http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/ursula k. leguin http://io9.com/tag/ursula k. leguin

We read fantasy books for all sorts of reasons, including escapism, gritty action, and immersion into detailed, ornate worlds. But one great reason to read fantasy novels is because many of the genre's best works deal with how to be a good, ethical human being. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881928&view=rss&microfeed=true

The made-for-cable-TV show Science Fiction Conversations features the involvement of an amazing bunch of science fiction authors. Vonda McIntyre directed the episodes. Nisi Shawl and Eileen Gunn hosted the show. And the authors interviewed included Ursula K. Le Guin, Hiromi Goto and Gunn herself. Fortunately, three half-hour episodes of this show are available on Google Video, and they make for illuminating viewing. [via Tor.com] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5877899&view=rss&microfeed=true

George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons was everything we'd hoped it would be — but now we can't wait to read the next book, The Winds of Winter. How can we keep from going mad with impatience to find out what happens to Tyrion and Daenerys? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876715&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sarah Hall, author of the Tiptree Award-winning novel Daughters of the North, narrates a fantastic two-part BBC radio series, Cat Women of the Moon, all about "the popular motif in science fiction of an all-women society surviving without men." The first half is more about "relations between the sexes," while the second half is about various weird kinds of reproduction and "the different ways of continuing the human race." Participants include China Mieville, Iain M. Banks and Ursula K. Le Guin. Particularly lovely: the moment where Geoff Ryman confesses, "I've done a lot of male pregnancy." [BBC, thanks Matthew!] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875286&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've all been there: your first meeting with a member of another culture, or your first attempt at real communication in a foreign language. More often than not, disaster results. Learning to cope with other ways of speaking, and other cultural contexts, can be a major challenge — but science fiction is here to help! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863077&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you've been wondering just what's wrong with unemployed people, and why they won't just go get a job, then Ursula K. Le Guin has some answers for you. In the time-honored tradition of fantasists and fabulists, she's phrased her answers in the form of a fable. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862142&view=rss&microfeed=true If you're lucky enough to be in New York, then October is going to be a brilliant month for you — the Center for Fiction is putting on a whole month of science fiction and fantasy discussions, in honor of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. It's all part of "The Big Read," a month-long program focusing on a single book. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5844566&view=rss&microfeed=true

You probably already think you know why immortality is a bad idea — after all, Torchwood just got done showing us, and there's a whole complicated computer model of why immortality would suck. But trust Ursula K. Le Guin to make immortality seem terrifying all over again. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5844494&view=rss&microfeed=true

The world is full of retellings of the Brothers Grimm lately, but Lisa Goldstein's new novel The Uncertain Places makes the world of fairy tales feel like a living place, with a long history that intersects with our own world. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5807022&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Register asked its readers to name the best science fiction books that haven't been turned into movies, and hundreds of nominations came in. Now the Register has whittled the list down to the 50 that got the most votes. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5794160&view=rss&microfeed=true

Looking for an antidote to Star Trek's utopian but overbearing Federation? Like your science fiction with a bigger emphasis on personal liberties? Then check out our list of the greatest libertarian science fiction. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5792897&view=rss&microfeed=true

Need a break from holiday commercialism? Want to send a much-needed gift to groups cleaning up one of 2010's worst disasters? Great! Check out Breaking Waves, an anthology featuring award-winning writers like Ursula K. Le Guin and Vonda McIntyre. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5716180&view=rss&microfeed=true

Can a book really become a decent television show? Yes, and here's the proof! Here are 12 shining examples of science fiction and fantasy books that actually got turned into television series that are worth watching in their own right. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5678821&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Walking Dead carried all our dreams on its undead shoulders. We're all hoping HBO's Game of Thrones will also rule. But sadly, television has an even worse record of adapting books than movies. Here are 10 book-to-television embarrassments. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5678133&view=rss&microfeed=true

Clint Eastwood's Hereafter and this week's Doctor Who crossover both served up poignant meditations on death. But fantastic stories often explore the darkest frontier of them all: Here are 12 other great stories to help you to cope with mortality. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5671818&view=rss&microfeed=true

Science fiction's greatest authors have brilliant ideas, storytelling mojo... and plenty of stubbornness. Many of the field's greatest writers were buried in rejection slips, before they finally broke in. Here are 15 classic novels that publishers didn't want to touch. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5668053&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood are two of SF's most famous living writers. Claire Evans was lucky enough to join 2,000 other people in listening to them discuss Star Wars, fantasy... and telling the truth in fiction. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5650396&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's hard enough to define science fiction — but what makes for truly great SF? What's the crucial element, the X-factor? TimeSplash author Graham Storrs argues it's all about exploring who we are as humans. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5644381&view=rss&microfeed=true

