There are no words that truly describe how incredibly amazing The Left Hand of Darkness is. It's an amazing, compelling, beautifully told novel that takes place from alternating perspectives. This is one of my first "real" science fiction novels, recommended to me by my english teacher and I love it entirely. The book follows Genly, an alien on the planet of Gethen; Genly's mission on Gethen is to convince the rulers of the various countries on Gethen to agree to join the over 80 other planets that cooperate in trading both knowledge, theories and commerce. At the beginning of the book, Genly has been on Gethen for over a year in the country of Karhide, and is accustoming himself to the many differences of the planet Gethen. Nicknamed "Winter" by the first alien explorers there, Gethen seems to be constantly stuck in the season of winter. That's not the only differnce though; the people on Gethen are androgynous, being of both sexes but at the same time neither, going through a sexual cycle known as "kemmer." The romance within the novel, instead of taking away from message of just how much importance we have placed upon gender and gender roles, perhaps too much importance, ends up enhancing and drawing into perspective how something that is so fundamental to us is so incredibly strange and arbituary to Gethenians. Not only was this novel beautifully written and and told a wonderful story, it was also thought provoking and did what all good novels should: make the reader think. Simply put, this was an amazing, elegant, thought provoking novel that ties together many wonderful elements, and I definetely recommend it to all, whether science fiction is your genre or not.