The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fictionnovel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin set in the fictional Hainish universe, which she inaugurated in 1966.[SUP][2][/SUP] It is considered by some to be one of the first major works of feminist science fiction.[SUP][citation needed]
[/SUP]Left Hand won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards as the year's "best novel" according to convention participants and science fiction writers respectively.[SUP][3][/SUP] In 1987,Locus: The magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field ranked it number two among "All-Time Best SF Novels", based on a poll of subscribers.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][a][/SUP] That same year, Harold Bloom edited a critical anthology about the book and said in the introduction that "Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time".[SUP][5][/SUP]
