Best Selling Books by Ursula K. Le Guin

“One of [Le Guin''s] most radical novels. . . . A study in what a complete and utter rejection of capitalism and patriarchy might look like—for society and for the art of storytelling."—The Millions Ursula K. Le Guin’s magnificent work of imagination, a visionary, genre-crossing story about a future utopian community on the Northern California coast, hailed as “masterly” (Newsweek), “hypnotic” (People) and “[her] most consistently lyric and luminous book” (New York Times). This new edition features an introduction by Shruti Swamy, author of A House is a Body, as well as extra material that includes interviews and liner notes to the book''s musical soundtrack. Midway through her career, Le Guin embarked on one of her most detailed, impressive literary projects, a novel that took more than five years to complete. Blending story and fable, poetry, artwork, and song, Always Coming Home is this legendary writer’s fictional ethnography of the Kesh, a people of the far future living in a post-apocalyptic Napa Valley. Having survived ecological catastrophe brought on by relentless industrialization, the Kesh are a peaceful people who reject governance and the constriction of genders, limit population growth to prevent overcrowding and preserve resources, and maintain a healthy community in which everyone works to contribute to its well-being. This richly imagined story unfolds through a series of narrated “translations” that illuminate individual lives, including a woman named Stone Telling, who travels beyond the Valley and comes to reside with another tribe, the patriarchal Condor people. With sharp poignancy, Le Guin explores the complexities of the Kesh’s unified society and presents to us—in exquisite detail—their lives, histories, adventures, customs, language, and art. In addition to poems and folk tales, Le Guin created verse dramas, records of oral performances, recipes, and even an alphabet and glossary of the Kesh language. The novel is illustrated throughout with drawings by artist Margaret Chodos and includes a musical component—original recordings of Kesh songs that Le Guin collaborated on with composer Todd Barton—bringing this utterly original and compelling world to life.

“Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.” —Ursula K. Le Guin When she began writing in the 1960s, Ursula K. Le Guin was as much of a literary outsider as one can be: a woman writing in a landscape dominated by men, a science fiction and fantasy author in an era that dismissed “genre” literature as unserious, and a westerner living far from fashionable East Coast publishing circles. The interviews collected here—spanning a remarkable forty years of productivity, and covering everything from her Berkeley childhood to Le Guin envisioning the end of capitalism—highlight that unique perspective, which conjured some of the most prescient and lasting books in modern literature.

Five hundred years since its first publication, Thomas More''s Utopia remains astonishingly radical and provocative. More imagines an island nation where thousands live in peace and harmony, men and women are both educated, and property is communal. In a text hovering between fantasy, satire, blueprint and game, More explores the theories and realities behind war, political conflicts, social tensions and redistribution, and imagines the day-to-day lives of a citizenry living free from fear, oppression, violence and suffering. But there has always been a shadow at the heart of Utopia. If this is a depiction of the perfect state, why, as well as wonder, does it provoke a growing unease? In this quincentenary edition, published in conjunction with Somerset House, More''s text is introduced by multi-award-winning author China Miville and accompanied by four essays from Ursula K. Le Guin, today''s most distinguished utopian writer and thinker.

James and Harriet return to the city in this second book in legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin’s bestselling Catwings chapter book series, now with a new look! As kittens, James, Thelma, Harriet, and Roger took advantage of their wings by flying away from the busy city where they were born. Now the cats live comfortably in the country with two human friends. But a big adventure is in store for James and Harriet when they decide to return to the city to visit their mother. So much has changed! The dumpster where the kittens grew up is gone. All the buildings in their old alley are being torn down. And inside one of them is a wonderful surprise, just waiting to be discovered…

“Ursula Le Guin is more than just a writer of adult fantasy and science fiction . . . she is a philosopher; an explorer in the landscapes of the mind.” – Cincinnati Enquirer The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her spare, elegant prose, rich characterization, and diverse worlds. "Winter''s King" is a short story originally published in the collection The Wind''s Twelve Quarters.

These warm, funny, and eloquent poems, spanning the years 2000 to 2005, by the celebrated author of Always Coming Home and The Language of the Night, showcase Le Guin’s many facets as a writer.

The place is Orsinia, a land of medieval keeps standing guard above walled cities, and of railways stretching across karsts to vanish in mountains where the old gods still live.

Threatened by an army of nomadic tribesmen, the Tevar colony and their enemies the farborns must form an alliance to survive the war and the fifteen-year-long winter of their isolated planet.

A masterpiece of chilling narration'' GUARDIAN ''Wise, graceful, classic myth-making'' THE SCOTSMAN The wizard Alder comes from Roke to the island of Gont in search of the Archmage, Lord Sparrowhawk, once known as Ged. The man who was once the most powerful wizard in the Islands now lives with his wife Tenar and their adopted daughter Tehanu. Alder needs help: his beloved wife died and in his dreams she calls him to the land of the dead - and now the dead are haunting him, begging for release. He can no longer sleep, and the Wizards of Earthsea are worried. But there is more at stake than the unquiet rest of one minor wizard: for the dragons of Earthsea have arisen, to reclaim the lands that were once theirs. Only Tehanu, herself daughter of a dragon, can talk to them; it may be that Alder''s dreams hold the key to the salvation of Earthsea and all the peoples who live there.

