The Left Hand of Darkness vs The ship of Ishtar: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Life on other planets, Science Fiction, Fiction
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…
vs
The ship of Ishtar
The American adventurer was pitched out of his own time and into a weird world of incredible and enticing marvels.
The verdict
- Readers rate The Left Hand of Darkness highest: The Left Hand of Darkness 4.4 · The ship of Ishtar 3.6.
- The ship of Ishtar has the widest readership — 672 ratings behind its score.
- The Left Hand of Darkness runs the darker storyline; The ship of Ishtar stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Left Hand of Darkness | The ship of Ishtar | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (262) | 3.6 (672) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (2) | 3.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (576) | — |
Reception
| The Left Hand of Darkness | The ship of Ishtar | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 576 | 672 |
| Editions | 91 | 104 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 502 | 888 |
| Reading it now | 15 | 50 |
| Written reviews | 27 | 90 |
| Wikipedia attention | 34258 | 421 |
| Pages | 329 | 309 |