 the dispossessed: an ambiguous utopia is a 1974 utopian science fiction novel by ursula k. le guin, set in the same fictional universe as that of the left hand of darkness (the hainish cycle). the book won the nebula award for best novel in 1974, won both the hugo and locus awards in 1975, and received a nomination for the john w. campbell memorial award in 1975. it achieved a degree of literary recognition unusual for science fiction works due to its exploration of many ideas and themes, including anarchism and revolutionary societies, capitalism, individualism and collectivism, and the sapirâwhorf hypothesis. it features the development of the mathematical theory underlying the fictional ansible, an instantaneous communications device that plays a critical role in le guin's hainish cycle. the invention of the ansible places the novel first in the internal chronology of the hainish cycle, although it was the fifth hainish novel published.in the word for world is forest, the newly created ansible is brought to athshe, a planet being settled by earth-humans. in other tales in the hainish cycle, the ansible already exists. the word "ansible" was coined in rocannon's world (first in order of publication but third in internal chronology), where it is central to the plot. ==setting==  the story of the dispossessed is set on anarres and urras, the twin inhabited worlds of tau ceti. cetians are mentioned in other ekumen novels and short stories. an anarresti appears in the short story the shobies' story. urras before the settlement of anarres is the setting for the short story "the day before the revolution". in the dispossessed, urras is divided into several states which are dominated by the two largest ones, whic
1970s_science_fiction_novels 1974_novels Anarchist_communism Anarchist_fiction Hainish_Cycle Harper_&_Row_books Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel-winning_works Libertarian_books Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel-winning_works Novels_by_Ursula_K._Le_Guin Prometheus_Award_winning_works Utopian_novels