The Hainish Cycle (chronological order)

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5 participants (8 books)

Overview

This reading order for Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle is based on the chronological order of in-universe events.

The list includes 3 short story collections that are bonus because not all the stories in them are relevant to The Hainish Cycle. The relevant stories from each collection are:

The Wind's Twelve Quarters:
  • "The Day Before the Revolution"
  • "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow"
  • "Winter's King"

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea:
  • "The Shobies' Story"
  • "Dancing to Ganam"
  • "Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea"

The Birthday of the World:
  • "Coming of Age in Karhide"
  • "The Matter of Seggri"
  • "Unchosen Love"
  • "Mountain Ways"
  • "Solitude"
  • "Old Music and the Slave Women"
  • "The Birthday of the World"

Full chronological order:

  • Before the League:
    • "The Day Before the Revolution" (best read after The Dispossessed)
    • The Dispossessed
  • The League of All Worlds:
    • The Word for World Is Forest
    • Rocannon's World
    • "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow"
  • The Age of the Enemy:
    • Planet of Exile
    • City of Illusions
  • The Ekumen:
    • The Left Hand of Darkness
    • "Winter's King"
    • "Coming of Age in Karhide"
    • The Telling
    • "The Matter of Seggri"
    • "Unchosen Love"
    • The Churten Effect:
      • "The Shobies' Story"
      • "Dancing to Ganam"
      • "Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea"
    • "Solitude"
    • Five Ways to Forgiveness:
      • Four Ways to Forgiveness
      • "Old Music and the Slave Women"
    • "Mountain Ways"
    • "The Birthday of the World"

Challenge Books

1

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

2

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Word for World is Forest

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

3

Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin

Rocannon's World

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

4

Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin

Planet of Exile

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

5

City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin

City of Illusions

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

6

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

7

(bonus)

The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Wind's Twelve Quarters

Ursula K. Le Guin

8

The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Telling

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

9

(bonus)

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea by Ursula K. Le Guin

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

10

Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Four Ways to Forgiveness

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin

11

(bonus)

The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories

Hainish Cycle

Ursula K. Le Guin