Ursula K. Le Guin

The dazzling BBC Radio adaptations of Ursula K. Le Guin's famous fantasy saga and her ground-breaking science fiction masterpiece - plus bonus material

Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the most revered and influential writers of the 20th Century. Her 'Earthsea' books have sold millions of copies and been translated into numerous languages, while her trailblazing novel The Left Hand of Darkness was a landmark in feminist science fiction and ranks among the greatest SF novels of all time. This BBC collection brings together the magical radio retellings of both these seminal classics.

Set on an immense archipelago where magic is a part of life, Earthsea tells the stories of Ged, a young, reckless wizard, and Tenar, taken from her home as a child to become Arha, guardian priestess of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Meeting for the first time deep within the tombs, their destinies become intertwined, and they unite to bring peace to their troubled world. Years later, their paths have diverged - but when Ged returns to Tenar's island on a dragon's back, they are caught up in an epic battle for the future of Earthsea itself. Starring James McArdle, Shaun Dooley and Robert Glenister as Ged, and Aysha Kala, Vineeta Rishi and Nina Wadia as Tenar with Toby Jones and Noma Dumezweni.

The Left Hand of Darkness takes place on an alien world in the grip of an Ice Age. Genly Ai has been sent from Earth on a mission to persuade Gethen to join a planetary union, the Ekumen. But his task is fraught with difficulty. For this is a world whose people have no fixed gender, and Genly's encounters with the natives are marked by mutual incomprehension and mistrust. In coming to terms with their otherness and their sameness Genly must let go of his fixed ideas about identity, and embark on a dangerous journey across the snow plains with his only ally, First Minister Estraven. The stakes are high to save a world from war. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith stars as Genly, with Lesley Sharp as Estraven.

Also included Ursula Le Guin at 85, in which novelist Naomi Alderman interviews Le Guin, with contributions from Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell and Karen Joy Fowler.

Shevek is brilliant scientist who is attempting to find a new theory of time - but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Shevek soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.

With powerful themes of freedom, society and the natural world's influence on competition and co-operation, The Disposessed is a true classic of the 20th century.

In this science fiction novel Ursula Le Guin tells the story of a semi-arctic planet, Winter, and uses this as a vehicle to explore issues of sexuality, gender and social organisation.

In Atuan, a little girl - Tenar, was chosen at birth to assume the role of One Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan where the ancient Nameless Ones are said to dwell. Her days are all the same, spent learning the endless rites and lore important to her position.

The Alds, a people who love war, cannot - or will not read. When they took the beautiful city of Ansul they desecrated its people and destroyed its libraries. But times are changing, with the arrival of the story teller Orrec Caspro and his wife Gry Barre.

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.