Follow Friday - Roman Emperor Probus Was Killed by His Own Troops in 282 A.D., So He Didn't Last Long Either

It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and a single Follow Friday Featured Blogger each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
2. Follow the Featured Blogger of the week - Closet Geek Book Group.
3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

And now for the Follow Friday Question: What is your favorite book with a "winter" world?

The Left Hand of Darkness

My favorite book with a "winter" world is Ursula K. Le Guin's classic science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness. The story is set on the planet of Gethen, which, when translated literally means "Winter". As one might expect, the planet is always cold. What one might not expect is that the inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual, that is, they switch genders on a regular basis during their monthly "kemmer" period when they are sexually receptive.

The story focuses on Genly Ai, an ambassador from Earth who is seeking to persuade the Gethans to join an insterstellar alliance known as the Ekumen. To that end, genly has spent two years living in one of the two major powers on Gethen, working with a powerful political figure named Estraven. The book starts off just before Genly is due to meet with the monarch of Karhide, and features a perplexing betrayal by Estraven that ends up sending Genly across the planet, eventually resulting in Genly and Estraven traveling across an almost barren plain of ice for nearly three months. The novel is brilliant in so many ways, exploring how sex affects human relationships, and how different from the familiar a "genderless" society like that of Gethen might be, as well as how similar it might be in other ways.

Previous Follow Friday: Emperor Probus Had the Usurper Proculus Put to Death in 281 A.D. (I Told You Proculus Didn't Last Long)

Subsequent Follow Friday: Roman Emperor Carus Died in 283 A.D.; He Was Emperor for Less Than a Year

Follow Friday     Home