To go with my online class Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World, I started a series of posts listing companion materials in pop culture, preferably ones that are a little forgotten, have not received the attention I think they deserve, or take an unusual angle. All the better if they are available online, double-plus for free.
These are the ones I propose to accompany Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. It’s more difficult to find pop culture resources — movies, television, comics, games, music, etc. — on The Left Hand of Darkness and other works by Le Guin than any other readings in this class because they are still covered by copyright but pre-date the Internet explosion.
- Le Guin’s official website has a lot of interesting tidbits to explore.
- Le Guin’s works online from the Unz.org database.
- Ghibli Studio released Tales of Earthsea, directed by Miyazaki Hayao’s son Miyazaki Goro. The DVD is available on Netflix, but not for online viewing.
- A few of Steven Celiceo’s lovely pictures, inspired by Gethen.
- Joshua A.C. Newman’s game Shock: Social Science Fiction (Glyphpress) is a fiction game of culture and future shock. Based on the works of Bruce Sterling, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Philip K. Dick, the game pushes the players to make stories that matter to them — stories about politics, philosophy, love, and death.
- “The Science Fiction of Ursula Le Guin”, Science Fiction Studies No. 7, Vol. 2, Part 3 (1975)
- OK, not pop culture, but interesting: lots of scholarly articles on Le Guin (DePauw University page).
- Character list and chapter summaries – Handy lists to help keep track of the numerous characters
- Glossary – Unusual words as you read The Left Hand of Darkness
- Use of pronouns on Gethen
- The Left Hand of Darkness: Introduction to Shifgrethor, an interesting analysis of the concept by Stephanie Weaver
The Reef 
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