For more than four decades, Ursula K. Le Guin has enthralled readers with her imagination, clarity, and moral vision. The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and five Hugo and five Nebula Awards, this renowned writer has, in each story and novel, created a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthly selves. Now, in The Birthday of the World, this gifted artist returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity. Here are stories that explore complex social interactions and troublesome issues of gender and sex; that define and defy notions of personal relationships and of society itself; that examine loyalty, survival, and introversion; that bring to light the vicissitudes of slavery and the meaning of transformation, religion, and history. The first six tales in this spectacular volume are set in the author''s signature world of the Ekumen, "my pseudo-coherent universe with holes in the elbows," as Le Guin describes it -- a world made familiar in her award-winning novel The Left Hand of Darkness. The seventh, title story was hailed by Publishers Weekly as "remarkable . . . a standout." The final offering in the collection, Paradises Lost, is a mesmerizing novella of space exploration and the pursuit of happiness. In her foreword, Ursula K. Le Guin writes, "to create difference-to establish strangeness-then to let the fiery arc of human emotion leap and close the gap: this acrobatics of the imagination fascinates and satisfies me as no other." In The Birthday of the World, this gifted literary acrobat exhibits a dazzling array of skills that will fascinate and satisfy us all.

The fifth book of Earthsea in a beautiful hardback edition. Complete the collection with A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Furthest Shore and Tehanu. With illustrations from Charles Vess ''Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it'' David Mitchell These five superlative, evocative and enchanting stories range from a few hundred years before A Wizard of Earthsea to just before The Other Wind, and feature some of Le Guin''s most popular characters, including the Wizard Ged himself. The stories are rounded off with an essay about Earthsea''s history and people. No Earthsea fan will want to be without this magical collection. ''[Earthsea is] a memorable exploration of the relationship between life and death. . . Ged, its hero, must face his shadow self before it devours him. Only then will he become whole. In the process, he must contend with the wisdom of dragons: ambiguous and not our wisdom, but wisdom nonetheless'' Magaret Atwood

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL FOR THE MIND: It was Sita Dulip who discovered, whilst stuck in an airport, unable to get anywhere, how to change planes - literally. With a kind of a twist and a slipping bend, easier to do than describe, she could go anywhere - be anywhere - because she was already between planes . . . and on the way back from her sister''s wedding, she missed her plane in Chicago and found herself in Choom. The author, armed with this knowledge and Rornan''s invaluable Handy Planetary Guide - although not the Encyclopedia Planeria, as that runs to forty-four volumes - has spent many happy years exploring places as diverse as Islac and the Veksian plane. CHANGING PLANES is an intriguing, enticing mixture of GULLIVER''S TRAVELS and THE HITCH HIKER''S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY; a cross between Douglas Adams and Alain de Botton: a mix of satire, cynicism and humour by one of the world''s best writers.

After living for five years with the family of the House of Zove, the stranger known as Falk leaves them to discover his true identity.

A rich, poetic, and socially relevant version of the great spiritual-philosophical classic of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching—from a legendary literary icon Most people know Ursula K. Le Guin for her extraordinary science fiction and fantasy. Fewer know just how pervasive Taoist themes are to so much of her work. And in Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, we are treated to Le Guin’s unique take on Taoist philosophy’s founding classic. Le Guin presents Lao Tzu’s time-honored and astonishingly powerful philosophy like never before. Drawing on a lifetime of contemplation and including extensive personal commentary throughout, she offers an unparalleled window into the text’s awe-inspiring, immediately relatable teachings and their inestimable value for our troubled world. Jargon-free but still faithful to the poetic beauty of the original work, Le Guin’s unique translation is sure to be welcomed by longtime readers of the Tao Te Ching as well as those discovering the text for the first time.

Short poems by the successful science-fiction writer deal with Cornwall, New York City, and Oregon, and portray the wisdom of other cultures and beliefs.

THE PURR-FECT GIFT FOR CAT LOVERS: Discover the literary legend''s quirky and winsome cat poems, meditations, and drawings Includes the hard-to-find The Art of Bunditsu, plus 30+ other delights from a lifetime of reflection on the mystery and magic of cats "The presence of a cat keeps me in touch with the mystery, the unreasonableness, the beauty, the stubborn wildness of the nonhuman world." In her life as in her art, Ursula K. Le Guin was fascinated by the feline. This irresistable book about cats gathers poems, meditations, and drawings dedicated to the complicated creature that captured her imagination. Here are: The Art of Bunditsu, Le Guin''s hard-to-find “tabbist” meditation on the arranging of cats 26 cat poems, many illustrated by Le Guin herself The Historic First Issue! of Le Guin''s one-of-a-kind cat comic book, Supermouse Comix! Cat Correspondence: letters between Le Guin’s cat and those of her daughter detailing the Five Deliberations that cats spend their lives studying Cat Tai Chi, as depicted in a charming series of drawings A first-of-its-kind collection from a science fiction legend, this delightful purr-purri is a gift for cat lovers and Le Guin fans!

When Sparrowhawk, the Archmage of Earthsea, returns from the dark land stripped of his magic powers, he finds refuge with the aging widow Tenar and a crippled girl child who carries an unknown destiny.