Water: Is for the climate. The planet, Gethen, where the story takes place is icy and cold. I would imagine that it's like Greenland or Alaska. Too cold for me, that's for sure.
Earth: Is for the Ekumen, which is a collection of planets that kind of work together to find other planets and share military power and knowledge (at least that's what I got out of this story. I know there are other works by Le Guin set in this particular universe that probably explains better what the Ekumen is.) Anyway, it was an interesting concept to have a United Nations, if you will, of planets that seek other intelligent life. It was also interesting the way that they inhabit these planets to learn their culture before proclaiming exactly why they are there.
Air: Is for the Gethenians themselves, which are both male and female and only come into sexual heats in certain cycles. Each cycle they can become a sexual male or a sexual female, which seems to be chosen at random. This hermaphrodite-like aspect was the entire reason that I read The Left Hand of Darkness and honestly I was kind of let down. I thought that they story was going to explain what it would be like to only be sexually aroused during a "heat" and how life works. Almost like a biological journal of some new humanoid species. However, it wasn't. The juicy parts about Gethenian biology was mostly explored via quick descriptions within the narrative.
Fire: Is for how fast I consumed the book! I know a book is good when I consume it within a week (I am a fairly slow reader, which is weird for how much I actually read). However, even though I consumed the book, its overall plot wasn't all that amazing. I think I read quickly just because I was waiting for the socio-analysis of someone who could be both male and female, and when they weren't in a heat, how they could be completely asexual, or rather non-sexual at all. It was interesting the references to how Gethenians viewed humans as perverse because we are always in a state of sexual "heat." I guess I have to commend Le Guin as well, because I consumed the book quickly because the writing itself was particularly awesome. It just flowed and something about it, even though not entirely much in the way of "oh my god!" moments, don't happen, kept me interested enough to consume chapter after chapter.
Overall, the book was okay. It wasn't because it was bad. Obviously it's not bad, it won a ton of awards. But I like books that are thrilling, that have mystery. I love my sci fi books to take an outlandish concept and explore every facet of that concept and I don't feel like that happened here. I was looking forward to a world of hermaphrodites and how that would work. I was left wanting more...Still. If you are interested in a similar concept, I suggest reading Wraeththu by: Storm Constantine.
3 out of 5 stars
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