Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/October 23, 2016 by — Chris Woodrich (talk) 23:40, 6 October 2016 (UTC)



The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1969. The novel became immensely popular, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and establishing Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction. The novel tells the story of Genly Ai, an Earthman sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, persuade the nations of Gethen to join its loose confederation. He is stymied by the cultural barrier created by the Gethenian's lack of a fixed gender identity. The novel is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin set in the fictional Hainish universe, which she introduced in 1964.

The book was among the first published in the feminist science fiction genre and is the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction. The effect of sex and gender on culture and society is a major theme through the novel, and touched off a feminist debate when it was first published. Left Hand has been reprinted more than 30 times, and received a highly positive response from reviewers. It has been described as a seminal work in the genre of science fiction, and has been widely influential.
 * Most recent similar article(s): A book (An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory) is scheduled for 20 September. The last Science Fiction article was The Man Trap on 8 September. The last science-fiction book was a while back: possibly The Phantom Tollbooth on 23 April.
 * Main editors: Vanamonde93
 * Promoted: 9 September 2016
 * Reasons for nomination: This article is about one of the seminal works of science-fiction, and has been widely influential. It is probably the most reviewed work by Ursula K. Le Guin, and won many awards as well. Incidentally, it would be my first TFA (and was my first FA) if it were to be approved. October 21 is the author's birthday; so I'm not terribly hung up on the date, but it would be nice.
 * Support as nominator. Vanamonde (talk) 10:44, 17 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Support Indeed one of the most influential novels of all time. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:38, 3 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Support: Definitely one of the leading works of science fiction, and an interesting study of cultural differences and conflicts. Praemonitus (talk) 19:56, 5 October 2016 (UTC)