厄休拉·勒奎恩（Ursula Le Guin）是美國文壇一位風格獨特的女作傢。她一手寫奇幻和科幻，一手寫紀實小說、詩歌、散文、遊記、文學評論、童書和劇本，可謂樣樣精通。她在奇幻小說方麵成就斐然，地位崇高，代錶作有架空幻想小說《地海傳奇》係列、長篇巨著《黑暗的左手》、《一無所有》和《傾訴》、短篇小說集《變化的位麵》等20餘部。她是美國文學奬獲得者，並兩度摘得星雲奬與雨果奬，其他奬項與榮譽更是不計其數。她還是英文版《道德經》的譯者之一，其本人深受老莊思想與人類學影響，作品常蘊含道傢哲理。

The Left Hand of DarknessSutty， an Observer from Earth for the interstellar Ekumen， has been assigned to a new world-a world in the grips of a stern monolithic state， the Corporation. Embracing the sophisticated technology brought by other worlds and desiring to advance even faster into the future， the Akans recently outlawed the past， the old calligraphy， certain words， all ancient beliefs and ways; every citizen must now be a producer-consumer. Their state， not unlike the China of the Cultural Revolution， is one of secular terrorism. Traveling from city to small town， from loudspeakers to bleating cattle， Sutty discovers the remnants of a banned religion， a hidden culture. As she moves deeper into the countryside and the desolate mountains， she learns more about the Telling-the old faith of the Akans-and more about herself. With her intricate creation of an alien world， Ursula K. Le Guin compels us to reflect on our own recent history.