Order of Book Series
0

Hainish Books in Order

Ursula K. Le Guin has written 10 Hainish books, published between 1966 and 2017. The first book is Rocannon's World (1966) and the newest is Five Ways to Forgiveness (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
10
Published
1966–2017
Confirmed
10 of 10 titles
Pages on record
1,441 in 6 of 10 books
Reading time
24–36 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,441 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 10 titles with a page count on record.

See all 10 books in order Printable Hainish checklist

Hainish is the catalogue heading for Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, 10 science fiction books dated between 1966 and 2017. The listing includes Rocannon's World (1966), Planet of Exile (1966), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Word for World is Forest (1972) and The Dispossessed (1974). Catalogue subjects record life on other planets and space colonies, and mark a Hugo Award for best novel in 1970. Le Guin is credited on all 10 titles.

How many Hainish books are there?

Hainish has 10 books, released between 1966 and 2017.

Hainish Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 10 Hainish books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, book 4 of the Hainish Cycle (1969)
  2. Cover of The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin, book 6 of the Hainish Cycle (1972)
  3. Cover of The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, book 7 of the Hainish Cycle (1974)
  4. Cover of Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin, book 8 of the Hainish Cycle (1994)
  5. Cover of The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin, book 9 of the Hainish Cycle (2000)
  1. 1
    Rocannon's WorldHainish Cycle #11966 · confirmed 3/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Planet of ExileHainish Cycle #21966 · 10 pages · confirmed 3/4
    196610
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    City of IllusionsHainish Cycle #31967 · confirmed 3/4
    1967–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Left Hand of DarknessHainish Cycle #41969 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1969304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Vaster than Empires and More SlowHainish Cycle #51971 · confirmed 3/4
    1971–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Word for World is ForestHainish Cycle #61972 · 189 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1972189
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The DispossessedHainish Cycle #71974 · 387 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1974387
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Four Ways to ForgivenessHainish Cycle #81994 · 320 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1994320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The TellingHainish Cycle #92000 · 231 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2000231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Five Ways to ForgivenessHainish Cycle #102017 · confirmed 3/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Hainish books in order?

You should read the Hainish books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Hainish book also stands alone.

Where to start with Hainish

Start with Rocannon's World (1966), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Hainish book?

Five Ways to Forgiveness (2017) is the newest Hainish book released so far.

Is there a new Hainish book coming?

No next Hainish book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Hainish has won

Wikidata records 12 awards for Hainish. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Hainish at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Hainish title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Hainish books have appeared about one every 6 years on average.
Length
1,441 pages across the 6 of 10 books with a recorded length, a median of 268 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Hainish books, 4 of 10, were published in the 1960s.

What the Hainish books are about

8 of the 10 Hainish books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 5 of 8. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Ursula K. Le Guin

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.