Three short stories are closely related to this novel. "The ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (1973) deals with the theoretical question of whether the well-being of the inhabitants of Omelas is justified when it depends on the intense suffering of one individual.
One of those who walks away from such a society is Odo, hero of "The Day Before the Revolution" (1974). Odo is the woman who inspired the revolution which produced the anarchist society of Anarres, but in the story she is already seventy-two years old.....
