Guin predicted and enhanced the existing novels that took on ancient tales and encouraged writers and readers to consider the unheard voices in beautiful but lacking pieces of literary history.
The Fisherman of the Inland Sea is a collection of short stories, and though each of them revolves around different characters and plots, they're connected by similar themes. A few of the stories occur in the Hainish universe, which Le Guin frequently revisited throughout her work, while others take place on Earth and in the contemporary period.
5 The Word For World Is Forest Le Guin's seminal text on the devastation of colonization and environmental exploitation. One of her shorter novels, The Word for World is Forest, must work quickly to establish the setting, characters, and conceit of the story. However, this is no problem at all, as it takes only a few pages for the reader to completely understand the two groups in the story, their goals, and their sense of morality.
Many sci-fi movies make the worst future predictions, and as The Lathe of Heaven is set in 2002, it's common for a knee-jerk reaction to write off the story because it incorrectly assumes the future. However, Le Guin and sci-fi writers like her never presume to predict or know the potential outcome of events to come. Her works should be viewed as fables and exaggerations of the current cultural climate.