The enemy vs The Left Hand of Darkness: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
The enemy
Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier's son. An elite military cop, he was one of the army's brightest stars. But in every cop's life there is a turning point. One case. One messy, tangled case that can shatter a…
vs
The Left Hand of Darkness
[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969) One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 years…
The verdict
- Readers rate The Left Hand of Darkness highest: The Left Hand of Darkness 4.4 · The enemy 4.2.
- The Left Hand of Darkness is the quickest read — about 6 hours vs 8 for The enemy.
- The enemy has the widest readership — 150442 ratings behind its score.
- The Left Hand of Darkness runs the darker storyline; The enemy stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Want a one-evening read?
The Left Hand of Darkness
≈ 6h vs 8h for The enemy
New to the genre?
The enemy
Moderate vs Challenging for The Left Hand of Darkness
In the mood for something dark?
The Left Hand of Darkness
a darker storyline than The enemy
Want something lighter?
The enemy
an easier tone than The Left Hand of Darkness
Scores by source
| The enemy | The Left Hand of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (150442) | 4.3 (262) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 3.0 (2) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (12) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (2803) | 4.5 (576) |
Reception
| The enemy | The Left Hand of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 150442 | 576 |
| Editions | 44 | 91 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 53030 | 502 |
| Reading it now | 10492 | 15 |
| Written reviews | 4420 | 27 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2115 | 34258 |
| Pages | 441 | 329 |