We're in the middle of a flood of literary novels that play with science fiction ideas right now. What's causing it? And how can science fiction benefit from all of this fresh energy? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5625030&view=rss&microfeed=true

After a short break, "Blogging the Hugos" is back with 1975 Hugo winner The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin. I thought it was right in so many ways — so what went wrong? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5607981&view=rss&microfeed=true

It should have been the greatest television show ever: conceived by Harlan Ellison, with science advisor Ben Bova and scripts by Dick, Le Guin, Herbert and Van Vogt. A new comic based on The Starlost shows what could have been. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5615979&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Disposessed author Ursula K. Le Guin is famously protective of her copyrights, and has expressed extreme reluctance to let Hollywood touch her work. So how did a group of film students get permission to film one of her stories? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5597210&view=rss&microfeed=true

Great science fiction and fantasy novels don't just expose us to other worlds and alternate timelines — they expand our minds and give us compass to steer by. Here are our favorite bits of advice and maxims from SF books. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5579212&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's 1970, and with this Hugo winner — Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness — we finally got the ladies up in here! And the men too! And of course, the menwomen. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5555773&view=rss&microfeed=true

On Sunday, you'll have your last visit to Lost's mysterious island, so what fictional islands should you visit next? Luckily, science fiction is full of weird islands full of secrets, so call your metafictional travel agent today! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5544325&view=rss&microfeed=true

A truly great infodump is a work of art. The best science fiction authors can brief you on everything you need to know about their worlds, without making you feel lectured. Here are 20 great examples of the smooth infodump. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5481558&view=rss&microfeed=true

LibraryThing's science fiction group had a great discussion about "wrong book, wrong time" situations, where you hate a book, but much later, you rediscover it and fall in love. What books are you glad you gave a second chance to? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5494930&view=rss&microfeed=true

Kim Stanley Robinson insisted that Adam Roberts' Yellow Blue Tibia should have won the prestigious Booker Prize, but now that wrong has been somewhat righted, as Roberts' book is one of four finalists for the best-novel British Science Fiction Awards. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5458028&view=rss&microfeed=true

Now that Google has declared war on China, can it take on a diminutive 80-year-old science-fiction and fantasy author? Probably, but Ursula K. Le Guin is not going down without a fight. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5456731&view=rss&microfeed=true

The most frustrating, annoying thing about the opposite sex is that they're not you. Why can't you just meet your exact duplicate — except for sex? You'd be a perfect match. Luckily, science fiction suggests 3 ways it could happen. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5404091&view=rss&microfeed=true

Is escapism the enemy of smart science fiction? Are stories that let us escape reality always inconsequential fluff? That's what people argue — but the reverse is true. Escapism is a literary impulse, and escapist art is the highest art. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5374149&view=rss&microfeed=true

Have we gone multiverse crazy? Iain Banks' latest novel, Transition, is just the latest of a long line of sideways-traveling books, and this theme is more prevalent than ever. Here are some of my favorites, with spoilers and foul language. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5372389&view=rss&microfeed=true

Margaret Atwood insists that her novels aren't science fiction, as everything she writes either has happened or could happen today. But in looking at Atwood's latest novel, The Year of the Flood, science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin disagrees. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5349583&view=rss&microfeed=true

Click to viewHollywood has taken everything, from your childhood toys to the novels that haunted your dreams, and turned them into splashy vehicles for young Scientologists to gallop through. Are there any books that Hollywood absolutely can't turn into movies? Or shouldn't? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5318079&view=rss&microfeed=true

Their books take you to strange cities from other planets, alternate histories and mythical realms. But what real-life cities inspire Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, Nalo Hopkinson and China Miéville? The SharedWorlds project found out, with fascinating results. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5294195&view=rss&microfeed=true

Looking for an antidote to Star Trek's utopian but overbearing Federation? Like your science fiction with a bigger emphasis on personal liberties? Then check out our list of the greatest libertarian science fiction... More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5254742&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here's Joss Whedon accepting the Ray Bradbury Award at the Nebula Awards ceremony. Also honored: Ursula K. Le Guin, Wall-E and Catherine Asaro. Meanwhile, Nisi Shawl and Patrick Ness scored Tiptree Awards More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5228834&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sex and science fiction have not always been the most obvious partners; combining the two has occasionally defeated even the genre's greatest luminaries. But here are ten authors who successfully brought sex into the future. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5216703&view=rss&microfeed=true

Planet Earth might be home sweet home, but is it really humanity's birthplace? We explore science fiction stories where humans come from everywhere but Earth, be it by colonization, alien experiments, or good old-fashioned panspermia. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5143698&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ursula Le Guin did an interview with Vice Magazine (of all places) and explained exactly how you can make a mysterious technology, and a universe of 80 wildly different inhabited worlds, feel totally real. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5127825&view=rss&microfeed=true