The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 novel that has won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. It takes place on the planet of Genthen, also known as Winter due to the fact it is a perpetually frozen planet, but the real focus is on gender identity. The inhabitants of Genthen are androgynous humans most of the time, except when they enter their sexual cycle and become either male or female in order to mate. So when a male human, Genly Ai, arrives on planet, they consider him a pervert who is eternally stuck in heat. Genly is an envoy who represents the Ekumen, and his mission is to convince the warring kingdoms of this world to join the galactic federation. This attempt at diplomacy deeply explores the concepts of friendship, political intrigue, and sexuality as Genly risks his life to complete his mission.

This book received a polarizing reception upon publication, and that would be even more true today for different reasons. At the time, some considered the approach to gender ground breaking, but others criticized it for not going far enough. If published today it would instantly be labeled as woke and I doubt there would be much room for debate about the subtler points being made here. It would simply be a lighting rod for the present day culture wars and that's unfortunate because it won those awards for a reason.

This is plodding story from another time, and if you go into it expecting an action packed sci-fi story, you are sure to bounce off. But if you are willing to allow yourself to get involved in the thought experiment that is on display here, you can see that the prose is well written and some things are universal, even when societal norms get in the way and do their best to divide those who are different. It's slow, the concepts are a bit weird, and I wouldn't say it was one of my favorite books ever, but I am still glad I gave it a shot after all these years. It's a classic for a reason, and it remains relevant to this day.

George Guidall narrates the audiobook version and his style is a good fit for the material.