Science fiction is defined differently by each person who reads or writes it, but Le Guin resists making distinctions between science fiction and fantasy. Even so, it is fantasy that she defends more wholeheartedly, arguing in her nonfiction writings on behalf of language rather than technology, of characterizing "the Other" rather than creating alien worlds, and of writing literature for children rather than for adults.

Le Guin is a writer of great versatility and power, as shown by the range of storytelling in this one volume. All her fiction is distinguished by careful craftsmanship, a limpid prose style, realistic detail (shown here in the creation of the imaginary worlds of Gethen, Libra, and the Hainish League, and the depiction of Earth in various present and future guises), profound ethical concerns portrayed here in characters as varied as Odo and Osden and in actions such as arson...