Anarres, Shevek’s homeland, is a bleak moon settled by an anarchic utopian civilization, where there is no government, and everyone, at least nominally, is a revolutionary. It has long been isolated...

When Genly Ai, an envoy from a vast interstellar alliance known as the Ekumen, arrives on the icy planet of Gethen, his mission is simple in theory: persuade its nations to join a wider community of...