About This Book
At the far end of our universe, on the twin planets of Werel and Yeowe, all humankind is divided into "assets" and "owners"; tradition and liberation are at war, and freedom takes many forms. It can be learning, it can be love, it can be compassion, or courage. It can be created with a touch, or killed with a blow Though it may seem small, it is the key that opens the great door to understanding. It is the one noble thing.
Here is a society as complex and as troubled as any on our world, peopled with unforgettable characters struggling to become fully human. For the disgraced revolutionary Abberkam, the callow "space brat" Solly, the haughty soldier Teyeo, the Ekumen historian and Hainish exile Havzhiva, freedom and duty both begin in the heart, and success as well as failure has its costs.
In this stunning new collection of four intimately interconnected novellas, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to the great themes that have made her one of America's most honored and respected authors, in or out of the field of science fiction.
