The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 8 books · 1968 to 2001

Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea follows the wizard Ged and the priestess Tenar across an archipelago where magic depends on knowing true names. Her Hainish novels, including The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, are landmarks of science fiction.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Only Earthsea and the two best-known Hainish novels are charted.

Vote for Ursula K. Le Guin as a favourite author, and for books and characters below. See the favourites

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
The chart needs JavaScript. The reading order and character list below work without it.

Ursula K. Le Guin books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Earthsea

6 books · Set in EarthseaEpic and high fantasyYA fantasy
  1. 1A Wizard of Earthsea1968With GedBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Tombs of Atuan1971With TenarBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Farthest Shore1972With GedBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Tehanu1990With TenarBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Tales from Earthsea2001Buy on Amazon
  6. 6The Other Wind2001With AlderBuy on Amazon

Hainish Cycle

2 books · Set in spaceClassic science fiction
  1. 1The Left Hand of Darkness1969With Genly AiBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Dispossessed1974With ShevekBuy on Amazon

Characters

7 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Earthsea

Hainish