245:"Winter's King" tells the story of Argaven, ruler of a large kingdom on Gethen, a planet whose inhabitants do not have a fixed sex. Argaven has been kidnapped and her mind apparently altered by political opponents. Fearing what she might unwittingly do under the influence of this brainwashing, she abdicates in favor of her infant child Emran, naming a reliable regent to rule until Emran is old enough. With the help of aliens from distant worlds (who include Earth-humans), she travels to another planet 24 light-years away, using a nearly-as-fast-as-light ship. This means 24 years pass but she is no older. News passes between the planets by means of an instantaneous communicator (
195:, I did not know that the inhabitants of the planet Winter or Gethen were androgynes. By the time the story came out in print, I did, but too late to amend such usages as 'son', 'mother', and so on... In revising the story for this edition... 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... The androgyny of the characters has little to do with the events of the story.
256:
Argaven then learns that things are going badly on Gethen and is persuaded to return home in a sub-lightspeed voyage which takes another 24 years. Sixty years have passed on Gethen since she last was there: her child is now old and has become a tyrant. Public opinion is with
Argaven and she is
252:
On this planet (Ollul) she is cured of the mind alterations, which would have made her a paranoid tyrant had she tried to carry on. There
Argaven lives and studies for 12 years, learning about the wider society of many planets and about people with two fixed sexes, very alien to her.
224:–type fairy tale, where a person goes underground in the company of dwarves or elves, spending an apparently brief time but on emergence finding that whole generations have elapsed. Unlike Semley in the earlier story, Argaven understands the science of what has happened. The focus of
303:
had particular praise for "Winter's King". Calling attention to Le Guin's decision to revise the story from its original publication and use female pronouns throughout for her androgynous characters, the reviewer wrote that Le Guin had " a profoundly disconcerting fiction".
289:
Susan Wood deems the story notable because of its scientific extrapolation of topics such as sub-lightspeed travel and alien biology, topics which "provide a framework for powerful psychological studies."
202:
centers on the idea that someone could age only twelve years while the rest of their world ages sixty (itself one of many science fiction stories to address the point made by
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206:: that if he could travel far enough and fast enough he could return and be younger than his own son). Le Guin used a similar idea in the earlier short story
149:
and explores topics such as the effects on humans of space travel at nearly the speed of light, as well as religious and political topics such as
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Le Guin revised the story, mainly editing the gendered language and pronouns, for its inclusion in her 1975 short story collection
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The story also includes the idea of mind manipulation, which Le Guin used earlier and rather differently in
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is more psychological, someone confronting their own child who is now much older than they are.
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337:, (New York, Harper & Row, October 1975), story introduction.
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Ursula K. Le Guin Beyond Genre: Fiction for
Children and Adults
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178:
181:(also called Winter), the same planet shown in more detail in
191:
When I wrote this story, a year before I began the novel
257:
restored to the throne, with Emran committing suicide.
273:
156:"Winter's King" was one of four nominees for the 1970
139:, originally published in the September 1969 issue of
187:. It was in fact Le Guin's first vision of Gethen:
375:"Women Prove Science Fiction's Alive and Healthy"
1253:
451:(1st ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row.
260:The story ends there. But the 1995 short story "
145:, a fiction anthology. The story is part of the
472:(1st ed.). Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers.
517:
278:Charlotte Spivack points out that the story's
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410:(1st ed.). New York, NY: Chelsea House.
350:, (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), page 48.
324:, (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), page 50.
363:, (New York:Chelsea House, 1986), page 186.
510:
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429:(1st ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
264:" (which appeared in a collection called
282:theme precedes and produces the story's
1134:Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences
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372:
1254:
424:
947:
491:
403:
18:Short story by Ursula K. Le Guin
1150:Unlocking the Air and Other Stories
274:Literary significance and criticism
13:
1272:Short stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
1071:The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
373:Barbour, Douglas (March 6, 1976).
14:
1288:
857:Vaster than Empires and More Slow
1223:Dancing at the Edge of the World
1012:Very Far Away from Anywhere Else
158:Hugo Award for Best Short Story
135:short story by American writer
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353:
340:
327:
314:
1:
1267:Science fiction short stories
1142:A Fisherman of the Inland Sea
907:Old Music and the Slave Women
864:The Day Before the Revolution
307:
172:
808:The Word for World Is Forest
7:
939:Annals of the Western Shore
466:Spivack, Charlotte (1984).
404:Bloom, Harold, ed. (1986).
