The Left Hand of Darkness vs The Malefactor: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: 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 Malefactor
Tall and burly, with features and skin hardened by exposure to the sun and winds of many climates, he looked like a man ready to face all hardships, equal to any emergency. Already one seemed to see the clothes and…
The verdict
- Readers rate The Left Hand of Darkness highest: The Left Hand of Darkness 4.4 · The Malefactor 3.9.
- The Malefactor is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 6 for The Left Hand of Darkness.
- The Left Hand of Darkness has the widest readership — 576 ratings behind its score.
- The Left Hand of Darkness runs the darker storyline; The Malefactor stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Left Hand of Darkness | The Malefactor | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (262) | 3.8 (53) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (2) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | — | 4.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (576) | 4.5 (15) |
Reception
| The Left Hand of Darkness | The Malefactor | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 576 | 53 |
| Editions | 91 | 58 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 502 | 61 |
| Reading it now | 15 | 6 |
| Written reviews | 27 | 10 |
| Wikipedia attention | 34258 | — |
| Pages | 329 | 148 |