Unchosen Love

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Standalone story.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[DinosaursAtWork · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, interesting relationship concept, but not ground breaking.

[Susie Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unchosen Love is an intriguing standalone story, set in a polygamous society structured around family units called sedoretu, consisting of homosexual and heterosexual coupling. Hadri has been chosen to join one such family, after a man seeks out his affections, encouraging him to also couple with one of the women. The two men engage in a sexual relationship which also touches on the dangers of coercive control, as it seems as though Hadri is unable to be clear about his feelings, for this relationship or for potentially joining the sedoretu. His conflicting feelings are described in the quote:
‘Being unhappy in a room is worse than being unhappy outdoors.’
The worldbuilding is wonderfully textured with colour, legend and mystery, and it is following one mysterious encounter that Hadri comes to realise his true feelings. It is a startling discovery, not least for himself, and brings with it a tantalising coming-of-age feel.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touch of fantasy in the Hainish cycle? Very beautiful little love story on a sexy new planet.

[Leonie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my copy this contains "Unchosen Love" and "Mountain Ways", both of which explore a marriage concept with four pairs. The notions of monogamy and heteronormativity are properly challenged and it is easy to imagine societies in which the norms, due to whatever reason, became different from ours. These stories serve to explore these notions and do not deliver much more than that.