Sci-Fi Book Discussion: The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula LeGuin
Genly Ai, an ethnologist from the Ekumen, a federation of planets, has embarked on a mission to persuade the leaders on the frigid planet he calls Winter to join the Ekumen. Ai must tread carefully through the shifting political climate and alliances between neighboring states, but finds himself most bewildered by Winter’s inhabitants, who have no gender, except for a brief period each month called kemmer, when a person becomes male or female. What are the implications for society when a person may father a child one month and bear a child another? Led by Marcy Maiorana.