The Dispossessed

Book cover for The Dispossessed a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, showing two landscapes: on top, verdant hills; on bottom, a bare, parched desert with mountains far in the distance.
 
Three-quarter view of The Folio Society edition of The Dispossessed, showing the spine and cover illustration of a long-haired person looking up and clutching a book.
 

A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.

To visit Urras—to learn, to teach, to share—will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. But the ambitious scientist's gift is soon seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.

Winner of the 1974 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winner of the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Winner of the 1975 Locus Award for Best Novel
Winner of the 1975 Jupiter Award for Best Novel

This compelling story was originally published under the title The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia in 1974 by Harper & Row. Though it is often considered the fifth book of the Hainish Cycle, Ursula maintained that there is no particular cycle or order for the Ekumen novels. It is included in The Hainish Novels and Stories, published in 2017 by Library of America. In 2019, The Folio Society published a hardcover edition with illustrations by David Lupton and an introduction by Brian Attebery.

Praise

“The Dispossessed paints a hopeful and complex portrait of a society rooted in collectivism.”

—Naomi Klein, The Week

“All through, this impresses with small but incalculably right choices which add up solidly and confirm Mrs. Le Guin as one of our finest projectionists of brave old and other worlds.”

—Kirkus Reviews

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