The Language of the Night
Essays on Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
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Narrated by:
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Alyssa Bresnahan
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Michael Crouch
About this listen
Featuring a new introduction by Ken Liu, this revised edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s first full-length collection of essays covers her background as a writer and educator, her thoughts on writing, and her commentary on literary science fiction and fantasy and their future.
“We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark; and fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night.”—URSULA K. Le GUIN
Le Guin’s sharp and witty voice is on full display in this collection of twenty-four essays, revised by the author a decade after its initial publication in 1979. The collection covers a wide range of topics and Le Guin’s origins as a writer, her advocacy for science fiction and fantasy as mediums for true literary exploration, the writing of her own major works such as A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness, and her role as a public intellectual and educator. The book and each thematic section are brilliantly introduced and contextualized by Susan Wood, a professor at the University of British Columbia and a literary editor and feminist activist during the 1960s and ’70s.
A fascinating, intimate look into the exceptional mind of Le Guin, whose insights remain as relevant and resonant today as when they were first published.
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Story
Always Coming Home is Ursula K. Le Guin’s fictional ethnography of the Kesh, a people of the far future living in a post-apocalyptic Napa Valley. Having survived ecological catastrophe brought on by relentless industrialization, the Kesh are a peaceful people who reject governance and the constriction of genders, limit population growth to prevent overcrowding and preserve resources, and maintain a healthy community in which everyone works to contribute to its well-being. This richly imagined story unfolds through a series of narrated “translations” that illuminate individual lives.
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Anyone who would give this a bad score is boring
- By Josh on 09-18-23
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The Wave in the Mind
- Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. With her customary wit, intelligence, and literary craftsmanship, she offers a diverse and highly engaging set of stories. The Wave in the Mind includes some of Le Guin's finest literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, performance-art pieces, and most centrally, her reflections on the arts of writing and reading.
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Honest and deeply beautiful
- By Lex on 07-13-19
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No Time to Spare
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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From acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, and with an introduction by Karen Joy Fowler, a collection of thoughts - always adroit, often acerbic - on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation. Ursula K. Le Guin has taken listeners to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she's in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice - sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical - shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula's blog, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters.
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What a delight!
- By Linda on 02-13-18
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Dancing at the Edge of the World
- Thoughts on Words, Women, Places
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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From modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos - in this classic collection of essays, Ursula K. Le Guin roves with her customary audacity over the intersecting arenas of literature, feminism, and social responsibility, exploding any received notions she comes across and revealing visionary possibilities in their stead.
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Not my favorite Le Guin collection, but...
- By Cameron on 05-11-19
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The Complete Earthsea Series & The Left Hand of Darkness
- 3 BBC Radio Full Cast Dramatisations
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: full cast, Toby Jones, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
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Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the most revered and influential writers of the 20th century. Her Earthsea books have sold millions of copies and been translated into numerous languages, while her trailblazing novel The Left Hand of Darkness was a landmark in feminist science fiction and ranks among the greatest SF novels of all time. This BBC collection brings together the magical radio retellings of both these seminal classics.
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Too much fluff and interruptions.
- By KDSC on 01-20-22
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Worlds of Exile and Illusion
- Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One Volume—Rocannon's World; Planet of Exile; City of Illusions
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Three remarkable journeys into the stars: Worlds of Exile and Illusion includes Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions. These three spacefaring adventures mark the beginning of grand master Ursula K. Le Guin’s remarkable career. Set in the same universe as Le Guin’s groundbreaking classics The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, these first three books of the celebrated Hainish series follow travelers of many worlds and civilizations in the depths of space.
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Always Coming Home
- A Novel
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Yareli Arizmendi, Isabella Star LeBlanc
- Length: 23 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Always Coming Home is Ursula K. Le Guin’s fictional ethnography of the Kesh, a people of the far future living in a post-apocalyptic Napa Valley. Having survived ecological catastrophe brought on by relentless industrialization, the Kesh are a peaceful people who reject governance and the constriction of genders, limit population growth to prevent overcrowding and preserve resources, and maintain a healthy community in which everyone works to contribute to its well-being. This richly imagined story unfolds through a series of narrated “translations” that illuminate individual lives.
