
Worlds of Exile and Illusion
Three Complete Novels of the Hainish Series in One Volume—Rocannon's World; Planet of Exile; City of Illusions
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Narrated by:
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Michael Crouch
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Alyssa Bresnahan
About this listen
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.
The novels collected here are the first three ever published by Le Guin, a frequent winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards and one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers of all time.
“What an immense imagination, what a strong and trenchant mind.”—Margaret Atwood
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- Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume One: Where on Earth
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Unreal and the Real is a major event not to be missed. In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories--as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself--the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day. Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world, from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp.
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Shame on you, Audible
- By Audrey McCombs on 07-03-20

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The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Outer Space, Inner Lands includes many of the best known Ursula K. Le Guin nonrealistic stories (such as "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," "Semley' s Necklace," and "She Unnames Them") which have shaped the way many listeners see the world. She gives voice to the voiceless, hope to the outsider, and speaks truth to power - all the time maintaining her independence and sense of humor.
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chapter names
- By Evan Goldsborough on 01-18-20
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The Wind's Twelve Quarters
- Stories
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Amy Landon, Grover Gardner, Will Watt
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects 17 powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future.
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Follow the development of U K Leguin through well chosen short stories.
- By Joseph Tracy on 04-22-22
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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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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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Catwings
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Length: 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Ursula K. Le Guin wrote this highly acclaimed novel about a very special litter of kittens. Mrs. Jane Tabby has always longed toget away from the cramped alleys of the city. She knows it is too late for her, but she thinks her longing may be the reason her litter of kittens was born with wings. When they are old enough to fly, she sends the four kittens, who become known as catwings, out into the world to find their home. But they find that danger does not lurk only in city alleyways.
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A Childhood Favorite
- By CSP on 11-14-17
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Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
- A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Abridged
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In this landmark modern-day rendition of the ancient Taoist classic, Ursula K. Le Guin presents Lao Tzu’s time-honored and astonishingly powerful philosophy like never before. Drawing on a lifetime of contemplation, she offers an unparalleled window into the text’s awe-inspiring, immediately relatable teachings and their inestimable value for our troubled world.
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I wanted to love this
- By Cody Joseph Painter on 09-16-20
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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 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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Girl in Landscape
- By: Jonathan Lethem
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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At the age of 13, Pella Marsh emigrates with her family to the Planet of the Archbuilders. These enigmatic aborigines have names like Lonely Dumptruck and Hiding Kneel, and a civilization that baffles and frightens their human visitors. As the spikily independent Pella becomes an uneasy envoy between two species, Girl in Landscape deftly interweaves themes of exploration and otherness, loss, and sexual awakening.
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Wonderful novel, horrendous audio book
- By Grant Hayslip on 03-13-18
By: Jonathan Lethem
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Changing Planes
- By: Ursula Le Guin
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Sita Dulip has missed her flight out of Chicago. But instead of listening to garbled announcements in the airport, she discovers a method of bypassing the crowds at the desks, a nasty lunch, whimpering children, their punitive parents, and the blue plastic chairs bolted to the floor: she changes planes—literally. Sita discovers entire planes of existence and visits societies not found on Earth—bizarre societies that share similarities with Earth's cultures and sometimes open doors into the alien.
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Lovely
- By Laura Sharp on 12-07-23
By: Ursula Le Guin
What listeners say about Worlds of Exile and Illusion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jacob Seidel
- 02-18-25
Tao in SciFi
As all great fiction does, these books reflect the eternality of life and the human condition. How can one know what one should do? How one shoukd act? When met with adversity will you overcome it, survive it? What of your friends and loved ones? In a grand winding tale of a war beyond comprehension, won as it is lost, Leguin carves a tale from the cosmos which brings high fantasy to science fiction, and peoplehood to many worlds.
Also in Chapter 9 of City of Illusion there is a remnant narrator comment that didn't get edited out.
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- David Parker
- 02-02-25
The overarching integrity of three tales into one story.
LeGuin makes sense of our existence through storytelling. She says it clearly in her preface to The Left Hand of Darkness. The artist creates a lie to reveal the truth.
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- Daryn
- 02-19-25
Unique
This story is unique in its own right. Somehow the author found a way of combining mid-evil concepts with futuristic fantasy.
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- K.E.H.
- 04-07-25
Well and Beautifully Told
This was a most wonderful trilogy of well written and beautifully told stories with rich language, splendid pacing, and well-formed characters. Bravo!
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