On the planet Anarres, an anarchic utopia, a physicist named Shevek is developing a Principle of Simultaneity, hoping to make instantaneous interstellar communication possible, though his work is being stifled by his superiors. Seeking support, he travels to their sister planet Urras, but finds the capitalist society there is keen to use his work for conquest. Ursula Le Guin won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus for this visionary 1974 novel, a founding narrative in her Hainish Cycle of science fiction novels and stories. The tale reflects her many years of studying utopian treatises, while her dynamic central character bears resemblance to physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

"Solid is the word for Ursula K. Le Guin. In contrast to the flimsy plots, slapdash syntax and see-through characters of all too many SF novels, Le Guin's The Dispossessed is obviously built to last."—NYTBR