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Anyone who would give this a bad score is boring
- By Josh on 09-18-23
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Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded)
- The Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
- By: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Ryan Burke, Tanya Eby, Adam Verner
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Wonderbook has become the definitive guide to writing science fiction and fantasy by offering an accessible, example-rich approach that emphasizes the importance of playfulness as well as pragmatism. The book features sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names working in the field today, including George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, and Karen Joy Fowler. For the fifth anniversary of the original publication, Jeff VanderMeer has added writing exercises, creating the ultimate volume of inspiring advice.
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Excellent book but...
- By Timothy on 05-05-21
By: Jeff VanderMeer
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Still Writing
- The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life
- By: Dani Shapiro
- Narrated by: Dani Shapiro
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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From Dani Shapiro, best-selling author of Devotion and Slow Motion, comes a witty, heartfelt, and practical look at the exhilarating and challenging process of storytelling. At once a memoir, a meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Still Writing is an intimate companion to living a creative life. Writers - and anyone with an artistic temperament - will find inspiration and comfort here.
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Inspiring but dark, better to read than listen
- By Raquel on 10-22-21
By: Dani Shapiro
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The Found and the Lost
- The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, Jefferson Mays
- Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, an icon in American literature, collected for the first time - and introduced by the legendary author - in one breathtaking volume. Ursula K. Le Guin has won multiple prizes and accolades, from the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the Newbery Honor, Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud awards. She has had her work collected over the years but never as a complete retrospective of her longer works.
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You gotta be kidding me.
- By Spam on 07-02-19
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The Writing Life
- By: Annie Dillard
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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With color, irony, and sensitivity, Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard illuminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that is the writer’s life. As it probes and exposes, examines and analyzes, The Writing Life offers deeper insight into one of the most mysterious of professions.
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How Odd--How Poorly Written?!?
- By Gillian on 02-27-15
By: Annie Dillard
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Words Are My Matter
- Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, with a Journal of a Writer’s Week
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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A must-listen collection, Words Are My Matter is a manual for investigating the depth and breadth of contemporary fiction - and, through the lens of deep considerations of contemporary writing, a way of exploring the world we are all living in. "We need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. Developing written material to suit sales strategies in order to maximize corporate profit and advertising revenue is not the same thing as responsible book publishing or authorship."
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One of Le Guin's best collections
- By Cameron on 05-11-19
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Pity the Reader
- On Writing with Style
- By: Kurt Vonnegut, Suzanne McConnell
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Here is an entirely new side of Kurt Vonnegut, Vonnegut as a teacher of writing. Of course he's given us glimpses before, with aphorisms and short essays and articles and in his speeches. But never before has an entire book been devoted to Kurt Vonnegut the teacher. Here is pretty much everything Vonnegut ever said or wrote having to do with the writing art and craft, altogether a healing, a nourishing expedition.
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Unlistenable
- By Grant Swalwell on 01-06-20
By: Kurt Vonnegut, and others
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The Emotional Craft of Fiction
- How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface
- By: Donald Maass
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue this: If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader's experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters' struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you. That's where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers.
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Read this if you're a writer
- By Reed Ramlow on 08-08-20
By: Donald Maass
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The Lathe of Heaven
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George's dreams for his own purposes.
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Amazing!
- By Adrienne R. on 11-23-18
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Story Genius
- How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
- By: Lisa Cron
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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It's every novelist's greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page-one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot).
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As a fantasy writer, this book was not for me.
- By Wendy on 01-10-21
By: Lisa Cron
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Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
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Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
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Alien Clay
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there. In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go?
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"Alien Clay" is officially best ROAST I have ever read and I hope the people it roasts are indigent, offended, furious. . .
- By Deirdre on 10-19-24
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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
- In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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For the last 20 years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.
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An innovative and fresh listening experience
- By Scott Garrioch on 01-14-21
By: George Saunders