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Winter's King

Ursula K. Le Guin

First published September 1969
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette
Series Hainish

Synopsis

A king is kidnapped for 13 days and brainwashed. Upon her return, she insists that she must abdicate and flees to another planet.

Notes

From Ursula K. Le Guin's introduction to this story in her collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters: "Many feminists have been grieved or aggrieved by The Left Hand of Darkness because the androgynes in it are called 'he' throughout. ... In revising [Winter's King] for this edition I saw a chance to redress that injustice slightly. In this version I use the feminine pronoun for all Gethenians -- while preserving certain masculine titles such as King and Lord, just to remind one of the ambiguity. This may drive some nonfeminists mad, but that's only fair."

External Links

Wikipedia

Awards

YearAwardCategoryStatus
1970 Hugo Award Best Short Story Nominee/Finalist

Publications (37)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
September 1969 Orbit 5 G. P. Putnam's Sons Anthology 67
October 1969 Orbit 5 G. P. Putnam's Sons / SFBC Anthology 66
December 1969 Orbit 5 Berkley Medallion Anthology 67
November 1970 Orbit 5 Rapp & Whiting / Andre Deutsch Anthology 67
October 1975 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper & Row Collection 93
1976 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Gollancz Collection 93
March 1976 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper & Row / SFBC Collection 75
October 1976 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Bantam Books Collection 85
February 1977 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Bantam Books Collection 85
September 1977 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Bantam Books Collection 85
1978 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper & Row Collection 93
May 1978 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Volume I Panther / Granada Collection 94
1979 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Volume I Panther / Granada Collection 94
March 1979 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Bantam Books Collection 85
April 1980 The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction Priam Books / Arbor House Anthology 97
April 1980 The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction Arbor House Anthology 97
March 1981 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Bantam Books Collection 86
1987 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper & Row Collection
September 1987 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Perennial Library / Harper & Row Collection
November 1987 Great Science Fiction of the 20th Century Avenel Books Anthology 97
November 1989 The Wind's Twelve Quarters VGSF / Gollancz Collection 93
1991 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Perennial Library / Harper & Row Collection 93
April 1991 The Wind's Twelve Quarters HarperPaperbacks Collection 117
November 1994 New Eves: Science Fiction About the Extraordinary Women of Today and Tomorrow Longmeadow Press Anthology 299
October 2000 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Gollancz Collection 93
2004 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper Perennial Collection
December 2004 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Perennial / HarperCollins Collection
April 2009 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Paw Prints Collection
August 2015 The Wind's Twelve Quarters and The Compass Rose Gollancz / Orion Omnibus 85
August 2015 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Gateway / Orion Collection
February 2017 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper Perennial Collection
February 2017 Winter's King Harper Perennial Chapbook
February 2017 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper Perennial Collection
September 2017 Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume One The Library of America Omnibus 923
September 2017 The Hainish Novels & Stories The Library of America Omnibus 923|8
October 2021 The Wind's Twelve Quarters HarperAudio Collection |93
September 2022 The Wind's Twelve Quarters Harper Perennial Collection 93