10:
1293:
1110:The Wind's Twelve Quarters
449:The Wind's Twelve Quarters
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335:The Wind's Twelve Quarters
295:The Wind's Twelve Quarters
166:The Wind's Twelve Quarters
1215:The Language of the Night
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1158:The Birthday of the World
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792:The Left Hand of Darkness
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267:The Birthday of the World
193:The Left Hand of Darkness
184:The Left Hand of Darkness
177:The story takes place on
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893:Coming of Age in Karhide
816:Four Ways to Forgiveness
262:Coming of Age in Karhide
249:), and all seems well.
240:
197:
1231:Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
1078:The Diary of the Rose
667:The Books of Earthsea
634:The Daughter of Odren
606:The Word of Unbinding
425:Cadden, Mike (2005).
189:
1188:(series) (1988–1999)
1020:The Eye of the Heron
879:The Matter of Seggri
627:Darkrose and Diamond
555:A Wizard of Earthsea
346:Spivack, Charlotte,
320:Spivack, Charlotte,
210:, later expanded as
1036:The Beginning Place
1004:The Lathe of Heaven
886:A Man of the People
843:The Dowry of Angyar
732:Earthsea Revisioned
695:Tales from Earthsea
659:Tales from Earthsea
220:is structured as a
1262:1969 short stories
1239:Steering the Craft
1044:Always Coming Home
871:The Shobies' Story
571:The Farthest Shore
563:The Tombs of Atuan
95:G.P. Putnam's Sons
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1248:
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784:City of Illusions
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613:The Rule of Names
520:Ursula K. Le Guin
469:Ursula K. Le Guin
407:Ursula K. Le Guin
361:Ursula K. Le Guin
348:Ursula K. Le Guin
333:Le Guin, Ursula,
322:Ursula K. Le Guin
234:City of Illusions
218:Semley's Necklace
208:Semley's Necklace
137:Ursula K. Le Guin
125:
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34:Ursula K. Le Guin
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1177:Children's books
1126:The Compass Rose
1085:The Wife's Story
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24:"Winter's King"
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1277:Hainish Cycle
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417:0-87754-659-2
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359:Wood, Susan,
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147:Hainish Cycle
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120:Hainish Cycle
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688:(miniseries)
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529:Bibliography
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382:. Retrieved
379:Toronto Star
378:
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300:Toronto Star
298:
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293:A review of
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71:Published in
15:
1207:Non-fiction
1102:Collections
824:The Telling
678:Adaptations
651:Collections
384:October 30,
216:. However,
66:Publication
30:Short story
1256:Categories
1193:Cat Dreams
719:Characters
308:References
173:Conception
100:Media type
79:, volume 5
1028:Malafrena
641:Firelight
620:Dragonfly
518:Works by
284:androgyny
151:feudalism
92:Publisher
87:Anthology
1185:Catwings
1094:" (2002)
1087:" (1982)
1080:" (1976)
1073:" (1973)
909:" (1999)
902:" (1996)
895:" (1995)
881:" (1994)
866:" (1974)
859:" (1971)
852:" (1969)
845:" (1964)
749:Hainish
714:Universe
686:Earthsea
643:" (2018)
636:" (2014)
629:" (1999)
622:" (1997)
615:" (1964)
608:" (1964)
538:Earthsea
447:(1975).
56:Genre(s)
48:Language
1052:Lavinia
989:fiction
924:Ansible
917:Related
707:Related
397:Sources
297:in the
286:theme.
247:ansible
131:" is a
51:English
40:Country
1242:(1998)
1234:(1997)
1226:(1982)
1218:(1979)
1169:(2003)
1161:(2002)
1153:(1996)
1145:(1994)
1137:(1987)
1129:(1982)
1121:(1976)
1113:(1975)
1055:(2008)
1047:(1985)
1039:(1980)
1031:(1979)
1023:(1978)
1015:(1976)
1007:(1971)
996:Novels
987:Other
975:(2007)
972:Powers
967:(2006)
964:Voices
959:(2004)
948:Novels
874:(1990)
827:(2000)
819:(1995)
811:(1976)
803:(1974)
795:(1969)
787:(1967)
779:(1966)
771:(1966)
760:Novels
735:(1993)
699:(2006)
697:(film)
690:(2004)
670:(2018)
662:(2001)
590:(2001)
582:(1990)
579:Tehanu
574:(1972)
566:(1971)
558:(1968)
547:Novels
476:
455:
433:
414:
280:winter
179:Gethen
116:Series
956:Gifts
751:Cycle
142:Orbit
103:Print
76:Orbit
474:ISBN
453:ISBN
431:ISBN
412:ISBN
386:2023
241:Plot
111:1969
724:Ged
32:by
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