Female Fantasy Authors, November 2012

Hugo. Nebula. National Book Award. Newbery Honor. Ursula K. LeGuin has piled up an impressive array of hardware for the quality of her work. It would be very easy to simply say Earthsea and leave things as they are, for it is an exquisite series. The Hainish series of books should be on everyone's list of science fiction must reads -- a series which includes such titles as The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness. Add to that her stand-alone The Lathe of Heaven and you are just beginning to scratch the surface. That she can take themes of psychological and social importance and twist them into entertaining stories is a testament to her grand abilities.